Evening star., 1920-01-04

the time to end winter and the
New Year as the time to begin
new type of apparel
This is very well for commerce,
but it is perpleXing for the woman.
She realizes that winter has just be-
gun. not only ON the calendar, but
in fact. Furs are needed every day,
instead of occasionally. Warm
clothes are essential. Hats that re-
sist the wind are the only comfort
able ones Heavy shoes must re-
place paper soles and tc. steel
buckles. To the mind of woman.
winter has arrived; to the mind of
apparel workers, spring appears over
the horizon.
The situation really sounds more
perpieNing than it is. The fact is
that the trade must be ready for sea-
scna1 clothes three months before the
season begins. 1t cannot wait until
the last hour. The great machinery
which belongs to the industry of pre-
pairing apparel for women must be
set in motion the moment the New
Year breaks against the time when
the frost will melt
* ss Il x
IT takes months to prepare to fight
"A battle in clothes. The extremists
go. to Paris in November, come back
in December. and launch spring and
summer clothes in January. These
are the manufac turers They work
close to the French houses They use
models In mass. They obtain cob
lar from one a belt from another.
an advance silhouette. Then they
are ready for the American trade
AS rule the houses in France do
more business with the manufacture
ers than with private dressmakers,
and here is where the smile is
justified on the face of the American.
The French designers, you know,
raise a hullaballoo about cards of
admission to their salons. about the
necessity for royalties on creations,
the barring out Of journalists and
those who do not buy; in short, they
make IL as difficult as possible to
enter any one of their houses. The
peace conference was easier of ad-
mission than the August French ex-
hibitions of clothes. Yet any manu-
facturer who wishes TO sell a hun
dred or more gowns at small cost to
the American public, flooding the
continent with them at one-Yifth the
price asked in Paris. can go into any
one Of these French dressmaking
heuses and buy what he will. Why
then, the exelusiveness?
Ana another strange part of the
game is that 4 large number of these
manufacturers claim to put out pure
~ American clothes, whereas they
are frequently in Paris or in touch
with their commissioners there
What is true is this: The ideas OBJ
tanned abroad are used separately or
blended by the manufacturers to
bring about an American product
suitable for the American woman; not
only her face and figure, but her ac-
tivities, her method of living, her
point Of view and her social opport
tunities. ~ ,:-,ir 2Hna 81 IsaJ =,
SO 1t is tliis part Of the. trade chat
produces its spring clothes after the
first Of the year and starts the world
OF apparel moving toward new con-
tours. hats. wraps and sport clothes
at the moment when the clothes BUR.
chased In the autumn are getting
their first innings.
1t 10 not only that entirely new
gowns and new ideas for street and
evening clothes are produced, but
there seems to he = shift in the way
OF dressing. Furs are withdrawn.
except at sales. and blouaes are Of
fered. Thin coat suits take the place
of heavy One-piece frocks. Even
those women who are busy tying to
get service cut Of their warm clothes
catch the Inspiration Of the hour and
think about dress in different terms.
They wonder IL It isn't pessihle to
turn their wardrobe into new lines;
il IL isn't probable that a few old
things will serve with the addition
Of new ones.
There 10 a large class Of wef1en in
America who wear out their old
clothes In the autumn and buy their
spring apparel IN January. thereby
avOiafBg an actual winter outfit,
merely adding top coat and furs.
These are the women who are eco