Evening star., 1920-09-05
First of Seasons Styles Make
Their Appearance in the
Mi1liner's Window-Coif-
fire Commands the Hat.
New materials,
By ANNE RTTTENHoUsE.


By ANNE RTTTENHoUsE.
TINE milliners arc the curtain
raisers in the play called
Fashion 1t might be said
that their act goes on while
the audience is taking its seat This
is not disparaging to the milliners.
1t merely means that they begin
early. Intentionally, and that they
produce in the mind Of the public the
first effect Of a coming drama
They are not rivals Of the dress
makers. They are very close allies.
There is an understanding between
the two, although it may not be pro-
NOTED by formal conferences. No one
has quite understood how this under
denies intimacy with the other. Yet
the public knows that milliners first
Introduce the periods OF dress. the
types Of headgear that closely corre-
spond with the gowns and suits which
are produced later by the dress de-
signera
Both of these exhibitors in the
arena of style are preceded by the
fabric designer. but the cord that con-
meets the former with the latter is
visible.
Those who weave and spin and dye
must start their work year in ad-
vance of any change in fashion, and
they do not take into account any
thing that milliners and dress de-
signers intend to do. The fabric max
ers, therefore, are the pioneers. They
blaze the path. permitting it to twist
and turn. to lead into valleys of fall
rfofy n nj
After their work is finished and
shown to those who design cos
tumery. there is evident cooperation
of mind and viewpoint, even If 1T does
not express itself in business confer
ences. This is why there is 50 little
divergence between the exhibitions of
all those who govern costumery.
The students of dress are more
numerous as the years follow each
other, and they go to museums, to
history, to ancient art for inspiration
after they see the type OF cloth which
tl.ey have to manipulate. The quality
Of this cloth. it's texture and its color
ing are inSpirational to them. Epochs
of history. periods of art, primitive
or classic, are suggestive to the clever
designers, and all those who are
students are apt to arrive at the same
conclusion.
When those who design hats follow
those who design fabrics and show their
wares they have to bear the brunt Of
the never-ceasing complaint of the pub
lie that fashions change too often. This
is an ancient cry. 1t probably started
after Eve discovered the new usage of
a fig leaf. She probably kept her follow
ers changing from one gorgeous tropical
leaf to another, from the rich colors of
autumn to the cool colors of spring, from
the grape to the oak.
II fashion did not change today as
through every period. the public would
be weary of monotony and their cry of
complaint would be as incessant as the
clafnor of a cicada.
In the happy times when good hats
could be bought for $4.9S the public did
not complain so bitterly of change.
There was a time when 500 for a hat
would have resembled the extravaganza
of Catharine of Russia. Today such a
price is common. 1t is still true that
many feel SIS for a hat is the limit of
their extravaganza. but this does not
alter the fact that rich women pay 500
and more for every hat they buy. and
they buy several a season. The milliners
made excuses for their prices by putting
of millinery: now that this plumage is
forbidden in America (although this law
is broken about as often as prohibition)
the excuse for high prices is now put
upon ostrich plumes.
4 4
The strange part Of this business is
that milliner will insist that the feather
on a hat is worth $50. but she. will not
deduct anything like this amount il she
substitutes a splendid plume in the buy
er's possession.
This contradictory spirit runs through
the warp and woof Of trade.
Dressmakers will say, when lace Is in
fashion. that the use of it on a gown
sends the price up in airplane fashion.
~
have precious @ lace substitute f dtStemfr' it and
deduct the amount from the price"
THAT is not possible" sweetly says
the dressmaker.
And there is no use to argue. 1t is
simply not possible. That is the end
of the bargain.
Another phase of this subject is tina.
the seller will insist that plumes and
lace are hard to get. The market is
limited, therefore the price is nearly
prohibitive, they say.
Very. WELL" says the buyer. st have
rare ostrich feathers and ancient lace
to sell. What will you give for them ?"
1T is not possible to buy them"
sweetly says the buyer. And it is
not possible. The two conflicting
statements have never been joined
They remain parts Of a picture puzzle
thing wrong with the statement that
there is a limited market. or the
statement that it is not possible to
buy from an individual, no matter
what the price.
The public must continue to pay
the stupendous prices for hats with
feathers and the milliners will con-
tinue to stick to the original reason.
The public must either accept or de-
cline to buy. The last two years of
extravaganza have taught all those
who sell at any high price whatever
that there are plenty to buy
Will the coming season continue on
these lines? That is the question
that spins around the mind like a
squirrel in a cage. Those who have
masses of money do continue to buy
at the present high prices. Those
who have little money continue to
hold back in the ardent hope that
things will become cheaper.
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