Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-11-25
BY ANNE HIrTENHousE.

~1RANCE puts hustle In front OF q
In gown, and America puts It In
the back. such 10 the interest
. ing struggle going on between
designers.
Two men, one on this continent and
one Of that were responsible tor the
1877 hustle, and 1t may be confidently
aaser,sd that no woman designer had .
pArt in its creation or development.
It took the public just six weeks to
fsvel the fashion to the commonplace.
Ie is because Of this public acceptance
that the style must be dealt with gen
erously by the reporters Of fashion who
usually can give only passing attention
to each new idea rs IL 10 shot ACROSS
the battlefield of apparel One mans
idea attracts attention, but that atten-
ton fs detected by every other mans
idea, but when this individual idea is
multiplied a thousand times by buyers
and sellers. by women who pretend to
be fashionable and by those who care
nothing about the word. then the fash
ion becomes "the STYLE" as we term 1t
in this country. which Is our nearest
equivalent to the French phrase. "c'est
IL mode
If You talk earnestly with these who
deal in exclusive clothes you will hear
them say that the silhouette must
change. and that It Is more than prob
able that the hustle will become more
Of feature In the spring among high.
class designers than II Is today.
There is no disposition on the part OF
the American woman to save In the
buying of clothes despite all the propa-
ganda on this subject. and no matter
what comes later, X the war continues,
the process OF buying goes on merrily
today.
There is not the slightest idea Of re
turn to frllness In frocks or coats.
There are two good reasons for this an
nouncement-a scarcity of material In
various governments of the world for
strict conservation. and also the fact
that we have been oversurteited with
fuIIness in clothes and the very sight Of
such gown gives US sQueamfsh at
tack OF sartorial indigestion. II Is al
most unbearable today to look upon Q
1ooped. panniered. befrilled or be.
bounced costume We wore hoopskirts.
the name of the farthingale, until we
felt ashamed to look at a barrel. and 1t
is not possible for either the French or
the American designers to compel US to
s turn our attention to such clothes In
We want slinness, we look our best
In slimness and We are quite willing to
wear less material than since the civil
war, but we are tired of tunics Our
trouble Is that we don't want return
to the small waist, we will not have
more material put into our clothes. and
we insist upon a. straight line from
armhole to hips. but something must
be done with our skirts IL our palate
for clothes is to be tickled any further
The dressmakers concur in this wish
In fact. they further 1t, for they are
afraid of the approaching January
which opens the winter season, when
and turn to their chosen dressmakers
Tor . whole new supply Of dashing
f1ocks and suits.
Cnder the influence OF this impotence
and annoyance with a continuity of line
IN clothes. there is no reason why some
thing approaching the tie.back skirt
and the hustle of 1s70-s0 should not ap-
pear quite gradually over the horizon
for the better class OF January clothes
Tou know by this time, Of course, that
the hustle is nothing moro than q
arranged to break the tight and often
1nartfstic line across the figure at the
end OF the spine. This drapery is the
saving grace on certain types Of broad,
stout figures. 1t may be almost impos-
sible to believe that among this race Of
dat-hipped, long-limbed, slim .cheSted
big-waisted American women. which the
last ten years have produced, there are
ettll women. and many OF them, who
have what il called the ancient figure.
OF course. 1t IL not the ancient figure 1t
all. for that II the new figure to which