Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-07-25
Anne Rittenhouse Says the
I Woman of This Type
Must Make a Careful Sc
lection of Clothes In Order
to Have the Best Appear
ance The Struggle for
Order.
BY ANNE RITTENHoUsE.

not. when IL comes TO clothes
The three types that have preceded
this one under discussion are the overly
stout woman. the exceedingly thln
wrnkled type, and the large-structured
Anglo-Saxon type.
Each of these women has dangerous
problem in clothes from the cradle TO
the grave. 1t is something she never
quite solves. She is distinctly type
tinction. She is compelled to mold fash
ion to her form.
She has her merits and dement's.
Neither of these must discourage her
She must learn that her merits should
be accumulated in order not to appear
skillfully concealed as though they were
not there
These are not the women who can
walk into a shop and buy frock.
When they do they feel like Growing in
triumphant notes. Their way Is
devious one. Ii means the constant
treading over well blazed path in Sc
curity for curiosity leads one into temp
tation; often into failure.
None of these types can buy clothes
casually. If they try this experiment
they merely waste money, which is de-
piorable extravaganza. 1t is better to
be secure and economical
Whistler once said 10 a friend who
had arrived from America. us ii with
you in the States as it is with us in
England, that woman will have a per-
feet house, then put one terrible thing
on the mantel, which gives her soul
away"
One might say this of clothes as
Whistler said it of art. Any woman
hideous thing in the costume that will
entirely expose her lack of good taste;
and no woman is so easily judged guilty
in this act as the large ford type. Her
creed should be elimination, excessive
neatness and neutrality.
If she can succeed in making a good
appearance through the employment of
these conditions the problem of how to
dress is solved and serenity of soul and
tranquility of mind is achieved.
Many and certain types of women are
scornful, derisive, satiric at the assump-
ton that woman can change the quail
ties of mind and spirit through cos
tumery. The world is full of such
scoffers- They are merely ignorant of
the reactions of human nature. They
blink at a fact They ignore weakness.
or at least. weakness in others. while
they magnify their own.
1t is an old saying of athletes that
one should create diversion from ones
own weakness by calling attention to
the weakness of the opponent. This is
a good maxim for everyday life as it is
lived by everyday people. And the fact
remains that our outward appearance
either soothes or irritates our inward
position.
II would be better if the Anglo
Saxons. in mass. were to face all the
essential crudities of human nature with
the frankness and forgiveness of the
French. The effort of our race is to
conceal that which sounds like sin or
weakness: by refusing to acknowledge
1t they hope to eliminate luxurious
doctrine, This, and one that is strongly
lntrenched in our racial mind.
1t is wiser, therefore, that women ad-
NIT the superiority of costunery and
confess without self-conscious shame
that 1t is serious problem, a continu-
Gus one. that 1t requires all ones re-
sources of energy to solve, and that our
sartorial appearance has much to do
with our attitude toward the world. :.
Granting this. not ignoring it, the
norid woman must surely realize that
she has not an easy path in the world,
as it is hedged in with thorns. brambles
and thick underbrush.
Her type is one that can be made or
marred by single accessory. Earrings
may ruin her perfect gown. A red
feather in a hat may discount her charm
frightened waist line may utterly de-
stroy sweeping line of her figure. A
necklace may Danish the good effect Of
a shoulder line -
She must realize that she is provided
by nature with the things that other
women use art to acquire. The slender
pale woman who can put rouge on her
face. who can drape her slender neck
with pearls, add massive rings to her
feather-like fingers. is the one who can
dip deeply into the accessories that art
has provided for coStumery.
The woman whose structure is large
whose curves do not need aceanfll2finp
whose hands are massive, whose head
is large, whose color is high and con-
tinuous is compelled to keep in her mind
from dawn to midnight the fact that she
needs all her physical possessions toned
down. Whatever accentuates these is
impossible.
Her creed is simplicity, and more SIM
plicity. NeatnesS is her necessity The
elimination of non essentials is the
foundation stone on which the structure
is built.
History gives an unpleasant glimpse
of Queen Elizabeth as a big f1orid
woman who was often dirty. 1t is
trufsm that could be applied to many
of the big great women whose names
echo down the centuries. For personal
cleanliness seemed not to be a neces-
sity in those days of superior achieve
ment and the dominance of women.
one does not hear savory tales of the
cleanliness of Catharine of Russia
Catharine de Midici. or Mary of Scot
land 1t is far better not to read inti-
mate personal history of men and
women until the era of ubiquitous
bath tubs if one is distressed by an
account of unplea SAINT personal habits
All of which is a preamble to the
fact that a large florid woman must
be clean; this statement does not need
accentuation in this particular era, but
II neatness is substituted for cleanli-
ness the command becomes more COM
plete.
Interview woman of this tyne as
to her success in clothes and her an
swer will be, without faltering. that
she struggles continuously for the
perfection of order.
x X x
She insists that hair out of place.
a shoulder strap slipping down, an
unbrushed boot. hook and eve that
shows. a collar that is rumpled. a belt
that is creased, a petticoat and skirt
that do not join at the waist a
white corset cover that shows beneath
dark, transparent bodice, are sad
mistakes on a fiorid woman who has
a large structure
The thin woman may carry off such
faults The young woman may be able
to brave them. The stout woman finds
them fatal The big square woman
with high coloring who accentuates
each of these defects spoils her ap-
pearance.
She is like square rugged ship.
Everything about her must be taut
and trim. The moment she becomes
careless she looks unseaworthy.
Therefore her first struggle and her
last one is TO be orderly. Probably it
is clearer to say that she should feel
herself to be under military inspec-
ton.
This requires time. No woman is