Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1921-03-10
CLOTHES AND PERiLS

EVcfy time some rtloTncT Wa"'S
TO get INFO the papers he or'she lets
ont zap about womcn's dress. Bht
the fac, Is that the modern woman
does not need any advice from re-
formers or anybody else as to how
she will dress ana she Is making an
artistic job of her garments, regard
loss of che ref0rmers. The average
reformer gets II living without work
ing by stirring up peoples emo
tiOns--he Is not to he taken serious
iy unless you want to keep him on
easy street on Of your own hard
earned cash.
A valid reply to complaints
against a declining modrsty In dress
and speech Is the common reply, says
she New York Evening Post. Every
generation has been more or less
troubled by the manners Of the sue
ceeding generation. The case Is not
between grandparents and grand
children, as too often stated, but be-
tween parents and children. The
oldcs., generation remembers too
well how ii felt about the parents
OF today 30 be excessively disturbed
over what said parents feel concern
ing the parents Of fifteen years from
now. H. is a recurrent phenomenon,
and It is purely physical phenom-
enOn.
The young generation does not put
on short skirts and transparent hos
iery as n challenge to Its elders, or as
an act Of spiritual revolt agains, Its
elders, or as an expression of It's own
moral outlook upon the world. The
lip-S'ick is neither an acceptance
nor n rejection of the Treaty OF Yer
sailles. The pOwderpuff Is not In the
least commentary on the relations
Of capital and labor, The midnight
iaz2 Is not intimately connec'ed
with approaching changes In n man
made world. If we ask what do the
present days fashions of dress ana
speech mean for he future of civili-
zation. the answer Is that they 40
not mean anything. We do no. know
why fashions come and go; hut we
do know that they are purely mi
tativc physical process. For all thai
the world ms constituted today has
to do with fashions, young girls
might now be wearing Psyche knots
instead of hairpuffs over the ears
II is pure accident that dress mater
ial nowadays Is excessively scant
= frnt
IT we are bent upon finding n So
cial peril In womcn's dress, the 'hing
can be done. But the peril Will be
found precisely In the opposite di-
rcction from the fashions regarded
as immodest The challenge to So
cial institutions Is much more SER
ious in the tailor made suit than in
the ultra abbreviated gown; more
serious In the common sense. low
hecled walking shoes than In 'he
Cuban heel; more serious in the
masculine sobriety of the New W0-
mans dress and demeanor than In
the powder and rouge of the eternal
shop girl. And the difference Is that
behind dress reform. MS 1t used to be
called. there is an idea, whereas be-
hind the most "immodest" Of fash
ions there Is no idea Society Is
never in danger from che thought
less and the frivolous. But 1t might
we'll be on its guard against people
who dress quietly and think.
The historic instance, of course
Is Puritanism-that very Puritanism
which is at present supposed to be
shocked by the immodesty Of the
young When the Puritans clipped
their hair close and put on black
they were not inaugurating fash
ion in dress but a revolution In SO
ciety. They began by cutting on
their hair and ended by cutting of
the head Of their King. There was
an idea behind che Puritan garb
There is no idea discoverable in thu
latest things over from Paris or from
Grand street. 1t is not revolution
bu. imitation.