Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-11-02
NJ ANNE RTTTExnoUsE.

WOoseu VINO i've DetOW Mason and
Dixon's line. those who owen in the
subtropics. feel that fur is q neces-
sity In their wardrobes.
It Is a thing Of attractiveness, IL
not OF necessity. European women
have held to this creed for years.
The Frenchwomen wear fur on a hot
August day because it enhances their
appearance.
Women have long ceased to regard
clothes In connection with the eli
mate. The calendar is marked up
for social engagements, but not for
change OF seasons
When flannel vanished from under
wear. when the thinnest OF muslin,
crepe and jersey silk took the place
OF the red flannel petticoat and the
wooden shirt with the long sleeves.
the doom of warm clothes in winter
and cool clothes in summer was
sounded.
This change Is put down to the
overheated American houses, but this
does not explain the reason for it
in France and England, where the
houses are rarely heated to suit the
American.
So much is put down in France to
our overheated houses including the
deathrate of our doughboys in the
trenches from exposure and flu 1t
Is quite true that the French did not
have as large deathrate from the
latter disease as the Americans, and
the serious. doctors consider that this
was due to the inurement Of the
French to damp, cold weather and
their century old practice of drink
Ing Notwithstanding wines with their
meals.
But all of that2is a question Of health
and not fashion--aIthough the doc
tors as we'll as the hygienists insist
that women have gone too far in the
elimination of clothes during winter
weather and that peltry is an excel
lent addition to the wardrobe between
Thanksgiving and Easter, IL it is not
too heavy or thick.
The height of opulence in other
days in America was the possession
Of a sealskin coat. Fantastic neck
pieces. capricious collars and shoulder
Women banked their hope of social
success on fur coat-and to some
extent this strong desire has re-
turned.
Those who possess fur coats know
that they are often costly possessions
that do not give one-eighth OF the
service expected. There are some
times entire winters in America when
the fur coat is too burdensome to
be borne. when a scarf about the
neck Is all the peltry that the full.
blooded American can stand. New
York and Chicago have such winters
as well as Georgia and Tennessee.
We do not have an equable climate
We can never settle down on any
one schedule Of clothes. Our climate
is not mapped out into sections of
rain. cold. heat and snow; they are
liable to be mixed up any month Of
the year.
It Is this chaotic condition Of eli.
mate. this change in the degrees Of
cold and heat. that make the fur coat
a doubtful experiment when one mere
ly considers comfort.
Women are women, however, and
will remain SO till the end. and IL
they want fur coat they are quite
willing to forego other sartorial and
social enjoyments and put all their
money into a thing that may turn
out to be white elephant.
X X X
And this season the fur coat Is tho
fashion. 1t Is both short and long.
1t Is wrapped about the figure or
hangs straight from shoulders to hem.
1t Is in the form Of q sacque or a
cape, 1t has armholes that touch the
wrists or sleeves that envelop the
knuckles. It is made of one or two
furs and sometimes more, 1t is sup
pie and gorgeously lined. and, no mat
ter how common the animal from
which the hide was taken, the price
kicks itself against the stars. This
is the way with all clothes this win
ter; in truth, with all commodities.
The raccoon and the possum, the
goat and the rabbit, the squirrel and
the backyard cat may not consider
themselves superior animals. They
have always been modest and hum
BILE, Sinking around the byways of
the world to get food and escape the
band Of man: but today they are