The Washington times., 1921-09-04

scene determines these things. as in
Oriental scenes. But in every In
stance 1t must be remembered that
the players are thrown against an
elaborate background of exaggerated
color and line arrangement, and the
ensemble, both in color and In
silhouette.
IMPORTANCE OF COLOR
CONTRASTS IS RECOGNIZED.
This alignment of color is there
fore much discussed at the confer
ence of thsDmanager and his hench.
men. for 1t is well understood that
here Fashion is born. and the styles
for thousands Of smartly dressed
women from Maine to California, es.
tablished. Before the importance of
color contrasts was thoroughly un-
derstood In this country, some absurd
effects were seen on the American
stage.
will recall one elaborate produc-
ton, which shall not mention, in
which the leading lady-a person of
considerable Observation-Disclosures
upon wearing a beautiful scarlet eve
ming gown in q bedroom of pale
blue. The stage lights accentuated
the red gown so accurately that the
poor lady stood out Of the Get with
a CHASTITY persistency which all but
lost her her beauty fame.
In my own case, after the scene
artist and the director have COM
pleted their plans, ! personally 60
over each costume and give 1t my
final disapproval or o. X. 1t Is no
exaggeration to say that the chorus
Of the Follies today would present
as beautifully gowned an assortment
of women as the smartest drawing
rooms of the worlds most famous
hostesses. .......
And when tell you that their
clothes are as carefully made as
any special order was ever exc
cuted on Fifth avenue, know that
you will be moved to remember the
old days when the effect was the
thing and the construction of the
gown was never given a thought.
Does the chorus beauty have
nothing to say in regard to her
clothes?" is a question I am fre-
quently asked.
CHORUS BEAUTY'S IDEAS
OF DRESS ENCOURAGED. .,
Yes. we do allow the girls to In
dulge their own whims and fancies.
The case of a particular blonde
girl comes to mind. She was a
striking type OF fair-haired beauty,
and she discovered, by a careful
study Of her own type. that a cer-
tain blush silver bodice not only
heightened the gold Of her hair,
but accentuated the fairness Of her
skin. Needless to say, when she
suggested the scheme to me and
held the shimmering thing up to
her under the lights. raised no
objection. And SO, in this way. we
encourage beauty aids whenever
they really are aids.
One young woman. however, i with
a fondness for barbaric jewelry.
asked me one day II she might not
wear her gold bracelets and some
really beautiful heavy Gypsyrlike
necklaces. But the set was q
drawing room scene at tea time.
and she wore an ingenue frock Of
gray chiffon, simple. demure, girl
ish, so that I was obliged to dis.
courage the combination.
1t readily will be seen why jew
elry Is frowned upon. 1t is not
because It fails to "'carry on"
with the costume, but because the
best taste has. dictated that a lavish
display Of jewelry Is not good
form. 1t Is only just to say that
we have very little trouble on this
score; hish-class chorus girls are
generally young women Of refined
tastes and habits who do not need
to be told what Is permissible and
what Is not. .nl." .......
SPIT" CURL STARTED
BY PECULIAR COIFFURE.
This matter Of induiging the cho-
rus beauty's fancies in the way OF
dress and coiffure, however. is tho
very thing that has often resulted
in the setting OF new fads and tan.
cies. A few seasons ago. one Of
our chorus beauties. a Miss Tasch.