The New York herald., 1921-07-17

mannequins and study tho fashions. and
II Is we'll 10 add that they were greatly
disappointed. tf,.s
Really smart costumes arc no longer
to be seen at the races. Drag Day was
smart compared to the other days OF the
week. but 1t was far from being the old
Drag Day OF pre-war times. when
dozen or more of the smartest OF outfits
assembled in the Place de Ia Concorde
and the drags. filled with beautifully
dressed women, drove up the Champs
Elysees and down the Avenue du bois
10 the race course at Auteuil in all their
glory. Then they were a blaze OF gorge
Gus colors. and the women with their
feathers flying and exquisite costumes
presented a brilliant picture.
All of Paris assembled on the curos 10
see them drive by in their splendor but
q different story is TO be told to-day.
IN the first place, the expense is to be
considered 1t IS true that six drass
assembled in the Place de la Concorde,
which was more than double the number
of the previous year. but they were not
the spick and span drags with every
detail up to the top notch OF snartness
as of old. and the majority OF the women
were dressed in very ordinary costumes
OF black or gray. They can no longer
afford to have special dress for the
Drag and another for the Hurdle and an
other for the Grand Prix. &c.
The march of the mannequins at the
races was not what II once was The
dressmakers seem 10 have made no ef-
cprt to show new costumes The dress
making establishments were practically
deserted during the first two weeks OF
June instead OF being beehtves OF ousl-
ness. working night and day to turn out
the costumes ordered especially for the
races, as OF old.
Such a conglomeration of so-called
IA shions has never before been seen a.
a French race course. There were short
skirts and long skirts. low necks ana
high neclSs, long sleeves and short
sleeves, big hats and little hats. black
shoes and white shoes. tight bodices ana
loose bodices hooped skirts and marrow
skirts, and every period from the time
that Adam and Eve emerged from the
Garden of Eden was represented.
The only definite point that could be
made on the fashions was in matter OF
color. Black and white predominated to
such an extent that IN looking over the
masses assembled on the greens one
might have thought they were IN uni
form. Mauve was close second our
ing the first part OF the week ana on
Grand Prix day It's various shanes anu
it's relatives. the fuchsia shades. almost
tooL Nrst Mace. which was due to the
influence Of the Grand PIX paii at eiie
Opera the night before
Poiret used his favorite coiors OF req
and purple and all Of their various
shades included In the fuchsia for the
decorations at the ball, and no one was
admitted without a costume OF those
colors. The ball was a marked success.
such a magnificent display OF costumes
has never before been seen at the opera
hail Gold. too. was permitted TO enter
into the color scheme. and the dress
,,akAys entered into the spirit OF the
AFFAIR by making beautiful doininos IA IA
these colors at reasonable prices. II
was. therefore, not surprising tnat these
colors reigned at the Grand fri1 the
next day. They were particularly no
ticeable in the big velvet mats of ~
feathers on black hats
II was more than once remarhsd that
the relief from black and white was
most pleasing There was another req,
son For this departure from black ana
white. A London dressmaker hao trS
'..audacity," as the French dressnakers
nhra sed II. 70 invade the Auteuil race
course with a group of ten mannequins
all dressed In black and whice. ihe
parade of Barnum & Bailey's circus
sank into insignificance In gaudy splen-
dor as compared to these Lohoot, .
r,odels They arrived by airplane ana
looked as II they had dropped from tho
sky or soma such place where the
meaning Of the word clothes" was un-
known. In less time than V taxes 10
tell il they were being followed oy
thousands OF spectators.
French Dressmakers Indignant.
The French dressnakers wsre up IN
arms and made a rush on the photog-
raphers and tho London models were
hooted in the strongest sense OF the
word Tbs end of the story was that
they were surrounded by such hooting
crowd that the police were called upon
to 20 TO their rescue. and they were
finally escorted by q detachment OF
police from the grounds, and so ends
the popularity Of black and white. at
least until the sensational incident OF
the London invasion OF models can be
forgotten.
4 recurrence. OF the incident is threat
ening. for the leader of the group. one
Mrs. Peggy Smith Wilkinson. lnrown as
the Temperance Queen OF England.
has announced that she is returning TO
Paris within a fortnight. Several mill
ion words have been cablcd TO America
about this Mrs. Smith-Wilkinson. who
has become known to the Paris shop
keepers as the richest woman In Eng
land. but according to her own story
she Is worth several million more, or at
least as many. words as she has pounds
sterling. She says her income Is eight
million pounds a year.
She Is a woman OF a certain age. and