Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1917-06-22
WOMEN TURN TO
ONE=PIECE GOWN

French do in dress: which is to make
the best of the human figure and give
it as good an outline as art and nature
combined can produce.
Today it is exceedingly difficult to
make an American woman appear In
her shirt sleeves in public; in the pri-
vacy of her own home. yes; but even
there she finds a one-piece frOck far
more artistic than a cloth skirt with
separate white blouse. 1t is because
she has discovered, after many years,
that the figure looks infinitely better
and more graceful with a long line
reaching from neck to hips, that she
wears a sweater constantly in the
house. She has begun to feel that the
waistline should be obliterated at all
costs.
In this frame of mind she naturally
turns to the gown cut In one piece,
hanging in long line. 1t allows her to
comfort herself with the thought that,
even IL her waist is too thick In front
and her skirt rides, these deficiencies
are covered up by the frock or coat
that, charitably trifle too high In the
waistband, passed them by without re-
vealing them to the onlooker.
Long Line Under the Arms.
So insistent have the women be-
come upon hiding the waist, except
by the merest fraction of a supple
curve, that the dressmakers are pleas
ing them by introducing drapery I'M
der the arms which hangs below the
knees. 1t is transparent. this drapery,
and floats about in the air as the wear
er uses her arms, but it fulfills its mis-
sion of Strengthening out the figure in
an admirable manner. 1t cannot be en-
ployed on an informal frock, the kind
that one would wear between the hours
of eight In the morning and seven In
the evening, but on any type of eve
ming frOck, it Is well placed.
Another method that the dressmak-
ers have of catering to the concealment
of the waistline is the use Of the elab-
crate cape of tulle or lace that goes
over the shoulders and extends to the
tips Of the fingers. The fashion for
lace of any kind gives one variety OF
methods of draping the body line in a
lissome manner. In daytime frOcks
the long line is given by the use Of
braid, of ribbon, of plating and en-
broidery. There are also glOrified sus-
penders Of Ornamentation that are at
tached to skirts with chiffon blOuses
that give the correct and desired sill
houette. They do not extend over the
front and back of the frOck, but pass
over the shoulders, reach to the hips,
widening as they 60 under the arms,
and are often loosely belted in at the
waist by one or more of the draped
girdles that attach themselves to every
kind of gown this season.
These suspenders, by the way, should
prove an inspiration to the woman
who wants to bring the gowns she
possesses into the present picture. If
she has a dark silk or cloth skirt, for
example, with thin blouse to match
in color, she can easily bring the two
into a composite whole by the addition
of this skeletonized jacket Of en-
broidery, or soutaching on net.
Lace ID Rioting Over Clothes.
The experts prophesied a revival
of lace in the immediate future and
the knowledge they possessed, proved
exact. Lace positively riets over the
new clothes. 1t is used for entire
frocks, for long wraps, for parasOls
negligees, petticoats, coats and eve
ming frock drapery.
There is surely some economical rea
son behind this furore for valuable
and not easily procured article OF
/ dress. 1t is quite evident that che
French wish to make lace the higf
fashion in order to give employment
TO the thousands of needlewOrkers OF
its own country and those who have
come from Belgium and who have tt
be supported by the French govern
ment. This strain of caring for thu
homeless of the neighboring country |!
| telling on France, for, in addition t.
the prisoners she has taken, the mum
Der Of alien mouths in which she hal
to put food. constitute small nation
Therefore, to give the Belgians and tn
French widows work, all sorts Of in
dustries have been revived and encour
aged, especially those that will have I
good chance of bringing in American
dollars converted into francs. In Amer
lea, we are minus needleworkers o
importance, so the major portion o
what we must use, comes from tn
lacemaking centers Of Europe. Tn
fashion for it may lead to foolish an,
inartistic application Of cheap and taw
dry laces to frocks, and a mass of 1
where it should be avoided, but, so fan
there is no diminution of the fashion
which came into its first bloom as tn
spring openings were held.
| Copyright, 1917, by the Mcclure Newsps
per Syndicate)
Net and Silk Nightgowns.
NightgOwns of white net over pdnl