Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-06-23
BY ANNE RITTENHoUsE.
NN1HERE is no getting away from
the Paris situation in it's
cause and effect upon clothes.

the Paris situation in its
cause and effect upon clothes.
This nation, like others, has
leaned upon that one city of the uni
verse for its inspiration, guidance and
material and artistic help in the max
ing, selling and exploiting of wom-
ems apparel.
To have the bonds weakened that
connect US with Paris is to have the
feeling that a child has when its
mother turns it loose and tells it to
walk alone to the nearest chair. There
is in the minds of the buyers, we
imagine, something of the panic that
must come to the young brain when
it knows that it must depend upon
nothing but its own legs for support
in a wide oasis of space.
We did not get this feeling when
lle war broke, because two or three
= thousand gowns were assembled in
public under the sound of the cannon
: nearing Compiegne. Even the sub
marine menace did not break the
bond for the succeeding two sum-
mers. but it perceptibly weakened
after last season, and now we are
confronted with a situation in this
country that has grown to strength
and Importance in the last few weeks.
X X
The hand of the government. with
its five fingers gripping every part of
the continent, has reached out and
touched those women who have made
their living by shutting across the
ocean and bringing back to America
what it wanted from France. The
government has said that no women
shall have passports, unless they are
going to work for the war. and even
then they cannot be se1f-appointed
missionaries or impulsive emotional
lists. They must be sent for by work
ers over there, and they must give
guarantee that the work will be done.
and that in every way they will full
fill their mission to the best of their
ability.
The government has insisted upon
narrowing down the travellers to a
mere thin thread, and in this thread
there must be no women, except those
in uniform whose nerves have been
tested
France and England took this step
three years ago. The women in France
have looked with establishment and
incredulity upon the battalions of
American women who have constant
ly gone in and out of Paris since the
war began. The English have envied
.theR, too, for they were compelled
to remain in certain districts and only
Ego to Flanders under the protection
of the government and for reasons Of
its own. French women have con-
sidered a trip to the Notifications
that surround Paris as a little jour
ney into the world. They may go to
Deauvil1e when the season is at its
height in August, but they cannot go
in any other direction. and their per-
mits and passports are so difficult to
get that thousands of women prefer
to remain in the serenity Of their own
homes rather than attempt anything
SO hazardous as an hours journey
from Paris.
America. in its reckless Indulgence
of all caprices, in it's unlimited Curl
osity gratified by the wherewithaI to
travel, has allowed its women to run
to and fro throughout the belligerent
lands and to run across the ocean al
most as often as in times of peace.
Now, we, like France and England,
are to be restricted. 1t seems a pity
to many that woman buyers who are
willing to go to Paris to bring back