The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-04-14

able skirt and slip on a loose jacket with a white shirtwaist, will not have her wish gratified this season, if she expects to remain in fashion.
 Skirts are not especially comfort able to tho careless woman. because they must be simply cut and narrow at the hem. and they are really in- tended for slim women. Jackets are not loose. and they cannot be care less1y adjusted. They have narrow shoulders, tight armholes, long sleeves. slim under-arm lines. and they need to be adjusted over figure that is prop erly dressed from the skin up.
 It is said that all the corsets and lingerie had to be changed to corre- spond with the new costumes, and one can well believe it. If one's outer garment Is to be cut after the silhou- cite of . pencil, there can be no com fort to the wearer unless the corset and the lingerie are correspondingly cut There must be no gathers at the hips no rough lines at the waist, no f0llness across the bust, no bungling at the armholes caused by undershirts or chemises. Tho woman who is about to step into ono of these new and accepted tailored suits or gowns, must be as shipshape as a race horse going to the track There must not be one unnecessary ounce of clothing on her. nor . single curve or bulge or bit of massed material from neck to heels Unless she learns that lesson and learns 1t thoroughly, she may as well pass by the new American and French clothes and wear the loose, full ones of . year ago.
 NEW FRENCH DRAPERIES
 The severity that America lays down for us in the morning is easily changed into . floating gracefulness as laid down by France for the late afternoon and evening.
 It Is yet to be seen whethea America will go in extensively for aft ernoon gowns, according to the French custom. but there is one thing of which We are quite certain; if the American woman likes an afternoon gown, she will wear 1t through the evening, un- less some formality of entertainment demands more ornamental frock.
 France has cut her silhouette as slim as tho American designer has cut 1t for tailored costumes, but France gives note of the first empire in the seduc- tive way in which she drapes this narrow foundation with floating. transparent material
 Ao SAtCn lS il0t toHl1Hcu 10 house costumes; 1t plays good role in street gowns also. in a modified and de- mure manner. A tunic of Georgette crepe, for example. will be dropped over a slim underslip of silk or satin. and the sleeves will float away from the arms and como back suddenly to the wrists. where they arc tightly caught in. But this gown will not be accepted by the American woman for the street She will cling to her newly revived tailored frock or suit. and she will keep, that French thing for the afternoonso or evening.
 FRENCH CLOTHES ALLOW
 ECONOMY
 There is a strong note of economy struck in these new French clothes. which Is heard by the woman who is hiring a seamstress to build up her spring wardrobe at home. It shows the way to alter old gowns into new ones. The majority of women own evening frocks that have good founda- tions. the skirts a trifle too full, it ia true, but otherwise ready to serve as the beginning of a new frock. The alteration in the skirt is simple one 1t consists of straightening out all tho seams. so that there is no flare from the hips down.
 This trick is going on in all the sewing rooms of tho continent, for the straight skirt is so we'll estab- lished that even the casual woman has observed that eho Ia antiralv out of