Evening star., 1917-04-08
Cloth Is a Ruling Fabric for Informal Gowns

depend entirely upon the girdle for a
silhouette of any grace or distinction.
One Of the best of the jersey frocks,
which was instantly snapped up by
the American woman is a combination
of black and cafe au lait The top of
the skirt is of the latter color, and is
slightly held in at the waist line, so
that 1t will not stretch in an ungainly
manner across the hips and spine 1t is
cut off across the hips in a sharp line
that turns and outlines a panel in the
back. The lower half of the skirt is of
black Jersey, Joined to the top in such a
manner that it gives q slight barrel eff
feet and then curves in to the ankles and
falls in an irregular line at the hem,
which is the prevailing note of the real
ly smart frocks. The slim bodice clings
, Lily Langtry made famous, but never
do they show such a silhouette as she
presented to the world, for the days of
tiny waists. curved hips and slender
shoulders have been eliminated,
To keep the tone of the cafe au lait
away from the face, there is a wide,
rolling, horse collar of black, and the
long, tight sleeves, which are buttoned
from elbow to wrist, flare so far over
the hands that they have to be rolled
back carelessly to show q black facing.
The belt Is five inches high, softly fold
ed, buttoned at the side with black
bono and has a top which rolls down to
show a black lining.
! have given this gown in detail be-
cause 1t promises to be one of the real
successes of the season. and 1t has in
spired several gowns made In the same
fashion or else the French designers
united on this idea as means of han
1iylrv L. Ind Of fp hYt &c
a black and tan crepe de chine frock
made in this manner, and there is a
black and white crepe dc chine with q
bodice half low in back and quite low
in front. filed in with white chiffon.
This half-and- half skirt is decidedly
a feature of the spring fashions, also
the irregular hem which clings closely
to the ankles to eNaggerate the normal,
or abnormal, fullnesS between the hips
and knees.
There are some suits which show an
even hem. but they are few and far be-
tween. The uitra-fashion. which prom
!ses to become the popular fashion, is
to have your hem ragged.
Another trick of fashion that is worth
knowing about is the use of double
faced fabric. The idea of upturning or
overturning the fabric to form It's own
ornamentation gave rise to this revived
method of weaving.
The whole world n0f fashion today is
concerned with different IDEAS concern
ing this treatment OF fabric. Even the
hens OF skirts are turned upward, in
stead of under, as they used to be.
Wherever one wants to supply touch
of color it is not added fatty to the
surface of the frock but to the under
side of the material. which in turn Is
rolled over TO show 1t.
1t may not be easy or inexpensive to
purchase the doublefaced fabrics, but
II is always simple to compromise with
facings Of an opposing color. Callot
gave this fashion a strong impetus to-
ward popularity when she faced white
jersey suits with scarlet. Since that
hour women have seen all sorts of en-
chanting possibilities in applying
streaks or patches of color where they
We're most needed.
Jeanne Lanvin has revived a fifteenth
century fashion in slashing materials
to show the under surface of another
color. One of the beSt-loeking frocks
she has made for the spring season here
is of exceedingly soft dark blue cloth
| with d facing Of turquoise blue. The