Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-12-05
THE FREEDOM OF THE KNEES.
by Frederic j. Hsskin

1
Washington. Dec. 5.--An interesting
struggle between the American
woman and the dictators Of fashion
is IN fun swing. New York oracles
proclaim that the leg ~ no longer
fashionable. Generally, the faintest
whisper from the sanctums Of fashion
is heard from Maine to New Mexico.
and the response is instantaneous.
But this time there IL well defined
revolt against the edict. Much OF
feminine New York. lamblike. has
taken TO ankle length skirts. But In
cities and way stations across the
country the knee ia still proudly
shown by flappers, debutantes and
others who make up the fashion pa
rade.
IT seems apparent that the feminine
leg released after centuries Of bond
agt. IL logth 10 retire.
why should ~" asks napper Of
our acquaintance. ~ knee length
skirt attracts no attention at bath
Ing beach. No one looks more than
twice at q girl In golf knickers, Why
should a knee be seen on the beach
but hidden on the streetT'
The answer seems 10 be that fashion
has always been the worlds favor
/ Ito topic for gossip. Court beaux
and beauties would have been bored
/ 20 revolution had they not had thu
/ latest styles "a defend and denounce
/ The fatthlngale kept Elizabeth's cour'
amused and shocked. The shoes worr
/ by the medieval courtier-~whlch endct
/ in points a foot or two beyond hfl
natural feet and had spurs at th'
/ hack like bird claws--wore good fol
hours Of absorbing conversation; 81
J Gawain of Ga%kshire had just had d;
pair made. No one supposed h
would adopt the fashion. The Duk
! Of Dnckton had written furious de
nunciatioir of the fashion in shoes
That would mean II new lease on If
for the pointed toe.
SO, throughout European history
kings. queens and courts amuse
themselves by iuyenting new mode
and then exaggerating them unit
like oyer-blown balloons, they OK
ploded a style that was regardc
as shocking was regarded az tam
by the next generation. which hon
estly saw nothing terrible in IT. bu
was all excited over the newest ex
travagant mode.
All this time court ladies wore lon
dresses. sometimes with trains g
cumbersome that the moralists rave
bitterly against the frivolities
womanhood. Women of rank kep
the knee and even the ankle care
fully concealed beneath skirts tn
neck and arm appeared and disaI
peared but the leg remained a mys
terious appeudagc.
Court Tradition Dominates.
II is all these centuries Of com
tradition that make the feminine le
so unconventional display. It
only in the past few centuries that tn
people as "A mass have been fOilowiu
the fashions. And now that we d,
we take our precedents from com
styles. not from peasant clothing.
we look to peasant garb. we find tha
!. a swomans ankle, and even the ca
and knee were in many countrie
p shown as a matter Of course In IN
very days when n court damsel pre-
tended that she moved on wheels
According to books on costume. III
peasant women of.some parts Of Hol
land wore 'an exceedingly shoT
skirt" A picture shows the skirt a
being about the length Of the mod
ern skirt that shocks the passin
generation. a Swiss peasant girl {
, I.ucerne a few decades back Is show
wearing a skirt that the book franll
, says revealed the knees and sometime
the garter. But there Is no bach
, ground in these pictures showing
row of lifted eyebrows.
These women dressed In short skiri
for farm work. And when they mad
holiday clothes they used the san
pattern and made the costume beat
tiful by embroidery and better ms
terial
The court lady's hardest worg W.
: crossing the ballroom without tanl
! ling her train. She could afford
be cripple for the sake Of fashio
A The busy peasant could not.
a Today the modern woman is MOI
akin TO the peasant woman in II