Middletown transcript., 1918-09-07
Midsummer Calls
For Cool Clothes

summer has seen a distinct change
from what has been.
The linen skirt, gored at the top.
slightly flaring at the hem, and but
toned down the front, is thing of the
past to great majority of women who
are well dressed by instinct, or because
they follow the movement Of the
crowds. Any skirt is worn but a linen
one.
Sweaters in Evidence.
Certain shops say that the sale OF
sweaters for the autumn is small, but
they add that the spring sale was good.
We see sweaters in every shop, despite
the conservation of wool decree. We
see women knitting sweaters for them
selves and their children, and not for
the soldiers and sailors. We read that
colossal department shops have an un-
usual quantity of yarn and are willing
to sell it at moderate prices.
Yet, if one judges fashion by fash
ionable folk, the c0lored, knitted
sweater has had its day in silk or wool.
It is sometimes worn under jackets,
on days in the open that need warmth,
when the affair is a picnic, yachting
trip or an automobile tour. Otherwise
it hangs in the closets of the homes Of
fashionable women. However, its lack
of fashion has not deprecated its mon
etary value, for yarn is an expensive
thing to buy and most intricate and
difficult thing to obtain.
What We Wear in the Open.
The economical reasons for discard.
ing the white linen skirt, the knitted
wooden sweater and the ornamental.
white muslin blouse are based on ex-
pensive laundry and scarcity of ma.
terial, plus scarcity of labor.
= Those large sectors of American so
aiety that considered this three-piece
costume the most reliable basis for
their summer wardrobes, imagined
their taste simple and inexpensive. It
was neither. Today the propaganda
against nOn-essentials, and the CONVEX
sion of them into active service for the
country have caused the scales to fall
from the eyes of thousands of women
as to the expense Of the costumery
they adopted.
We expect six more weeks of warm
weather, and therefore, we have no
absorbing interest in new October
clothes. We want to know what is to
be worn, and we are most interested
in what we hear is being shown in
Paris, but at this moment we are strug-
Cling with the proposition of enliven-
ing our wardrobe in such a manner
that it will keep us going until the
first frost.
AS the nation has gotten into the
habit Of living in the country until
there is growing ten
tlency to keep ones August clothes in
active service by means of top coats
and wooden stockings. It must be ad-
mitted that the present emergency
calls women into town nearly every
LAY, and they may not continue to stay
in the country as long as November,
but the majority will insist on wearing
their summer costumery as long as the
and convention permit.
And right here comes in the excellent
good taste of the present midsummer
costumes. Their very departure from
the sweater and the separate white
skirt permits them to serve at other
seasons.
This is the stringent motto that must
run the warp ami wool of our lives
now: to buy that which can be worn
IN as many days. at as many occa-
'ions as economy dictates. In short,
We have accepted the European way Of
PRESSING for hot weather. 1t may not
appear cool on the surface, but inven-
ion, which must 90 hand in hand with
necessity, has shown women how to be |
,ool and clean in dark costumes, or in !
of dark and light clothes.
Copyright, 1918, by the Mcclure News |
paper SyRdicate)