The Connecticut labor news., 1921-10-07
CAY COLORS IN
new CRETONNES
French Shops Show Dresses.
Hats, Smocks, GiIets and
Bags of This Fabric.
USED FOR KIDDIES' CLOTHES
Material Affords Winsome Garments
for the Youngsters - Chintz
Erocks of Soft Mauve
and Gray Tones.

The clever French designers, whose
study of the psychology of dress has
played so large a part in making them
the fashion dictators of the world,
have realized that this is the crucial
time at which to launch some apparel
of brilliant hues, writes fashion cor
respondent.
The love of color cannot be sup
pressed. It is inherent in every hu-
man being. A young child instinc-
lively reaches for bright colored OBJ
jects. We all feel the cheer of color.
Unconsciously we are exhilarated by
a beautiful painting done in broad
sweeps Of color or by gay flowers Of
brilliant hue.
There cannot fail to be a reaction
from black. After the simple black
dress which has been and still is SO
a violent change to bright colored
street things, but they fit easily into
the scheme Of country clothes.
The pendulum of fashion usually
swings far in one direction or the
other. Those who give it impetus
have decided that If we are to have
color we must have plenty Of it. And
where could it be obtained in greater
variety than in cretonnes? So for
midsummer we have cretonne dresses,
hats, smocks, gilets and bags.
A great many children's clothes
have been made Of this cotton mate
rial. even to caps for babies. The
latter are distinctly in the novelty
class, but they are to be found in
many of the French shops, and. al
though we may not advocate them,
they must be reported as an item of
news
No FriIIs or FurbeIoWs.
A well-known Paris speciality shop
makes a lavish display Of cretOnne
clothes. The dresses all follow sim
pie designs, for material embodying
so much in the way of color and de-
sign itself must necessarily be made
with little or nothing in the way Of
frills or furbelows.
This material which has been more
closely associated with house decora-
ton than anything else, has a great
deal in the way of art to rely upon.
All the richness Of design and the
beauty Of color seen in it did not just
happen. It is an outcome of modern
talent coupled with ancient arts.
It has meant the study of the art
of Oriental countries and a reproduce
tlon of their best, although the fabric
carrying it is one of the comparative
ly inexpensive ones. AS far as art is
concerned, it has much more to rec
Ommend it than its more expensive
rival, the plain piece of dull black
silk.
OF course nobody is advocating
that all the world shall be dressed in
cretonnes and chintzes, but they are
destined to play theiy part, and
would certainly be desirable if variety
In dress had more advocates. Wheth-
err or not women are afraid Of looking
unlike other women, the fact remains
that each woman seems to look exact
ly like every other one.
From Distant Lands.
This is the great criticism Of the
dress of the American woman. The
head of one of the largest and most
successful dreSSmaking houses In
America recently said: II have been
making clothes for American women
for 25 years, but after a walk On one
of Americas most fashionable thor
oughfares one recent Sunday morning
L could not tell you what any Of the
many women promenading there wore.
IL were divorced from one and mar
ried to another" he said. II am sure