Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1921-01-30
ny ANNE RFTTENHOUsE'

|Wtho are girls and the breaches of
those. youngsters who are boys as
cpirs 70 end at the limo Of the hips.
This is nothing new to Paris. The
fashion has prevailed there for sew
.eral decades, but it has been accen-
/ tuated during the last three years and
/ is having its affect in America
]: I'm this country women have contin-
ded to cut the hens Of tiny frocks
/ to the knee line, but there is q grow
ing feeling that this modesty will
soon cease. Children are now show
ing their knees. Some are showing
the round white legs above them. No
one. seems to care how much material
or how little material there is below
the waist.
1.-THE piece of perversity that runs
through the gamut Of fashionable ap-
parel is that youngsters should
swathe their necks and uncover their
legs. Their elder sisters do not swathe
the necks. In this especial abstinence
they are consistent.
Stockings have long ago disappeared
from the legs Of the majority OF
youngsters; or at least they were In
danger of doing this when some one
handed children the golf stocking.
The youngsters saw in it a chance to
look quite sportsmanlike when they
paraded the streets far from fields of
activity, and to have anything but a
Nursery look is JOY indeed.
+ x x Y
tits a wonder that the reformers do
not get after these fashions which
hermit a child to go about in icy cold
" Weather with a minimum of clothing
covering the lower half of the body.
When women began to wear trans
\ parent blouses, thin stockings and
low shoes on the street there was a
howl Of protest that arose with the
strength Of a Eirocco.
Doctors threatened pneumonia to
such women and argued that the fu-
ture race was to consist OF weakhnss
because women risked their health
through vanity But nothing hap
pened. No woman has been any the
worse for her indiscretions IN clothes.
She has merely learned to stand cold
a. q sailor does. 49,
The same has been found true with
children. Americans sneered at
Erance because of her racial fear OF
q current Of air, but they did not stop
to think how the children were
turned loose throughout the winter
America accepted this French custom.
Stockings were abandoned. wooden
clothes were thrown into the discard,
hair was bobbed.
So the years have slipped by with
YOU'D any. serious changes in fashions
for. children except the insidious
shortening of the skirts. These have
become grotesqueiy brief here and
there.
Bhort skirt for the conservatives, as Is
the way of fashion. and the most
modest Of mothers now permits her
youngsters to wear slips that are well
above the knees or breeches that are
little more than loin cloths:
LYNX over the. horizon for youngsters.
q Gives every promise Of arfestng at
kenfion. It Is fostsred by the desire
Of certain dressmakers to reinstate in
chfidren.s clothes 2 pictorial effect
enouxh and that there is no more de-
6iT.Af 10 be; squeezed out Of funny little
linen. frocks with bit OF colored en-
Theee dressmakers have introduced
q wide variety Of colorful clothes that
really. signify something. They are
limitations Of old fashions and the chill
dron, are delighted with them, as they
o. 80 nj
fection for the kind Of thing they have
been compelled to wear.
limitation is a great point in their
career and they have envied the older
members OF the family their chance TO
real character. Now comes their OPP
portunity. The midwinter is prolific
Of ouch desirable costumes. They fill
the windows. they are seen in the
parks. they abound in the nursery and
echoolroom.
There is strong indication in such
clothes Of a return to many Of the
things we once considered utterly un-
suitable for youngsters; we got this
11ea during our sudden reform. When
we adopted the French fashion OF
washAble slips as substitute for
worsted frocks We were entirely con-
WINGED the reform was lasting. But il
it? When plated serge skirts arc at
tached to sweaters Of red wool and
trimmed with blue Angora we begin
to think that no fashion il ever COM
pletely dead. for this particular one is q
| resurrection from the neglected tomb Of
q buried era OF course, the French have
caused this resurrection. During the war
they adopted dark and warm fabrics for
children-not SO much for protection
as they were reduced to absurd pro-
laundry work. The fashion remains. 1t
has reached and Influenced Americans.
, None Of US is so young as to forget
(the sudden change in the opinions of
I mothers concerning the advisability of
providing wash garments for children
. had held since Puritan days. We con-
slider the new decision final. This was
the accepted fashion to worlds end.
So do we Judge all mass decisions, sud-
are old-fashioned So 1t is that wash
clothes which ruled the nursery are
old-fashioned this season They are
not even promised for the summer time.
power. Colors are preferred to white.
characterization is rampant Elimina-
ton Of material in length Of skirt is the
only elimination.
One cannot fail to put the question:
What are women going to do IL the nurs-
older set has stolen prevailing Juvenile
fashions for three years. The short
skirt. the bodied hair. the small sleeve,
socks and sandals, long-waisted bodices
features bodily lifted from the nursery
Ind schoolroom by many who should
have known better.
The revolution IL clothes for the elders,
therefore: started from Juvenile source.
women follow suit?
p The revolution in clothes for the elders
for children not expressed through the