The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-04-18

die ages. and on mp to the French
revolution, only the leisure cl,s,
made fashion history. II tool
woman OF wealth to afford a dr...
SO heavy that two attendants ~
to support her when she walksS
This is no exaggerated fancy. His-
toric records mention that GabrieIl.
distress, mistress Of Henry n
wore . court gown so loaded NM
gold, silver and precious stons.
that she could not move about alon.
and could scarcely stand under N.
weight Of it. '
Between these clothes racks q,
the court and the peasant th...
was no great important midd,s
class like that of today. Peasan,s
working on the land wore simnis
clothes. They could not afford H.
costly materials affected by the NJ
bility. and they could not work il
the court styles. No woman cou,d
hoe or care for a child in pannie-,
or a run.
Peasants Initiate Royalty.
The peasants in their village,
got their much modified stylss
however, from royalty, just as ths
! mobiles did. The headdress vo,r
by Anne of Brittany in the fifteenth
century is still copied by peasant
women Of that part of France, ana
the tall, conical hennin Of Isabel ~
Bavaria Q400) is still the head.
dress of peasant Normandy. There
| would be comparatively little con.
trast or variety in history Of
peasant costumes. Once a silvia
gained popularity with the meas.
antry Of a district 1t became a FIX.
ed Inheritance That Is why thu
Wright collection of fashion dolls
is. down to modern times, a collec-
ton of court ladies, queens, and
women Of wealth.
The comparatively modern dolls
of the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries, show the tendency or
fashion to concern a wider range
of people than the narrow court
circles. America, Germany and
France are represented in the dolls
of these centuries. Instead of be-
ing labeled Queen of France" or
"a lady of rank" as the earlier
dolls are, these models are marked
spring costume" ball gown"
calling costume" street COS
tune"
The fall of the Bastile marked
the end of royal leadership in fash.
ions for France. There was
weak revival of royalty prestige in
dress under the Empress Joseph.
inc, but her influence over French
attire was negligible compared to
the influence that had been exert
ed by Marie Antoinette.
Soon, industrial DEVELOPMENT
completed the upheaval of fashion
traditions. Machines turned out
coats and dresses wholesale and
opened factory employment 10
girls. who had worked at home or
in the fields. Materials were made
cheap, SO that the working GIRL
could wear silk and lace. And,
equally important in the history
of dress, the railroad, telegraph,
steamboat and fashion journal made
it possible for the rest Of Europe
and America to know what Paris
was wearing as soon as Paris pu.
it on. When transportation was in
the primitive stages, a style WAS
months old before it reached this
country from European fashion
scenters. Dolls dressed in Partisan
and London styles used to be sent
to the fashionable dressmakers Of
Boston and Philadelphia. Then
civilization speeded up, and so have
fashions. Instead of changing By
decades, styles change by seasons
or oftener, now.
There was nothing but he
whims Of royalty to set a limit to
what could be worn up to the
French Revolution. Now there Is
a different standard and more va
riety. The stars of the stage and
scheen are the advance guards Of
style. If you don't like the stink
ing draperies of the vamp you can
copy the ingenue in her simple $500
white muslin and still be recogniL-
ed as this years model, and not
an antique.
There is one new limitation. A
woman will no longer wear clothes
that absolutely prevent her from
engaging in sports and doing her
=. work. Skirts become full. but what
dressmaker. however important,
could launch successfully dress 50
cumbersome that the wearer would
have to support in order to get
from a typewriter to a filing case.
So, when dresses become narrow,
there are the alternatives of Sitting
them and making the long sheath
gown Of few years ago, or u
making them short, as now. Nov.
as never before. the woman Of fash.
ion-who includes the factory gill
and the store clerk-demands Ger
tain degree Of comfort and Tree
dom combined with style.
Clothes for centuries were IL
bel which woman wore to proclaim
her an unproductive chattel-an e.
pensive luxury. Today they elo
quently express the fact that she -
half-emergsd from that into tho
estate Of an independent worker.