Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1917-09-28
TrOuSer Skirts
Gaining Ground

selves into kind of puttee from knee
to ankle.
On the stage, and In the restaurants
where women dance, there are more |
eXtravagant trOuSered effects in skirts, |
such as full garments of crepe |
de chine or satin which drop from a
high waiStline and end in tight-fitting |
leggingS of jet, crystal beading or gold |
and silver lace. These lcggingS in |
close only the calf of the leg, the |
knees being covered by full zouave dra- |
perry of the skirt, and the ankles by |
silk stockings. with high-heeled, bro |
caded slippers as a finish.
Everyone knows that the new eve
ming slippers designed after the French
pattern, are often carried to the calf
of the leg by means of wide straps of
jeweled leather or gold or silver lace.
These strings are folded and interlaced
about the ankles and finished at the
top without a bow.
SD-lp of the smart women who wear
the zOuave skirt with the short. jew
eled leggings that stop four inches
above the ankles, add jeweled brace
let or IA ribbon of black velvet ut each
ankle in the Oriental manner.
The fashionable demand for gold
and silver lace done in the pattern
known as lame, which means that the
bullion threads are flattened out by
heavy roller TO give the effect of being
short, tight leggings made Of either
lace.
The metal tissues are not revived
for summer and only chiffOns, crepes
| de chine and thin satins are used for
evening gowns; therefore one does not
get the impressive Oriental effect from
the jcweled lcggings that one would
! receive if the gown itself were full of
/ bullion threads, as it was last winter.
None Of these trOusered skirts is
| narrow. Every one that France has
sent over and that America has adopt
ed has its trousered effect arranged in
| the Slavic or Oriental manner. The
| inSiStcnCe upon the silhouette of the
| ZOuave uniform is conspicuous every
where. This uniform is used by the
| Algerian troops fighting for France,
and 1t is most picturesque, with the
| full trousers like skirts, the colOred
| sash, the short. tight jacket and the
wrapped leggings from knee to ankle.
This idea of incIosing the leg with
| wrappingS of any kind goes back to
| the earliest history of the race. 1t
may be prehistoric, but we know that
the earliest garments of men were
wrapped about the legs with strings or
vines, TO keep the material compact
| against the flesh. Therefore, when we
revive this ancient and honorable Gus
| tom we are going back to the cradle of
| civilization, and it is only natural that
| the Oriental races, where civilization
| began. should have retained this idea
| in the dress for both man and woman.
France sends us many afternoon
| gowns as well as walking skirts
which hang full from a high waistline
| in either plaits or fine gathers and are
tucked in around the legs in some
fashion. to suggest trousers. The BIZ
! furcatlOn Is OFTEN In front, not III DICK,
and some of the great dressmakers in
France drop plated panels of ornate
needlewOrk in the Slavic fashion down
! the front of the garment from bust to
| hem of skirt, in order TO hide the bifur-
| cation; but il is there just the same.
This silhouette, which, keep in mind.
is patterned after the Oriental idea of
trousers, and not the AnglO-SaXOn one,
! gives rise to an artistic variety of
skirts that for the present seem to at
tract several classes of women.
Possibly, in peace times or in an
era of ceremonial social dignity, this
idea would not advance so rapidly
among the women of two continents,
but with millions of women called to
take the places of men, with ceremO-
NAL society simply gone by the board
and with efficiency, utility and the
greater degree of comfort being the
things that women worship today, the
trouSered skirt is gaining Roadway
every week.
Copyright. 1917. by the Mcclure Newspa-
per SyndicateD