Evening star., 1917-03-19
OF Interest TO Women
BY ANNE R1TTENHoUsE.
Special Correspondents Of The Sta,

Special Correspondence Of The Star.
NEW YORK. March 1.-THE f1aring
skirt Is dead. A skirt may bulge at
the hips II 1t wishes. but it must cling
close to the ankles, and, mind you
when one says the ankles this season.
one really means that the skirt comes
to this part Of the leg and that If it Is
particularly fashionable it goes an
inch beyond and touches the instep.
We know that Callot has clung to the
skirt that is eight inches from the floor,
but all the rest of the designers have
heightened and narrowed their gar
ments to such an extent that women
will bear a close resemblance this
spring to their pictures of four years
ago.
We have tried so much with tho
gored and faring skirt that there is
nothing more to do with 1t. We have
grown weary Of the manipulation Of
fabric along these lines. Women are
ready to accept a change in the silhou-
cite, and that Is why the dressmakers
are having no trouble in persuading
them to accept the new skirts.
Back to Machine Pleating.
So far, there are few sheath skirts.
as they used to be called. but there is
nobody In the dressmaking world who
does not prophesy their return in the
near future. At the present moment
the compromise between drapery and
plainness lies in the pleats which are
used to manipulate skirt materials.
Box pleats are few; side pleats are
many. and the French have led the way
into slim, straight skirts pleated by
machine. These closely resemble. the
accordion pleated skirts of ten years
ago. 1t may be that they are but the
advance guard of a revival of the
garment of that decade.
The smart dressmakers are already
sending crepe de chine and satin to the
special places to have them accordion
pleated by machinery, and soon the
shops may be selling skirt lengths of
materials. pleated and ready to hang on
a secure foundation. If this is done
it will simplify dressmaking for the
woman who manages the making of
most of her clothes at home.
The fexibility of the new materials
allows them to be easily pleated, and
with slight amount of weighing at
the hem one feels secure about their
hanging in straight line.
The basket weaves which the eX-
elusive dressmakers offer as the ultra
materials for street suits will not toll
crate a pleat of any kind. 1t is best
to warn women of this beforehand.
This weave stretches easily and has to
be made on stiff lines that are held to-
gether by good stitching.
Basket cloth is smart; of that fact
there is no doubt, and some of the
best and most expensive coat suits that
have been ordered by the well dressed
women in this city are of that fabric.
But one has to be limited in style in
choosing it. Even the narrow, circular
skirt in this material Is dangerous.
The New Gabardine.
In addition to basket cloth there is
a new weave of gabardine that is some
times called poplin and is supposed to
be a trifle smarter than serge. The
French have made of it several exceed
ingly smart suit gowns or coat gowns,
as they call them. One of these. de-
signed by Royant. who is immensely
liked by the New York women, but not
very well known throughout America.
has set n decidedly new stamp on
street clothes. There is a sketch of it
given today. made just as it came out