Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-12-07

- y
IS Concerning
;eessories..
done wherever women order gowns
for dinners and dances.
X
It is difficult for the dressmaker to
find substitute for 1t. OF hoop skirts
we will have none, and crinolined hip
extension we discarded almost before
we tried 1t. This obstinacy leaves the
dressmaker In q QUandary unless she
merely goes back to the old trick Of
holding up yards OF uncut material
and draping It over a plain skirt. The
art Of making the drapery form the
skirt itself remains In the hands of a
master. Tits IL essentially Callot's
work: the other In the imitation. Yet
IL serves In q thousand homes. Often
amateurs rush In whore masters fear
to tread. you know: AT least. It is q
pleasing Variant from tho slightly full
straight skirt that needs to be gath
cred At the waistline. and 30 far the
majority Of Americans have looked at
this feature with distrust They have
NO intention as vet of Increasing the
size Of the waist. and box pleats and
gathers can be depended upon to do it.
!, One Of the frequent mistakes made
by dressnhakers in what Is sometimes
called "the selvedge drapery'. Is the
shortening of the sides. This is possi-
BILE on q tan figure. but on a short one
It Is q fault that carries no remedy
but extinction. Another serious mis-
take is to use such .drapery ON an un-
derskirt. that is seven or eight inches
from the floor. unless the 'figure is UNI
usually slender. An older woman, one
who is under i've feet six. should
avoid drapery unless she sees to 1t
that the lower skirt sweeps the an
kles and the lines Of the over drapery
nearly touch its hem. Then she gets
height or length which every woman
over thirty requires. II nature does
not give It to her. then the dress
maker must.
The accepted fashion for shorter
skirts which has come about since
September. possibly induced by France
and by the impression gotten by
Americans who spent the peace sum-
mer In Paris. has upset the easy meth
DDS Of drapery for women who have
not height, however. It has unsettled
them in q decided manner. We have
not adopted the fifteen-inch skirt Of
the French. but the eight-and-a-half-
inch hem IL the regulation length In
the fitting rooms. Extremists are cut
ting skirts even shorter than this. but
they use street frocks for the expert
ment rather than evening ones. .
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when, women wear high boots or
long, Violating spats with the short
eneI street skirts the effect is inf
nttely more pleasing than the ankle
length skirt with its hitch under the
back OF che leg, fashion Of the last
two yaara that was sadly missing. in
grace and artistry. II the American
women had the peculiarly shaped legs
Of the. French, without curve. built
like q. boys leg. with no break at the
ankle. then the very short street skirt
worn with oxfords might not offend.
But nature has formed the American
leg in q different way. Sculptors and
artists say 1t Is all wrong. and that
our tiny ankles areSopposed to all the
precepts Of art, but the American will
60 on through the centuries. however.
considering certain racial character
istics lovely and desirable, regardless
Of the opinion Of critical sculptors.
The trouble, about some Of the short
skirts on the street Is that the .Ameri-
can woman does not seem to adopt the
high boot as frequently as she did last
winter. probably on account of Its
amazing price, but neither does she
take up spats, which materially lower
the cost OF footgear. All ones sum-
mer low shoes can be made to carry
through the winter by the purchase
Of five or ten dollars worth Of uppers.
Possibly the incoming fashion for the
low shoe with a broad tongue and the
blucher sides tied with ribbon or held
by q wide colonial buckle has turned
thoughts away from any other kind off
street foot covering. The shoe shops
are thriving on the sale of this new
shape. One shop has brought out an
exact imitation of the ornamental sill
YER buckle worn since Puritan DAVIS