Evening star., 1920-02-01
NATIVE JAPANESE
DRESS THREATENED
Graceful Kimono of Women
Said to Be Giving Away
to U. S. Styles.

According to recent news dispatches
Japanese women are seeking new
dress better suited to modern life
than the graceful kimono. American
machine-made clothes are being con-
S1dered to Supplant the native dress
of the women of Japan.
In this connection a bulletin issued
by the Washington headquarters of
the National Geographic Society says:
Probably in all the world there is
no more charming figure than the
Japanese maiden with tinted parasol,
pigeon-toeing along in the attractive
costume of her race. Throughout the
history of Japanese art there have
been changes of women'S dress, but
wasp waists, balloon sleeves. hoop
skirts and pantalettes have not been
among the fashionable features The
same graceful lines of the kimono
have prevailed in spite of minor
changes, which are as patent to the
Japanese woman as is the difference
between Hudson seal asd plush We
loUr to an American lady or fashion.
EmbOdies Grace and Charm.
Seen at distance of twenty yards,
walking in the shade of the majestic
cryptomerias of Nikko or the bamboo
of the byways. the diminutive Japa-
nese lady, with her bright parasol
and touch of color showing at the
border of her outer kimono. is an
eye-delighting figure. She embodies
grace and coquettish charm. Beside
such an one. if observed from a dis
tance. the empress. gowned in Paris
styles and wearing an enormous
beauty-pIumed foreign hat at her
semi-annual garden parties, seems
sorry figure. Few, indeed, are the
Japanese men who gain dignity from
frock coat and silk hat, but fewer
still are the Japanese women who add
10 their charm by assuming foreign
drvse-
The Japanese feminine costume is
made up of layer after layer of lovely
silks of the brightest hues, all dis
crseily hidden under an outer kimono
Of dark gray or black. Nor are the
kimonos at all standard in pattern.
Sleeve length, fullneSs and score of
more subtle variations cry aloud the
extreme chic of the best dresserS.
Two Main Demands.
ITO the peasant woman, these changes
make little difference. Her main de-
mands are two-convenience and dur
ability. For the field worker in a hot,
damp climate one requisite of the XII
mono is that the upper portion can be
slipped off and tucked under the belt
on hot days, and for the factory worker
it is necessary that the long, dangling
sleeves be girded back, out Of the way
of tools and gears. For durability the
peasant kimono is uneXcelled.
1t is SO constructed that the various
pieces can be fitted together in different
ways SO that what is the bottom edge
today can, after the next washing, be
basted up and down the back, where it
can rest from heavy wear until the
next washing. For each washing the
kimonos are ripped apart and the diff
ferent pieces are then dried and
smoothed by spreading them, while wet,
on board in the sun. No electric iron
is necessary and the parts are quickly
basted together to serve until the next
washing day. In this way the materials
last for long time
For the lady of fashion, however, no
such easy methods of dressmaking are
possible The finest crepes and silks
are used, and so carefully are the pat
terms woven that the slightest deviation
from the measurements for which the
patterns were designed may subject the
wearer to sidelong glances from her
rivals. Far from being all alike, both
pattern and cut are jealousy guarded
by the would-be leader in dress
Insurance Against Imftators.
TN the best shops special rooms are
provided where a lady may secrete
herself with discreet designer, thus
1nSuring that model 137A-Z will not be
worn by her Scrubwoman that season.
Annual contests in design are held,
and the prizes are large enough to at
tract famous artists. These designs, of
course, admit of variety of color
combinations, and several individuals
may choose the winning design and
still have a distinctively finished
product on account of the different
colors employed. But each season
there are thousands of new designs
from which to choose.
The pride Of the Japanese woman's
costume, aside from the concealed de-
sign which distinguishes her cere-
monial dress, is the obi. The most vain
of matinee idols never selected his
necktie with half the care which the
Japanese fashion plate bestows upon
her obi.
Naturally, between. peasant
kimono dried on a board and basted
together. and s1.500 set of kimonos
10 make up single costume, the
schoolgirl is in a quandary. Those of
her sisters who have been educated in
America have returned with gowns
that are different, to say the least
The girl student wears an over
skirt which reaches only to the waist
and blue or plum colored serge has
been much utilized in this insignia of
the girl student, which is as dis
tinctive as the military cap of the
Japanese schoolboy. But copies of
American fashion magazines, some of
whose advertisements would sorely
shock her brothers. only serve to give
her new aspirations and it is feared
that the charming picture which the
daintily draped figure, shuffiine along
clogs and toeing in in order to
keep her kimono together in front
may be supplanted by awkward
. schoolgirls whose attempts at foreign
style are ludicrous to japanese and
foreigners alike"