Evening star., 1920-02-01

BY ANNE RITTENHOUsE.
D woman can approach the
coming season with dis
cerning eye and escape the
imnariance of kniifnd On acnnnnt.

son or sweaters de luxe. The gar
ment has had its ups and downs 1t
has flashed in and out of fashion like
comet. 1t has been relegated to the
commonest usage and lifted to the
apex of fashionable life.
Fashion and patriotism cut down its
production during the war Soldiers
needed it, therefore women forsook ii
for themselves. The shops. however.
continued to sell it, Millions of the
garments were behind the count ers.
and as they could not be We IN by men
they We're offered to women at prices
that were delightfully."- below those
asked when the sweater was thing
of luxury.
Whence this mad desire of women
for sweaters started no student seems
to know. In its earliest day it was a
mans garment. 1t was closely asso-
ciated in the Anglo Saxon mind with
foot ball, tennis and cricket.
Before it became a symbol of college
athletic life, before young artists of
the hour drew attention to thems elves
through succession of square jaw ed
heroes with bare heads, wearing thick
sweaters, the farmer, the teamster and
the laborer had worn the garment as
4 means of protection. The white
garment of the college boy was mere
| y more luxurious article than the
dark blue or gray one of the work
i man.
Long ago the sweater ceased to be
a garment for sport activities: it be-
! came a household word an adjunct
to the wardrobe as bread to the
4 kitchen. No woman was so poor bu,
4 she owned more than one sweater
/ The garment rippled over the uni
verse in more than the colors of the
1 rainbow. England contributed her
I share. Scotland did her best to make
the garment fascinating. even the ori-
Z entail countries set UP their qualities
! OF wool, and woman finally consid-
cred herself well dressed If she could
borrow the sweater owned by one OF
! her menfolk If he had bought it in
4 London.
sweaters began to be worn as waist
coats. They carried their own collars
and leather belts, and took the place
OF blouses They completely hid the
4 white shirt waist beneath They were
used as an adjunct to a skirt when
ever it was possible to combine the
4 two.
1t is difficult to think of one single
garment which has become such an
4 obsession in American life as the
sweater in its various manifestations
1t has been, and is. the sign and SYM
bol OF modernity.
1t was in the autumn of 1913 that
4 ParIs look IL into her head to make
1 TIE sweater really luxurious. She
swept aside knitted wool. brushed
wool, colored angora. She departed
I from the ways OF l.. ndon and turned
her back on the ways OF America.
She introduced tunic blouse of
knitted silk with a sash and cap
4 1t was launched on the sands OF
Deauville the week Of the Grand Prix
the last great race for five years, and
the smart women who journeyed back
10 America In the autumn exploited
this type Of sweater with that air
that Proclaims possession Of the last
trine upon which the world has set
Its heart.
4 The giant liner. the Imeperator
winch will begin its new civilian ca
feer under the British flag this spring.
was the scene Of the first fashion able
¶de OF these silk sweaters, caps
ana sashes. Its broad decks were
crowded with multi millionaires who
"ao been to Deauvuie and St. Moritz
Twho paraded above the ocean with
these cOlorful garments The observ-
eis quickly saw that il was the TOP
note Of fashion
II u II
Immediately after that parade, which
vas unconscious and not professional,
1AMerica swirled the silk sweater TO
the top notch of fashion.
II brought millions OF francs TO the
french who devised II and was
lnappy stroke OF commercialism for
lhose who introduced it here BUT it
was the swan song OF the sweater.
me next year came war and the gar
meht died. 1t was still worn, it was
A"'Hi protective. but it was no longer
H. piece or clothing into which great
Nuesisners put their skill and for which
.o"mercialtsts asked prices that were
AAskerinG. and got them,
A"e way women INDUCED their de-
As.fe Tor possessing sweaters at that
ume was one OF the curious fashions
ua 'ne epoch that preceded the war.