Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-08-26

copyright By the Mcclure Newspaper syndicate)
7T would be odd If the edict for
Ill elimination of waste material in
4 clothes that has gone forth from
q the governing factors in dress on
both continents would be responsible
for the incoming of the hustle.
So far as the expert observer can see
into the near future of autumn cos
tumery which is now being planned.
shown and bought. the only actual elm
nation of material is in the width of
the skirt.
There is little sense in being obsti-
nate about the width of skirts: they're
going to be narrow. and it is quite as
well that dressmakers and women ac-
cept this fact without cavil.
Once before in the history of clothes
there was a tight skirt which was said
to have been caused by the civil war in
America It became the fashion after
Appomattox and remained in fashion
for a decade and a half afterward. 1t
was also caused by the necessity for
war had nearly exhausted the commodi-
ties of this country.
That skirt was called the tie-back.
The front and sides were pulled across
barely step, and rubber bands were
put across the back below the waist
line to draw the material up into a
series of little puffs. THIS vas as much
Of hustle as was permitted
"a
The persistence of this fashion has
been an amazing thing to those who
study clothes. Its origin was in the
fashionable way of walking called the
Grecian bend. which was the absurd
predecessor of the equally absurd debu-
tante SLOUGH.
In the days of the tie-back skirt lit
tie girls would secure safety pins by
Indirect means. and pull the fullness of
their skirts back and up. thus having
little fun Of their own below the waist.
They were always caught at this by
their mothers and nurses. because the
safety pins tore the material and made
gaping holes.
Again. in this day of elimination of
waste through the. necessities of war.
we are to be put into the tight skirt
with its fullness arranged at the back
In series of slight fares
1t is not possible to say with any de-
gree of certainty whether this skirt
will be widely accepted when the au-
tumn comes Reporting. and not
TO give the news of dress as 1t comes
out week after week
The American designer. as well as
the French one. has gone in for this
upward tilt of material at the end of
the spine. and it may be that the later
fashions will accentuate il.
Whatever may be the fulnessf though
1T any especial spot on the skirt. those
who are regarding the question of new
clothes must remember that the hem
will be almost as narrow as 1t was in
the days of the hobble skirt.
There is a marked tendency toward
the sheath skirt in several of the new
costumes. The material sinks into the
figure after IT leaves the waist and the
hem provides only stepping width.
The shortness OF the skirt for street
wear Is necessary. In the spring there
was a decided tendency to lengthen
skirts. and many conservative women
adopted the fashion with enthusiasm,
but If skirt is to be exec dingly mar
row 1t cannot be long. 1t would be too
utterly ineonvenient for women who
are plunged into a series of activities
1t has already been announced that
two kinds of jackets will prevail in the