The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1919-10-04
DRESS
By ANNE RIT TTENHOUSE
Copyright. 1919. by the Nc
Will America like high directorie col
lars put on the new clothes? Is the
question frequently asked in Paris
and answered in the negative.

Paris, September 25.-America will be
asked to accept the high collar this
season on coats and blouses. The open
neck is so rare among the new clothes
in Paris that it is felt to be an acct
dent. 1t looks as though the designer
did not have enough to finish his frock.
The American women insist that it
will not be accepted in our country,
and it is quite true that all Anglo
Saxons strenuously object to the closed
neck; yet when coats have been but
toned up to the chin in Paris, they
have been widely accepted in America;
in truth we only emerged a year or
two ago from those Russian blouse
coats that carried their collars to the
ears.
1t has always been said by the
American that she is quite willing to
have a coat that buttons to the chin
if she can take it off and show low
thin comfortable blouse. But the
French mannequin does not point the
way to any such fashion. She wears
a blouse collar almost as high as the
one on her coat. She keeps her neck
severely covered in the day in order
to make a more vivid change when she
cuts the decolletage of her evening
gown below the waistline in the back.
There is one frock over here which
gives one loopholes through which to
breathe in the shape of oblong open
ings on each shoulder. The mannequin
who exhibits it gives one curious
feeling that clothes are off the tradi-
tiona1 path, for her chin, ears and
mouth are covered and her shoulder
bones and bare legs exposed.
Don't get shocked over the bare legs
1t has been done so commonly over
here for two months, this fashion, that
one ceases to regard it as a novelty.
In truth, all the stockings of gray and
beige, which are the two colors worn,
are of such fine texture that it is diff
ficult to tell whether woman has her
legs bare or uncovered
An American officer said he danced
with young matron during a whole
evening without knowing that she had
bare legs until she asked him if he had
noticed them and what Americans
thought of them.
Some of the individuals use a cop
per powder on the legs, and others use
dull yellow powder. The skin is
rarely dead white. In short, 1t is quite
the fashion to make up the legs for
dance as one makes up the face The
shoes cover a large part of the leg
and so the effect is not as glazing as
one would think.
The Roman cothurnes that have their
straps across the instep with eight
inches up the leg, leave little ribbon or
kid lacings continued for rom for a
stocking to show
BW the question of bare legs is a
far cry from covered necks. France
adopts both at one and the same time,
and she is quite aware of the delight
full incongruity it presents. The French
woman does not consider her bare legs
immodest; she considers them a vio
lent protest against the price of silk
stockings. The high collar is quite
easy to get for there is evidently no
scarcity of material in Paris; the new
knee-length jackets are amply cut
with umbrella folds at the hips, a
broad pleat down the back and long
sleeves. The high muffling collar is
mere detail.
These collars. mind you, do not stop
just under the chin and push up the
flesh into an ugly line below the jaw;
they rise well above the chin and hide
all the defects that the lower part of
the face may have. They are not
straight like a coachman's collar. They
are not rolled backward like the
Robespierre collar. They are after
the manner of those worn by the Brit
ish squires of Raeburn's day. only the
British squire called it a stock. They
have a slight curve in to the neck
after they leave the collar band. then
spread upward and outward and are
turned over on themselves at the top
for about an inch. The blouse collar
is made in the same manner.