Evening star., 1919-06-22

MED AT ONE SIDE WITH A LONG
GREEN OSTRICH FEATHER.
clothes that were mere shreds and
patches.
So quickly was the thing accom-
plished in Paris, so rapidly did London
follow the example, that woman who
has arrived in those cities from New
York writes home that her long skirt
and partly high bodice in the evening
are looked upon with merriment, as
though she had escaped from the pages
of an old fashion book or come from
some queer provincial center where
modern clothes were not worn.
Now, we in America have been
amusing ourselves over the contrast
between the French clothes and the
American ones. We have dwelt much
upon the fact that woman who
brought over a Paris frock with the
skirt Ave inches below the knees was
compelled to 60 home and have 1t
heightened before she could appear in
public again.
abroad. we get the other side of the
shield.
They say we look shockingly out Of
the picture. Our long tight skirts are
openly laughed at by the midinettes.
Our street bodices with the long
sleeves and the turnover collars are
gazed at with merriment by the Dress
makers whom the Americans 60 to see.
In fact. we are joke over there; not
us, but our clothes.
k*
Paris herself merely leaped back into
the most fragrant days of the direc-
toire the moment her cannon stopped
firing. This type of dressing has be-
come so familiar and accepted in Paris
and London that nothing else is con-
sidered fashionable.
The open channel to America was
quickly filled in by flotilla Of these
fashions, and today wherever smart
women dance or dine, or meet in their
own homes the short skirt and the
disappearing bodice have been copied
from France.
or the short skirts we have heard
much. They have reached a brevity
that is astounding. They are not COM
monty accepted in America. but they
may be. They rule in Europe.
OF the bodices that disappear after
they pass the side of the figure we
have heard little. They are very sig
nificant, however, in this scheme of
undressing, one might say. instead Of
dressing.
They are not confined to French
actresses nor to dancers. They are
worn in the large centers in America
by women who follow the fashions.
who are daring. but who are rarely
criticised.
II they are not accepted in their
entirety among the suburbanites or
among those in smaller cities than
New York, they are at least precursors
Of a new and extravagant fashion.
To be more definite, 1t might be well
to say that these bodices worn today
are practically backless. The human
figure supplies the space left by the
bodice
There are various ways Of holding
the sides and front Of the blouse to
the shoulders and waist of the wearer.
1t is just here that ingenuity steps in
and makes one backless bodice differ
from another. In this way all have
chance for popularity. and each wom-
an can follow out her own peculiar
and individual wishes.
1t is a curious phase, but one that
does not startle those who study the
whirligig Of women's apparel. 1t is
usually the case that the bodice which
is exceedingly low in back Is high In
front, and the other way around.
The worlds opinion inclines toward
the idea that the bodice which is high
In front is more modest than the one
which is low in front and high in back.
1t is possible because Of this well
known opinion that the backless bodice
has its chance for popular acceptance.