Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-11-18
BY ANNE RITTENHoUsE.

"A s the current Of clothes goes
IN rushing by, one has q strong
~ temptation to reach out ana
q q grasp at the straws that are
0wirling along on the top eddies.
1t is a confusing season. this one OF
midautumn. when thousands OF clothes
are sent rushing down the waters that
dow through the heart OF social ana
commercial life. and those on the banks
must watch and grasp at details or CO.
ordinated masses of color and line.
Standing on the bank and watching
the brilliant things borne down the
stream, one is strongly reminded OF an
ailuring article by Mr.. Beebe. the OK
plorer, who has brought back SO much
that was worth while to the geological
knowledge in America
~
Mr., Beebe rests quietly on bank. as
he tells it. by which passes great,
syiftly flowing stream which comes
from the heart of the jungle and which
y Is full of mystery and color and splen-
lid exotic life. The stream has caught
on its top current parts of this life. ana
as he studies it keenly and with knowl-
edge. as 1t swiftly goes by him. he Is
! able to form in his mind just what the
/ life of that especial jungle Is. Fauna
and fora go by. an opossum WIN its
log, bits of wood that explain the tree
growth. birds that have been caught IN
branches and cannot extrfcate them
selves. On, on goes the colorful stream.
rushing past the fat mud bank and ex-
planning TO the zoologist and ornitholo-
. gist the entire life and personality OF
the source from which all these things
come.
1t is thus in fashions. All the tumult.
I the revolt. the color, the personality
and the life of a country flow by in
( this semi-annual stream of clothes that
! are symbols of their sources. And the
o one who stands on the bank wants to
i reach out hand or throw out grap-
= in for closer observation the peculiar
: and particular things that can be de-
veloped into a whole chapter Of In
terest.
that one wants to catch at with grap-
ping pole, pull into the bank and
study for week They are representa-
tive of the history of the world. Each
epoch seems to have offered a peculiar
phase of arm covering for the design
ers to incorporate into modern cos
tunes.
we have the medieval sleeve which
opens after it leaves the elbow and
drops in a point to the knee: we have
the Chinese sleeve which is roomy
enough for all the juggling we care to
do; there is the tight sleeve of the
drectoire that fits into an oversnug
amhole and stretches to the knuckles
of the hand; there is the Italian sleeve
that begins in an armho1e that is near
1y. at the elbow and wfdens itself out
in order that it may drop in cloaklike
folds to the wrist, where it is caught
into band of white velvet or cloth.
There is the sleeve that is s1ashed
from armhole to wrist, as Marguerite
and Faust wore it, and there Is the
oriental sleeve that is formed from the
front edges of cape and confined to
the arm with a bracelet of tulle or
jewels.
Another sleeve is merely a brassard
and. of course, it is on an evening
gown. There are sleeves taken from
the church. from comic opera, from the
Round Table, from Wagnerian legends.
from the days of Dante and. one might
almost add, from the Sultan of Sulu.
armbands above and below the elbow.
to which are caught swinging folds of
colored tulle-
Possibly the one garment which the
sleeve-mad designers have left un-
touched in their wild orgy of designing
is the street coat which is part of a
conventional tailored suit. All sorts of
liberties are taken with sleeves in top
coats. because this garment has reached
20 high on the ladder of fashion that 1t
Gets a whack of originality from every
designer who wants to play with the
garment in either commercial or ar
sistic way
ctr