Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-01-19

biAtecH. IHe EHSliSu Cdll HeT
the "aapper," and the Anglo
Saxon world uses the expression,
whether or not 1t approves of It. In
America 1t Is not liked, but no one has
risen to put this type of young person
In niche and give her a name.
And she Is quite important. She de-
serves strong appellation--a quick.
vibrant. significant name for her class,
her type and her virility. We have
buried under the cobwebs of oblivion
the Sweet sixteen phrase. Booth
Harrington has made the one word
seventeen" classify, at least for
America. the youth of our land. with
Its awkward, stumbling tendencies to-
ward manhood. Its budding emotion
alism sternly suppressed through
pride and shame, it's desire for girls
company and it's contempt for that
desire. But If we applied the single
poised, self-assured, highly educated
superintendent, adventurous class of
tall, slim thing that spread over the
land, usually setting the pace for their
mothers fashions, it would be puerile
N X
No novelist has risen to classify this
yOuHS pclHE, w iio 10
product of the hour and the mental
movements of the world far more than
any other of the humans that live on
this planet. Louisa Alcott has no
twentieth century prototype. The
girls she created are as dead as last
years leaves. They would not arouse
enthusiasm in the most simple minded
school girl of this hour. Pollyanna is
not descriptive of the girl as we
Anglo SaXons know her. There was an
effort made to signify all young girl
hood in that characterization, but that
"Oh, be joyful" attitude is treated
with as much contempt by the intelii-
rent sixteen-ye year older as by the super
animated pessimist.
On the other hand, it is difficult to
be pessimistic If one keeps close to
the side of girls of that age. Their
outlook on life. their faith In them
selves and the world, their unbounded
ability to find pleasure unaided by
any one else, renews youth in middle
age. They are no longer creatures
held on leash. They are rarely asked
by their mothers. and they usually
take IAN intelligent part in the man
agement Of their home, its social en-
vironments, its financial expenditures,
its ideals and Its ambitions.
Granting these things-and every
one does grant them who has had any
close companionship with the typical
American girl-it Is natural that her
and not only strong. but usually ex-
ceedingly good. She dresses herself.
as q rule better than her mother can
dress her. 1t Is rarely that she is not
consulted in every detail of her ward
robe. and given the bride when she
wants to gallop down her own path.
Working downward--or upward,
rather--through these psychological
phases Of girlhood among the Anglo
saxons. and especially the North
Americans, one finds the reason for
the establishments of many success
full dressmaking houses which cater to
young girls. Few of the great estab-
lishments here or abroad neglect the
''fapper." From the time she is twelve
until she makes her bow to society at
eighteen she Is catered to by houses
that expend much ingenuity and brill
liancy Of workmanship on her es-
are familiar with Paris know that
Jeanne Lanvin made the foundation Of
her fortune through the peculiar
adaptability she exhibited in pleasing
house of Cheruit also made a good
share of its success by that first floor
on the Place Vendome which was
given over to young girls
* X
LWO VI lHe important HudHcldl sue
cesses In the dressmaking world of
New York started with the schoolgirl.
Fifth avenue houses who cater to
dowagers and sensational young ma
irons have determined this year to
place young girls clothes in their
salons Youngsters who try to look
like Mary Pickford are often used as
ii mannequins, but they have not been
success because the .Sixteen-year- older
doesn't wish to look like Mary Pick
4. ford. She wouldn't be caught with
scurls down her back, a sweet smile
and chubby legs below short skirt.
She often produces the most extreme
/ fashions, which her older sister and
her mother copy. She is the type, one
might claim, for all the fashions of
the civilized world today. That's
sweeping statement, but just run over
the gamut Of fashionable clothes for
4 the last five years and see II you don't
Z come to that conclusion. The bobbed
hair, the short skirt, the round neck,
the baby sleeves, the Hashes the but
tcned-down-the-b back frocks, the short
coats--these are the fashions that have
ruled the world and have begun in the
schoolroom.
The youngster of sixteen chooses
materials for her own clothes that are
the same as those worn by her elders,
whom she envies little these days. be-
cause she rules q world OF her own