Evening star., 1920-02-08

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GOLE SHOES ARE COPIED FROM
THE STURDY ONE WORN BY
THE SCOTCH. THEY HAVE THE
FRINGED TONGUE OF LEATHER
FALLING OVER THE lNsTEP.
'rHE PAIR OF TENNIS SHOES,
NEXT TO THEM. ARE OF BLACK
AND BROWN LEATHER WITH
PREPARATIONS. THE PAIR OF
COUNTRY CLUB SHOES WORN
WITH THE DOTTED STOCKINGS
ARE OF HEAVY WHITE CANVAS
WITH STRAPS ACROSS THE IN
STEP, TIED WITH LARGE BOWS
OF WHITE GROsGRAIN RIBBON.
THE PAIR OF SLIPPERS BENEATH
THESE ARE WORN AT PALM
BEACH AND ARE COPIED FROM
CHILDREN's SHOES. THEY HAVE
ROUND TOES, FLAT HEELS AND
A STRAP ACROSS THE ANKLE.
The individual bootmaker who fol-
lows the whims of his patrons, who
makes his own lasts and looks after
4 small but lucrative clientele, is
rarely worried over the change Of
mind that comes to q great crowd Of
women. The man who must make
shoes in mass, he who must own ex-
pensive machinery to support the mar
ket, is the one who worries when
there Is an abrupt swinging of the
public mind from one quarter to an
other.
There you have the reasons for the
perturbation among the shoemakers
today.The wind has veered in new
direction. The American shoe il re-
Sarded with criticism. The demand
for the round-toed shoe with the Gu
ban heel grows apace.
Certain conservative houses insist
that they will not give in to the de-
sires OF their patrons for these shoes,
but will continue to make and sell
the long-vamped American shoe.
These bootmakers think the shape Is
attractive: that 1t has refinement, q
touch Of elegance. They argue that
the French shoe, as it is called. is
the ugliest choice an American wOm-
an can make and that she should be
kept from such dangerous and uncer-
tain paths.
other houses take the attitude that
they must meet the demand of the
American women or perish. These are
selling round-toed shoes. Some OF
them strenuously advertise the
French last. others advertise the
American last. The struggle is on
The Asht will be bitter. Those who
are in the watch towers say that the
French shoe will win out: that vic
situation, this.
When the Americans were in Paris
last August their amusement was
continually evoked by what they call
ed the foolish little shoes Of the
French. Now we are face to face
with the fact that the Americans are
wearing these foolish little shoes
over here. They are not quite as ex-
treme as those worn by the Paris
women. but they are reversal OF
everything we have worn for eight
years.
The American has accentuated the
nat heel, the narrow width. the long
extended vamp, with its pointed toe,
until the shoe became a compa MON ia
its predecessor Of the tenth century
The artists have rebelled against this
shoe ever since 1t was invented and
adopted by the Americans. They have
insisted that it IL as pernicious in its
artistic effect as the shoe Of the Chi
nese woman: that 1t destroys the
shapeiiness of the foot by magnify
ing the length; that 1t spoils the arch
by hatteninE the heel, and that II
robs q woman Of whatever elegance
her costume may possess.
On the other hand, the average
woman. aided and abetted by her
shoemaker, has insisted that this me-
diaeval shoe has true elegance and ia
far more Atting for her foot than the
silly stub-toed stilts Of France"
10 there no compromise? II 1t not
possible to persuade the Americas n