Evening star., 1918-03-24
Question Of Clothes ECONOMY for Spring Has Variety of Am

of France as a chaotic. revofttnG.
vilian-against-civilian republic. tnst
she must regard with horror eooay
when she sees something OF IT. peo1e-
type in the Russian situAf3on oe -
hour.
But these short sleeves, which vese
worn in the dtrectoire with every ~
Of gown. and which were practically
ooxersd by rane old caahmsro shxWk.
are not the only s1a0rt ones that tn1D
spring has produced We ere evtdonk1y
in for a reign Of abheSvfatsA Gxm oov-
erinea. inspiration for which h.s essa
gotten from all the centuries
One or two of the dinnar e0wns 0Usa
60 back to the French psrteA known -
the EpoQue Romaine. In these one arm
Is left entirely bare: the other covered
tunic.
So fa- the tight elbow sleeve worn
under tha reign OF Louis XVI has not
reappearsd. but we arc ,Anly at the be-
ginning nf this recrudescence OF short
sleeves. and we must axpect . doSen
varieties to be thrust upon n - the
season advances. PpnsibIy an the
sleeves of the various epochs that have
been famous in French hissay win -
revived
Tha jackets Of the hour ha0e . a3mp1A,
straight, elbow sleeve Few of them
have the pear-shaped opening msd In
with rufles. but here and there 3ne sees
satin jacket finished in such . FASH
ion. and this gives strength 70 the
prophecy that this sleeve win return
as a substitute for the mannish coat
sleeves that have been installed with.
out rivalry for many years.
Another change in the direction Of
fabrics across the body has been made
by the French, and to follow 4 Will re-
quire ingenious alterations on the part
of the American woman. Evidently
there is an idea that tho tevse the
buttons the better the :sosk. We have
gone back to the ttme WhAn 0xtngB
held fabrics together. and ne oloeA vao
cut in such q way that 8 pS0a4noA
where 1t was placed ON Ia body.
Possibly II would be Tanea coEnpeo-
hensive to put the whole thing into
the statement that the more ~ are
wrapped across the body the bettsr
dressed we are today.
This movement of fabric finds N
most commonplace exploitation IN tie
surplice bodice or jacket. Afternoon
gowns and the most elaborate evening
frocks have bodices that are merely
elongated scarfs with armholes. They
wrap around the figure at the waist
line and tie back. front or sides.
Separate surplice bodices are not con.
sidered too ignoble to be attached to .
brilliant evening skirt When the lat
ter is of diaphanous and frivolous TAB
ric the bodice may be of satin. bsOcAAo
or tissue, and when il finishes tts bia9
movement about the figure ii - hoa0
at the side with a great gold rosa
Gathering up all the reins Of d1DcuD-
sion into one hand, it would seem that
the spring will have a variety Of prob
lens, mostly interesting.
The clothes from France dGmAA1
alteration or else new purchases One
side of patriotism demE3ts hat wumoa
spend what they can AFFORD so that
others may live; another sort Of po-
triotism believes in saving every cent
to give to war relief work, and others
believe in being merely faahio sAblo
and following the trend Of their espe-
cial set or neighborhood- The mer.
=. chants are arguing; the dreSxuAkerU
are talking. the publicists are spuak.
ing about clothes; the council OF de-
fense is advising this way and tAaf:
bodies of women are coming out with
new creeds concerning conservasion
and standardization Of clothes-and -
there's a merry, merry to-do about it
all News and gossip anS dhscussfon
OF clothes whistle down every wind. It
Is an interesting time not only for tho
merchants, but for the reporter anA
the public