The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1921-01-21


by their femininity. Everything stiff,
everything rigid and rectangular has
been eliminated. Feathers, furs and
fabrics flow into each other and eos
tunes are all soft lines. Even the
colors do their share, for though many
bright hues are used this season, they
are somehow harmonized and subdued
by artful blending so that the finished
effect is as soft as an Oriental rug.
Fashions reached their apex of stern
stiffness during the war and ever
since the war ended there has been a
reversion-softer, more flowing, more
feminine styles. These have culmi-
mated this winter in probably the most
beautiful fashions of the century.
There are few bazarre styles this
season, few daring and dashing effects
if one may except the very short
skirt. Exceedingly bright fabrics,
glints of gold thread, the exquisite
flow of feathers, the shadowy softness
of furs, and raperies-draperies very
where, unite to make the beauty and
grace of these 192O-1921 modes. No
body can spoil the picture with cheap
stiff materials, trying to initiate the
lines made by good fabrics-for there
are no cheap fabrics! One pays a
price now for material by the yard, but
generally the fabrics are of excellent
grade. All this makes for richer en-
semble in feminine dress. And an
other thing helps; with materials at
the present high prices, costumes must
be simple. And simple styles devel-
oped in good fabrics always produce
distinguished, graceful costumes.
How much more graceful and
charming, for instance, is the woman
in a draped dolman wrap, it's lower
edges caught up to give taperlng
line to the silhouette below the knee,
and in small close-fitting toque from
which a soft feather curls downward
to touch the shoulder-how much
more graceful she is than she would
be in topcoat fiaring slightly above
a stiff skirt reinforced with that awful
atrocity a skirt braid at the hem, and
with blocked hat whose brim makes
one sharp angle and it's spiky feather
fancy another. The feminine figure
of the eighties was all angles. The
pulled in waist made an angle with the
hiys. The bullying sleeves made an
angle with the shoulders. The halu,
blocked hat with stiff feathers was a
mingling of angles. The hustle made
an angle with the line of the back
And the skirt hem, stiffened with buck
ram, primly refused to do any cling
ing anywhere. The sensible war-girl
three years ago was quite as angular
in another way. Her costumes We're
all severe, straight lines; and squared
pockets. rows of buttons, belt buckles
and sailor hats, offering a certain tr1g
smartness in their way, entirely robbed
femininity of feminine grace.
Grace is the watchword now, how
ever, and one must live up to it and
achieve it somehow or other, Or be
completely out of the picture. Of
course, if one can spend money ad lib,
this perfect grace is not so hard to
achieve. There wraps of velvet and
fur, frocks of duvetyn and crepe silks
and lace, hats with wonderful ostrich
plumes that would make the most
angular woman in the world all soft
lines of gracefulneSs. But if one has
to economic bit on clothes, one
must study a little. The wonderful
plumed hat will not do for all kinds of
weather; nor will the softly draped
wrap fit all occasions-as a practical
sort of hat and topcoat would But
beautiful effects that compromise be-
tween practicability and dressy for
mal1Uy nave Deeu dCIllcNeu WIFI llet
terials that stand all weathers more
successfully than do Feathers and
velvet. Wool velours is one of thse
fabrics, duvetyn another. And if one
cannot have curled ostrich trailing
from hat to shoulder there's COD
very fashionable this season and OBJ
tainable in lovely effects of grace.
Boots and slippers have Joined the
crusade against angles in behalf of
grace. The very long, very pointed
toe has disappeared and footwear has
escaped the just-not-grotesque line on
which it was verging pear ago. Tose
are pointed, but not abominably point
ed so that one has to wear sveral
sizes longer than ones foot and go