Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-01-28
OfMtereSttOWOn1en
THE VOGUE OF ITALIAN GOWNS
BY ANNE RIT'TENHOUSE.

done in n few of the new frocks thai
come over here for the spring.
Poiret is the great advocate of the
oriental anlSlet which suggests trousers
Lanvin IL tho sponsor for the Italian
gowns Of the romantic period. Tho two
have been cleverly combined ana DO not
offend the taste.
Last autumn Poiret put out n smash
ing black gown with deep Moroccan nnk-
lets OF turquoise and silver. There was
nothing In the effect to shock the con-
servative. As every one knows, these
skirts confined to the ankles are adopted
by those countries that compel their
women to cover every part of the body
and dress In n most modest manner,
These women would be scardalized to
see the average American in evening
costume. And yet. such Il strange race
are the Anglo-Saxons. with such queer
notions of prudery. that the average
woman and nearly all the men consider
the oriental skirt, the trousered effect,
the deep anklet that holds in the fulness
of the skirt hem, as n piece OF i'm
modesty, something shockingly immoral
that suggests the dancers OF the east
Anklets and Flowing Sleeves.
Now, to branch off from the Turkish
anklets, as we call thcm-but which
Poiret ascribes to Morocco. being far too
Gallo to permit a Turkish costume to
parade in his house-there bobs up the
question Of the Italian sleeve. In itself
it was a very attractive feature of the
frocks in Paris last autumn. Today it
has arrived in America and is combined
with this oriental trousered skirt
It's a strange mixture: but designers
know no laws and care little from what
countries. or periods. or cycles their
various fashions are drawn and COM
mingled. If they can attract attention
to the costume, that is what they wish
After all, if one gets down to the
basis of these two fashions-the stiff.
wide. flowing sleeve and the supple leg
covering called an anklet. they are both
to be found, in effect at least, in the
mems costumes of Arabia and Persia
To the majority of women the sleeve
is the important innovation not the
jeweled or embroidered anklet that holds
the skirt against the legs. Do not
imagine for a moment that the flowing
sleeve is the kind introduced by dan
GER five years ago and copied by
great mass of young women. 1t is not
transparent, this new sleeve: it is stiff
with embroidery done in tinsel threads :;
it stands out like the sleeves of Russian
costumes, of the holiday attire of Slavic
nobility.
Some of these sleeves are thickly en-
crusted with gold and silver threads and
colored crystals They are sleeves de
luxe. They are suggestive of all that
was brilliant in ancient costumery
They were worn in Italy in the fifteenth
century. and France exploited them
when Catherine de Medici came, at IL
later date, to be Queen of France.
The black satin gown shown in the
sketch gives you an idea of what these
sleeves and anlllets look like when they
are attached to a simple frock The
sleeves are heavily embroidered with
red crystal beads. unlined, and latticed
with tinsel thread. They hang loose and
full from an underbodice.
The anklets arranged at the hem
of the skirt are embroidered to match
the sleeves There is a conspicuous belt
of scarlet crystal embroidery, with a
heavy tassel of tinsel threads