The Washington herald., 1918-01-27

cally different or conslStenIy cndTh-
ing persons than Irene Bordoni. the
little Partisan chanteuse with Kay
rnond Hitchcock last week; Marilynn
Miller, the ingenue dancer Of Fancy
Free" and our own Elsie Janis, who
Is anyone she wants to be from
George Cohan to the divine Sarah?
Such varying types, of course, re-
quired vastly different costuming.
Mile. Bordonfs brilliant gowns were
redolent Of the Paris of the bolue-
wards; Marilynn Miller. when she
wasn't floating around like a sort OF
fairy SNOWFALL in her ballet dress,
was frocked in a most debutanteish
manner; while Elsie Janis, well, she
was Just Elsie Janis.
When the curtain rings up on
"Hitchy-Koo,' Mile. Bordoni. as
Claire de BouIllon. a gay little cocotte.
Is disporting herself at the Spanish
resort Of st. Sebastian. much to the
delight of Hiram Brown, the mayor
of Ashtabula, who doesn't seem TO
that dear Ohio.
Some Little Smasher.
But you wouldn't have blamed him
IL you had seen the piquant Claire,
who broke conventions and hearts
with equal impunity. Her gown OF
blue-green velvet was embroidered
Iazishly in gold with wide sleeves OF
Georgette cuffed with the embrotd-
cred velvet. A sweeping brimmed hat
Of gold lace was topped on with
big bIue-green ostrich plume. The
ensemble was somehow rather remi-
yIsiscent Of Anna Held. sUpposing An
na had ever been a brunette
When the curtain next rose, Mile.
Bordoni was found right at home in
dear old New York in a modern
dancing school Dancing is strenuous
work. so Mile. Bordoni alternates
two gowns for this part Of her per-
formance. In the afternoons she ap-
pears in a creation Of shimmering
pink sequins clinging closely about
the feet and terminating in a slinky
little train. One arm is unburdened
by even the thought Of a sleeve, while
the other is encased in a flyaway
bit of black tulIe caught in at the
elbow with an armlet or jet. A broad.
high girdle of black velvet ribbon
adds TO the chic of the ensemble. At
night. our little Parisienne wears
glittering creation of white sequins
made on much the same lines as the
gown worn in the afternoon except
of a rose tint so vivid that it yerges
on scarlet is fastened in the front
of the corsage. With both dresses,
Mile. Bordoni wears an aUdacious
little hat of black velvet with tower
ing black paradise plumes soaring
a couple of feet higher than her coif-
fure. Clothes aren't everything, but
these chic gowns are an effective aid
in getting Mile. Bordonis French
version of "Over There" over with a
nerve that makes the sophisticated
Washington audiences sit up and ap-
plaud with the enthusiasm of a bunch
Of Yale undergrGds.
In An 1860 Costume.
Later in this act. Mile. Bordoni ap-
peared in denure 1860 costume. The
wide cTiIoline was concOcted of five
or six fiounces of fairylike Valen-
ciennes lace over white satin. while a
close-fitting bodice of white satin was
partially covered by a quaint, little
round cap of the VaIenciennes.
The quietude of this costume must
have reacted upon Mile Bordoni for
in the last act. when every body is
back 1t that so delightful San Sebas-
tian, she has completely cast aside the
trappInEs Of femininity and is all
logged up in a boys suite of white
fiannels. You suddenly realize what
Percy Wenrich had in mind when he
wrote, "Oh. boy! Oh, joy
Palm Beach is a long way from ST.
Sebastian, but you'll have to make the
trip If were going to discuss Fancy
Free and Marilynn Miller. You un-
derstand. of course. that Fancy Free"
Is just the story of a rather large day
at the millionaire winter resort.
In act one of this care-free musi-
cal show, Marilyn is making an aw-
full bid for a certain Prof. Hybrow
And how could the professor help
falling for this ingenious maiden in
her sport suit of robins egg blue
and white silk jersey. The skirt
is of the closely plaided white jer-
sey. while the little jacket is of the
robins egg blue with a wide butter
fly sash. The matching hat to this
suit is of Panama with a crown of
robins egg blue jersey and a W
shaped section cut out of the front
of the brim. Marilyn never wears
this hat, although it is very be-
coming. She always carried it in
her hand Il put it on once and
my hair was so rumpled that I look
ed perfectly wild in the next act"
she explains.
Ivory Shadow Lace.
When Miss Miller makes her ap-
pearance in the second act, she sings
Love Comes Stealing And very
lovely she looks in a little garden
frock of ivory silk shadow lace
Each delicate fiounce on the skirt
is edged with flesh tinted satin. A
wide belt of turquoise blue satin
and gay blossoms of ribbon en-
bt oidery that blossom on skirt and
bodice complete the adOrnment. And
OF course. there is big garden hat
Of lace with bright blue and pink
flowers to wear for the afternoon
stroll.
In her last song. "Rat-a-tat-tat,"
Miss Miller knocks at the hearts of
her audience SO persuasively that they
take her right in. With her yellow
curls bobbing about her shoulders she
looks as IL she had stepped right off
sne Of those lovely paper lace yaIen-
lines that we all used to get on Feb
ruary 18th The foundation Of her
fairylike evening frock is Of close
plated shell pink Georgette. over this
there are hung about a dozen stream
srs Of wide faille ribbon in shell pink.
Each streamer terminates in a little
bunch of pastel-tinted French flowers
and Is fastened to the foundation
skirt In addition to shoulder straps