The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-09-28

that their fullness reaches it's widest di- rnensions over the hips is statement that dismays the stoutest heart among women.
 If one wants the silhouette of the hour. as it is shown in the new Paris clothes, one can look at picture by velasques to get it in its extremest form, but even then one will not have gotten a complete conception of the ar tificial figure of the woman of the hour as it is formed by her new frock
 The Spanish panier which, in its day. was a humorous adaptation of the large baskets balanced on each side of a don- key, the commonest form of transporta- tion and which one sees today on Span ish and Italian roads, is revived. These paniers were initiated in the 17th cen- tury in apparel, by sumptuous fabrics and the women of the court tried to rival each other in the width of the puckram that dstended the hip line. It was not the era of the hoop skirt; that artificiality gives a different silhouette from what is launched today.
 The Spanish panier is a straight dis tension of the hip line. which permits the material to fall in lamp shade effect to it's hem. This hem does not flare. It is not as wide as the hip line. It has & tendency to curve inward toward the leg.
 At some of the big houses there are not even any notifications of this Span ish skirt of another century; splendid gowns are built of metallic tissues, bull lion fringe and embroideries to reflect the extravaganza of day that left its impress on the whole world. Other gowns merely admit the sway of the Spanish panier by incorporating fullness at the hips. There are few gowns that lie flat on the hips. Jackets, long and short are arranged so that their full ness juts out from the side of the waist line and becomes overhanging caves to a drapery of the skirt that also distends the hip.
 crinoine is plentiful, but it is not used at the knees or hem of skirts. Its duty is to hold out the fullness exactly below the waist line, and its mission done, it does not appear again in the frock. This crinoline is of various kinds, not always cheap and commonplace, as the name suggests but often of metallic threads that show through transparent fabric, and, in disclosing their identity, also disclose the reason for their pres ence.
 Each house has it's own way of hand ling the panier, and one set of cos tunes is therefore more graceful than another. It takes a daring woman to wear the genuine velasquez skirt. but for the stout, the middle-aged and even the conservative women there are types of clothes with fullness at the hips that are very acceptable.
 As the season progresses dozens of new methods of obtaining fullness at the waist line will appear, and the sl- houette will be modified, recast and will probably settle down into a safe and sane fashion. At the present hour 1t Is quite aluring. especially as it Pfves the American commercialists Q new ,.ting to offer.
 It is really not new; it was advanced last Febuary. and several months be- fore American houses had determined to demobilize the short scant skirt and bring in those with the peg-top outline and the fnllness that did not disclose the actual measurements of the hip. The type of fullness which is described | es umbrella folds, and also the huge pocket, gaping open at the hips. and | boldly ornamented to accentuate it's | presence are old features to the Ameri- | can dressmakers. Therefore, a great l deal of the new fullness the hips | which is the dominating part of the | new silhouette, as it is so-called, is a l familiar sight to Americans, and they | well know how to manage it. | It b barely possible. however, that l Nne's old clothes will do for this season. | There may be chance for their altera- I tion
 WIDELY VARYING CLOTHES There is a wide variety of clothes | ahown in Paris and again one feels the !, lack of great leaders Of fashion who sift 1 the ehaff from the wheat and impress a | oertain style upon the entire public |; Whatever gowns are made with fitness on the hips. however, are newer than those worn by the French women all | summer, for the Paris.enne. in contra | distinction to the American, has not de- | viated from the chemise frock and the | tailored suit with It's straight knee l length coat and skirt that reached only | . few inches below ths coat.
 Ono likes to 60 from opening to open | ing at the different houses to make a 1 study of how the hip dimensions are ob- | tained. Summary of them would fill a | small book. Having agreed on the es- | Dential features of the silhouette, the l aressmakers have gone to their salons | with their designers, tC work it out by | their own methods. Che house shows l over . dozen different developments | There is the obvious panier with its 1 cTinoline support that rounds itself out 1 over the hips and balances itself when , the wearer walks exactly as one sees | pair of laden baskets swinging in perfect | balance on the sides of donkey who am- bles along. Ambling mind you, Is the new kind of walk that will have to come with the donkey panier. for ne woman can go briskiy trotting through the streets, or dance the jazz as she coes in Paris, with these huge houlders or her hips. She