Evening star., 1916-12-03
RY ANNE R1rTENHousE.

MAN. said about evening gowns
W\V before the 1st Of December
" " is usually hearsay and
prophecy, mingled with accurate in
formation as to what France has de-
signed and what American dressmakers
are showing.
Different cities have different methods
Of opening the social season; where
grand opera is an established institu-
tion the initial night is the trumpet
which heralds the fact that the prim-
rose path is the broad highway for
three months In other cities and in
that vast chain of towns which stretches
between the oceans and in which wom-
en- take their pleasure with as much
brilliancy and gayety as they do in
great centers, dinners and dances, in
stead of the opera. start the social sea-
son.
Whatever the form of pleasure, De-
cember ushers in the most brilliant
evening gowns of the year. THE eye
witness at the front" has an interesting
panorama spread over miles of terri
lory; the gowns of the shops have be-
come the gowns OF the houses: animate
and inanimate mannequins have been
exchanged for women of society.
Each woman knows that she is ex-
perimenting with new clothes: she has
her eyes keenly fixed what her
neighbor is wearing. and her mind is
busy with thoughts of the defects and
virtues of her own costume.
The pity of 1t all is that this season
is SO short. The initial thought in the
minds of most women at the first i'm
portant social affair is that the last
one will soon follow on it's heels, and
1t behooves every one to be constantly
In the harness in order to get the full
value expended for any evening cos
tune.
There was day. even in our genera
tion. when social life began early and
ended late. 1t may have been the lack
ness that kept women moving around
in a given circumference during all the
months of the year except two in sum-
mer, and entertaining each other as
much as possible during that time.
Social gayety began in october and
ended in May, and as 1t did not have
startling diversity it was considered
the better part of wisdom to have a
ldESo variety VI ClOtHcS. rather IMAM
few on which all the dress allowance
was spent.
There has been a gradual but sure
revolution going on in the world of
clothes in the matter of their distribu
tion. There were early days when strict
economy was practiced even among the
richest women; when two or three
gowns were not only worn during an
entire and heightened social season. but
made to serve for the season after
Even then the material was ripped
apart. sponged and pressed and put
away to serve another day.
This method Of thrift was not con-
demned by the luxurious set nor was
II looked upon as piece of parsimony
that put one out of the butterfly class.
1t was a part and parcel of the Ameri-
can habit of life. which had been
brought over from those older coun-
tries in which aristocracy once milked
its own cows and spun it's own clothes
1t is too exhaustive subject to go
into its reasons at this moment. One
must look to Mr.. George of England
for comprehensive study of this
evolution in womens lives; his disil-
lusioned and perceptive pen puts the
matter clearly before those who care
to read. and we look upon ourselves,
through his phrases. as a progressive
and insurgent class of beings who have
emerged from the long enveloping CO.
coon Of household industry and who. as