Evening star., 1921-10-16
BY ANNE RITTENHOUSE.

PARIS, October 8, 1921.
an HE dressmakers have not had
i an easy time of it this sea-
Il son. They undertook TO wage
battle with the public. Bat
les, even without bloodshed, do not
make life simple.
The dressmakers knew this fact.
they arc shrewd and canny. They
are not creatures Of accident, but
hey are creatures Of power. there
Ore they plan campaigns. they ar
ange maps Of progress, they so by
ign posts. And those sign-posts are
written by the public, not the dress
makers. They are, in reality, signs
4 the whimsical paths which the
gadle to the grave.
Sometimes these sign-posts point
the way to severity, as they did dur
Ag the war; again, they point the
way to license with a touch of de-
pauchery; or they may point the way
( the cloister, or the economy of
iyiddle places OF life.
The reason these siSn-posts have
pewer with those VINO Ioilow the
paths is that human nature. coutin-
uaIly changes it's eXternalS, never It's
Fundamentals, and those who must
I'VE by the whims of the public must
read the signs of it's mind. Its de-
sres, and its spiritual twisting and
farming.
Possibly the dressmakers are the
landmaIdens of tue public. VINO
Iirhows? Those who deal with them
beIievc otherwise They believe tnat
their power comes from the alliance
o{ artistic perception with Keen
knowledge of human nature. Wnen
they see women going in certain
Idirectlon, they follow, but not altar
.off. They sense the direction and rep
on that the vast majority consiuer
fem leaders not foilowcrs.
FHE trend toward modesty is ap-
pailinc to certain minds. They
scream aloud, the women who have
,hese minds, in their realization Of
what clothes will mean before ncNt
spring.
THE dressmakcIg are definite in
their opinions. They talk to wurncu
5 though they wetu marsnaiinS sol
i"rS INTO UattIr. i'ncy rel4sr to
urn up the mems of skirts. unless
S"y arc good-naturcd american
;rcSSmakerS VINO are too bcwndcred
y the mass OF people with wnom
hey must deal, 10 speak with au-
hority. Not So the iarIs drcssmak-
,vS. They consider themselves ncId
iriarshalS.
.Many American women have been
deteated in Iarls this autumn. fh"y
have stood in the ubiquitous grey
salons and touGnt for the hur,-
.cngtn SKIRTS ana bathing su,,S:
Faced i'll vain.
They have come out of these salons
vsrh skirts that swept the lnstep and
!ecvCS tnat lett nothing but The nm
Sr-nallS visible.
TO All their arguments for nudity
nj brevity the Paris dressmaker has
! t1Ilied with detnitenesS: 1t Is not
| ,QssIolc. surely you cannot be so
| tapid as to ruin the model. The gown
= designed on long lines. CuL OIL lne
leeve, shorten the skirt, and what do
ou do? You have something terrible.
lit cannot be. 1t must not come from
his house. We are artists. We de-
.sign a whole picture. 1t cannot be cut
mo little parts. America must wear
opg skirts and long sleeves. But,
es."'
| .AnQ SO II is. L ncS arc al To-
'aris continues to dictate the styles.
Mad America continues to modify
hem. America iaust. Her women are
rot artists in mass. There are too
many millions of them to wear exact
Y the same thing. America takes her
Inspiration from France and, SO Paris
says, destroys that inspiration as fast
~ she can The average American
Woman knows little of the rue de la
'aix, the Place Nendome and the
'hamps Elysees.
One big thing, however. all the
lnericans grasp, which is the spirit
iaI movement of fashion. If you think
hat spiritual" is the wrong word
.ommend you TO the study of history
Today the road of modesty is being
o!lowed by dressmakcrs and the
rcnch public: tomorrow it viii be
oiiowed by America: and the move
npnt is spiritual becaus" it is q reac-
ION arising from the mind in revolt.
:: = i
BECAUSE women are to be demure
in their clothing there is no rca-
ION to suppose that they are TO be in
he garb of nuns or Quakers. Mary
tuart did not dress like Semiramis.
nit she was not the picture of n nun.
al uherine de Medici could not be mis-
AIKEN for a Quaker. yet she cut her
owns so high in the neck that the
EoflGr reached the ears and her feet
verS never seen in public.
The public need not expect demure
ppearauce, therefore. in the women
4 -the hour They will not be dressed