The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-11-16


 in the least complacent in her attitude or in the expression of her opinion con- corning the American refusal to wear he extra short skirt and the three-inch sleeve on the street
 The struggle. as you know, was ono that involved more Franco-American arguments than the war. A young ewg'neer just returned from France said tlist he was astounded to see the battle | reen the short and the long skirt g7ss- on as far into America as our
 q horn states; that 1t had followed | rom Serbia in Europe to Georgia IT s.lsrica.
 H the American skirt is growing sh- er everyone is quite aware. One w-s,ld like to say, with the voice of a la uDhet. that 1t will never become knee ;lh, but prophecies are vain these da and prophets are without honor nNfn out of their own country. No e-g knows the facts about anything. Is ia pessimistic attitude of half tho v-r',d: nothing that anyone prophecies ,,n.-rs true. and one has to grasp in
 fe aiue air for optimism and cling to lse to a stick of wood In . stormy
 long American skirt that curved
 The legs and was kicked up by 's nels as the wearer walked, Is . s-.' nt of other days. It served its f..t It gave full value. It created a va words which. as the young en- z. said was echoed from the Bal k,f'i- the Southern states of America, H'H publicity enough for any ono Foo Tt. HoU |, fofe; let 1t go in peace.
 as-omen who own such skirts are hay irs rem cut eight and a half inches feat' he floor. which is the accepted i by the vast majority.
 -sNarrowness has not departed from fhe Snserican skirt It is still slim, s-r mart. and trim. It glides in and n.l the American streets, avoiding IF ilrt the mud and the dust of traf- tl. It displays a rather long swing of ankle. or 1t shows a pair of smartly f ted uppers that are military in ap- iearance and give the wearer something of the swagger air of a doughboy on the march.
 AMERICAN America is simply run WAY. ming true to the line
 that she insists upon in clothes, but she has changed the methods of accomplishing it. When she abandoned the long skirt. she did not abandon the narrow hem She regarded with interest the panniers. and hoops, md crinolines that Paris exploited in August to catch the coin of the Amer leans, then she swept them all aside with a hand of authority and said she would have none of them
 Her tunics and coats have . straight line from shoulder to hem. She accepts a few pleatings on the hips. she ties an enormous sash at one side, and she pulls out the top of her skirt in . braggadocio manner which. if ahe is young, gives her the appearance of . boy holding out the sides of his trousers with his hands in his pockets onr almost expects her to whistle.
 ' 1T choice in evening gowns has be- rorie apparent as the season opens g.f re this she has been wearing hap hazard evening clothes, things that were left from last spring re-arranged frocks from last winter. anything and everything to carry her through her two arduous and tremendous months-- October and November.
 From the first day of October untfl Thanksgiving we all rush about as though we were quite mad and eternity had been shortened to a half hour. No other nation brings to bear such terrific pressure on its women for these two months In the year. Much of 1t is due to our insistent and healthy habit of living in one place in the summer and another in the winter. sending our hordes of children to school and col lege. cleaning our houses as though they were prison camps and needed to be overhauled and cleaned from base ment to cellar.
 But now. with the house somewhat in order. with the children at school. with the young brides having finished their trousseaux, and with the early autumn marriages either over or ready to go through, society takes a deep breath and gets into new harness.
 And by society" one no longer means that particular and peculiar set of human beings who give their lives up to amusement, who have their names in the newspapers. and who occupy boxes at the opera and belong to the best clubs. Society has a broad sense these days. Many people have forgotten it's original meaning. Complexity has entered into our social system and de- prived us of . few words that meant everything. In. the sea of industrial unrest, the word society" has come to mean something that relates to man and his well being. and not to woman and her chances of being invited to a party,
 Once upon . timo there was a ten dancy to believe that society consisted