Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-05-06
Of Interest TO Women
PANEL DOWN BACK OF NEW FROCK.

with its long, broad waistcoat that
serves as a bodice; another Is the float
ing panel.
The latter is used as a background in
the form of an attenuated cape. and IL
is also used at each side of the skirt
| and knees
Praise should be given to the floating
panel. 1t serves woman who wants
to dress we'll and economic at the
same time. just as wings serve a bird.
The floating panel has something of the
swirl and swing of a free thing: 1t never
! suggests to the beholder that it is used
! to disguise ugliness or awkWardness
or stinginess.
| gown it may re made of any material
that occurs to fine woman who wants it.
There are bl6ck chiffon gowns with
black silk nef panels edged with mon
key fur; there are thin blue serge
gowns with back panels of black satin
there are thin jersey silk frocks which
have these panels of heavy jersey silk
edged with colored Angora wool.
An Unusual Gown.
Among all the vagaries which the
dressmakers have turned out, probably,
the trick of one French designer has
the strongest tOuCn- OIL novelty dDoul
it: it is of MORE silk ~soutached at the
edges with high rolling collar at the
top, and is tied around the neck with
blue ribbons. The slim little frock be-
meath is of Chinese blue crepe de chine.
The world of fashion has been almost
oriSntaliZed by this method of swing
ing drapery at the back of the figure in
ORDER to form a background against
which the woman herself seems but
coIorful shadow.
I'VE have been saturated with the
orient on the stage since the Russian
ballet burst upon our brain with it's
vital colorings that almost gave one
a headache. Then came "Chu Chin
Chow" with its swirl of draperies, its
color, its silhouetted women against
backgrounds of gold, and smoke and
bronze and Persian blue. Unconsciously,
through the influence Of all these ORR
entail plays, dances and fancy dress
balls. the dressmakers have put in a bit
of background drapery on our modern
clothes.
This drapery takes away from the
occurrences of a solid dark color from
head to heels; it relieves. in a most
graceful and agreeable manner. the
pencil-like slimness of the war woman
in her conservation frock. 1t does all
that the graceful people of other climes
and epochs intended it should do in the
way of curving lines about slim
figure.
The women of the directoire period
knew this well, for when Nine. Tai
lein-the Queen Of Rags and Patches
and Josephine, who afterward became
Napoleon's empress. were the hostesses
for Barras in his palace, they forced
upon the French public the fashion Of
draped backgrounds to all costumes.
Cape Accents Silhouette.
The voluminous, floating drapery
which we now call cape. is the final
expression of this method Of placing a
background for woman's figure.
One may think that the cape, in its
present swirling form, enlarges the
figures or gives to woman too gener-
Gus proportions for the hour, but,
strange to say, it does neither OF these
things.
The woman who has taken on undue
flesh can wear a cape which is cut after
a certain pattern and which 1engthens
her lines and DISCUSSES her curves. That
is all that the modern woman asks of
fashion. Let us hope that the woman
with the curves will not be the first to
rebel at the more and more attenuated
diet which is asked Of US!
The whole world has paid attention
the dieting measures with so much pa
thence. skill and enthusiasm. But why
shouldn't they? They have been living
on the theory of eating SO that they
may grow thin. of leaving out wheat.
cereals -four, sugar, sweets and milk
from their diet in order to remain
emaciated. SO there is no possible rea-
son for them to rebel at measure
which saves food for those who care
not what they eat and which enables
them to keep slim.
The American woman, therefore. as
well as her sisters in France and Eng
land. may grow thin with improvement
to her looks and to her digestion by do
ing for patriotic reasons what she
should always have done for reasons Of
vanity