The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-08-04
This variety may lead ugly costumery by amateurs
Unsua and original combinations in black and white
will be put forth by the Paris desgners-A new kind
of polonaise will be brought out in velvet frocks

their lives 1t meant as much to them
as discrimination to a lawyer. 1t
was the spirit of shopping. The wo-
man who felt that by her skillful
tongue and shrewd knowledge of val
ues she could compel merchant to
come down, penny by penny, until her
price or a compromise was reached,
came home with a triumphant air
that she impaired to her neighbors.
She felt grieved when the evil thing
which had sapped the commerce of
this country was eradicated, surgically
extracted.
This country is going thru the pre-
MminAries of another great reform
this summer, and it is possible that it
may be in effect before the year 1918.
The selling of merchandise has been
SO violently competitive that each
store has sung a siren song to women,
which has pandered to their weak
ness.
Human nature was estimated at its
true value when the merchants knew
that every woman likes to ask for
samples as an excuse for being in a
shop and wants goods sent up on APP
prevail as an added excitement to her
life. She may or may not buy. The
merchants know that. They take the
enormous wastage of material as a
matter of course and they accept the
wastage in values which comes from
being compelled to throw millions of
counters at a price below cost
They tell you that the system is evil,
but they insist that each must do 1t
because the other does it. If the war
wipes out both these evils with one
great sweeping movement of the gov
ernmental hand, then women. mer-
chants. shopping and valuations will
be improved
Insistence on Black and White.
Despite the fact that the new color
card for 1918 shows 144 colors, the
news that drifts over from Paris gives
one a feeling that the adoption of
black and white will be insisted upon
for the autumn. The smartest women
one sees in this country are emphasize
ing unusual and original com binations
of black and white in their costumes.
White muslins with black hats has
been a constant fashion seen at all the
resorts since June. 1t is quite natural
that these two colors should hold their
own despite the Introduction of any
thing else, and the woman who be-
lieves in them and considers them
trump cards to play at all seasons of
the year whenever she is in doubt
about the rest of the fashion game, is
secure in her belief if she accepts the
new Innovations.
There are unfortunately, battalions
of women who believe in black be-
GAUSS SAcy NAYS tOb LLlC 0HcI6ys liz
spiration or courage to seek farther
afield In the color scheme OF fashion.
! They buy a black suit because such a
purchase is along the line of least re-
sistance. They have an erroneous and
futile idea that black is always ele-
CANT and becoming. Extraordinary
Judgment thisi 1t should be sponged
out of the minds of women.
Black is a difficult color to wear. It
can be dowdy unattractive, inelegant
and commonplace in more ways than
any other color we have. In combi-
nation with white, it can break all
laws of line, shadow and perspective.
Women should be trained to handle it
with care. as they would an explo-
sive.
Dark blue has many of the POSSIBLE
tiles which the majority claim for
black, and it may be said, in a sweep
ing manner. that in its deeper tones,
known as crow and midnight, the
choice of it is playing for safety.
1t is from the French theaters that
the reporters of fashion in France get
their strong conviction that original