Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-03-25
BY ANNE RITTENHousE.

EIHERE Is a real struggle between
the barrel. or pegtop. skirt and
III the one that hangs plumb from
q waist to ankles 1t Is not neces-
sary to indicate that the lines are drawn
between the exclusive. high-priced
dressmakers and the shops in the bat
tie TO produce the most fashionable
skirt
There is ostensibly, feeling among
the women and men who cater to a fas-
tidious and conservative clientele that
whatever the manufacturers have put
out in large numbers should be avoided
by them. This feeling is not based on
any bitterness or rivalry between the
two concerns: it is really a reflection
on the patrons of these exclusive places
It is not possible for dressmakers who
hold their heads high in prices to sell
in bulk: they must make their money
from the Individual. not from the mass.
and there is a strong and growing feel
ing among the patrons of speciality
places that they will not wear the
gowns which are seen in shop windows,
and especially those manufactured by
the hundreds and sold throughout the
trade. These women want French
models or gowns that cannot be im
tated and sold by the dozen for less
than $50.
When the barrel skirt was first ex-
plotted on this side of the ocean the
semi-annual openings in Paris had not
taken place, and the majority of dress
makers insisted that they would not
answer for the success of the pegtop
skirt. or oval silhouette. as one chooses
to call it, because it was not probable
that Paris would show it later in the
season, and equally improbable that fas-
tldiouS patrons would want to pay a
large price for a style that had been
run to the ground through wholesale
diStri bUtion.
This argument was plausible, and it
Influenced those who handled the So
theory proved to be a house of cards
that fell fiat under the weight of the
semi-annual Paris openings. where the
pegtop skirt, or oval silhouette, was
featured in every prominent house.
The flare went out Of hens as sud-
denly as flash of lightning leaves the
sky. Circular skirts remained in fash
ion. but they were attenuated and SIM
plified. The hens dropped down from
one to four inches, and the straight line
OF machine pleating came into fashion.
The French gowns all displayed tend
ency to be held in at the hem in some
manner. and the dressmakers all over
1.-The country were face to face with the
fact that the skirts shown by the manu-
'facturers and those they had brought
over were double first cousins, if not
sisters.
Yet, against this fact. the Dress
makers who cater to exclusive sets are
insisting that the pegtop silhouette is
to be taken up wartly and not accentu-
ated.
: All the dressmakers are willing to
take material from the skirts or to hold
whatever material they use in a mar
row. hobb1ed band at the instep. They
weight the hem so that 1t will not flare,
but they do not pull the skirt out or
shape it over the hips in any extreme
manner.
= There is little need for origination on
this side of the water. as far as skirts
are concerned. because France, through ,
Ner February openings, has given
though ideas in the matter Of cutting
End draping skirts to last a sensible
continent a whole year. let alone a
half season.
+, Each designer in Paris had fling at
an oval skirt, and each designer, not |
resting content with one origination, |
tried a hundred methods in as many |
materials. Therefore, the accumulation
of ideas in the new French frocks is |
quite heavy enough to stultify any idea |