The New York herald., 1921-10-16
Many Women Defeated in Bat-I
tie for Retention of Short
Skirts.
~ ANNIE R1TrENHoUsn.

PARIS. Oct. 8.
HE dressmakers have not had
an easy time Of 1t this season
They undertook to wage battle
with the public. Battles, even with
out bloodshed. do not make life simple
The dressmalSers knew this fact.
They are shrewd and canny. They are
not creatures of accident, but they are
creatures Of power. therefore. they
plan campaigns, they arrange maps
OF progress. they go by signposts. And
those signposts are written by the
public. not the dressmakers. They are,
in reality. signs of the whimsical paths
which the public takes in its course
from the cradle to the grave.
Sometimes these signposts point the
way to severity. as they did during the
war: again, they point the way to
license with a touch of debauchery
or they may point the way to religious
manners, to the morals OF the cloister,
or the economy of those who continu-
ally dwell In the middle places of life.
The reason these signposts have
power with those who follow the paths
Is that human nature continually
changes its externals. never its funda-
Inentals. and those who must live by
the whims Of the public must read
the signs Of its mind, its desires and
its spiritual twisting and turning.
Possibly the dressmakers are the
handmaidens of the public. Who
knows? Those who deal with them
believe otherwise. They believe that
their power comes from the, alliance
Of artistic perception with a keen
knowledge OF human nature. When
they see women going in certain
direction they follow. but not afar off.
sent II SO quickly by turn in fashion
that the vast majority consider them
leaders, not followers.
New Road Leads TO Modesty.
The trend toward modesty is appalling
to certain minds. They scream aloud.
the women who have these minds. In
their realization OF what clothes will
mean before next spring.
The dressmakers are definite IN their
opinions. They talk to women as though
they were fnarshalling soldiers into
battle. They refuse 20 turn up the hens
Of skirts, unless they are good natured
American dressmakers who are too be-
wildered by the mass OF people with
whom they must deal to speak with
authority. Not so the Paris dressmak-
sss They consider themselves field
marsfa1s.
Many American women have been de-
feated In Paris this autumn. They have
stood In the ubiquitous gray salons and
fought for the knee length skirts and
bathing suits pleaded In vain. They
have come out of these salons with
skirts that swept the instcp and sleeves
that left nothing but the fingernails
visible.
To all their arguments for nudity and
brevity the Paris dressmalxer has replied
with definiteness III is not possible.
Surely you cannot be so sturid as to
ruin the model. TIE gown is designed on
long lines. Cut off the sleeve, shorten
the skirt, and what do you do? You
have something terrible. 1t cannot be.
70 must not come from this house We
are artists. We design whole picture.
II cannot be cut into little parts. Amer
lea must wear long skirts and long
sleeves. But, yesi'
And 80 It is. They are artists. Paris
centinues to dictate the styles. And
America continues to modify them.
America must. Her women are not
artists In mass. There are too many
millions OF them to wear exactly the
same thing America takes her inspira-
ton from France and. so Paris says.
destroys the inspiration as fast as she
can. The average American woman
knows little OF the rue de In Paix. the
Place vendome and the Champs Elysees.
One biz thing however all the Arneri-
cans grnsr. which r tho srirt-al move
ment OF fashion. II yc1 think tliHf