Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-08-15
Curious Capes Welcome Relief From the Coat.
BY ANNE RITTENHoUSE.
epseial Correspondence of The Star.

y. Upoc1Al correspondence or Inc STAR
IS NEW YORK. Aust 14-Those who
should know insist that the doom OF
the coat suit Is not far off That Is
a cry that has come through the winds
season after season. There is little rea-
son to believe that 1t is . stronger pro-
phecy now than before.
Yet, when the tailors hear IL on the
winds that blow from Paris they seem tc
: have the same feeling OF eerie dread
that the wall OF the banshee produces
It is not a pleasant sound TO those who
have grown up in trade that has been
built to immense proportions by the de-
mand OF the American woman This gen
GRAFTON has produced thousands of men
and women who do nothing and know
knothing but coats and suits, plain or
ornate.
They would grope In bottomless dark
II they were asked to build evening frocks.
They know as little Of the swirl and swirg
OF the soft afternoon costumery as they
do of the end of the war.
They do not even know the origin Of
the two garments that they turn out b
the thousand, year after year. Most OF
them learned their trade In the garments
of like ilk built for men, and for that
reason and by that token. they can iron
and stitch and fatten as few versed in
other needle trades can do.
Time was when the costume which
men loaned to women did not present un-
usual difficulties TO those who knew the
cross-legged trade. The padded coat
which gave false shoulders. the entire
building Of the cloth on an artificial
basis. resulted in wonderful executed gar
ments that bore no resemblance to the
human form as civilization has evolved il,
a bit OF braid. a few buttons placed
in the regulation manner. pocket or two.
was all the ornamentation desired: Then
came the blow dealt by demand for a
skeleton coat, the garment without a
foundation to lean on.
Last season there was so much talk
about the gradual disappearance Of the
coat suit by reason OF the demand on
man power made by the war that things
looked quite serious for the hosts Of those
who know only how to build the uniform
of the average American woman.
Now the seriousness of the situation Is
Increased, or rather made more perplex-
ing. The talk of abandoning clothing that
Is ornate by those who will work for the
nation has brought out the contradic-
tory situation that, although the men are
needed for war. they are also needed for
the turning out of thousands Of plain man
nish coat suits which the women in re-
lief work insist should be the costume of
war times
To the reporter OF conditions this two
sided demand sounds fun OF inconsistency.
But every one warns every one else that
the times are so filled with half-pakcd
IDEAS of how to serve the country that il
Is well to go slow on any one of them
No one seems TO have arrived at a sane
and sensible basis on the question Of
clothes. plus the question Of serving the
nation
= However. the winter must develop as
x will in fashions. and SO will the situa-
ton confronting thousands OF women who
have crept into public life for the first
time and are, therefore. bit confused
The runnor that is well substantiated is
that the one-piece frock and the separate
skirt will have full swing this season, as
the designers will give US good looking
wraps
With this fact comes the everyday
question: VIII the cape be success?
The sketch shows new kind of wrap
that is part cape, part tunic. 1t was
suggested by an old costume which
was intended TO serve for protection. a