The New York herald., 1921-10-30
SHORT SKIRTS GAIN
In APPROVAL HERE
More Prominent Women Pro-
nounce Against Ankle Length
i'm New Mode.
PARIS EDICT IS DEFIED
Plenty of Freedom Coupled
With Modesty Seems to Be
the Demand.

More women are raliying TO the
short skirt standard and voicing pro-
test against the threatened invasion of
the ankle length hem. which Paris ap-
proves and is already sending over in
various models and materials.
Midway between knee and ankle is
the accepted length, according to wom-
en- interviewed yesterday. AS Miss
Mary Wood, president of .he Women s
Republican State Association and now
in charge of the women's division of
the Curran headquarters, expressed it,
Skirts should reach to the top of the
old-fashioned shoe. We don't wear
high shoes any more. but that's where
the skirt should come. That's rea-
sonable and sanitary length and 1t
covers most defects. 1t escapes car
steps and is sanitary. Short skirts be-
came so short that they were almost
eliminated and you saw nothing but
silk stockings. I'm tired OF that ef-
feet Moderation is what I want to
sec in our styles, moderation and COM
fort, and we can't be comfortable in
long skirts
Mrs. Emma Kip Edwards. president of
the Colonial Club, is another ally OF the
short skirt forces. I'VE ought to wear
them short, of course" she declared;
Its the only way to have our skirts.
But when I say short, / mean mod
crate height, not up to the knees so you
see the garter. Eight inches is about
the right height from the ground. Al
most any woman of any age can wear
that height for the street"
Mrs. Mabel Russell, secretary of the
League of Women Voters. advocates
skirt that reaches from seven to eight
inches above the ground. II like re-
spsctable length" is the way she ex-
pressed her view. Its what we used
to call short before they began wearing
their skirts up to the knees. Extremely
but they are out Of place for business
Ankle length is too long for practical
purposes The medium length is what
we want"
Mrs. Dora Thompson. assistant to the
principal of the Washington Irving High
School. who has more than 5000 girl
pupils in her care, stands for comfort
and conservatism. "The only sensible
skirt to wear is one that is sensible in
length. and that means one that does not
get in the dust and yet is not Of exag-
BtIdteu nelSHt. Sne Tefndrkeu. ScnOOl
girls and wome.. in business could never
work comfortably and get about in skirts
that reach to the ankles"
Mrs. Noble Mcconnell. president OF the
Mozart Club. which held a rehearsal at
the Astor Hotel, declared Paris has
nothing on us. We can stand on our own
ieet in America. There are no smarter
groomed or better looking women in the
world than In New York. Instead OF
our listening to what Paris says about
lengthening or shortening our skirts, we
can tell Paris what to wear. French
dI essrnakers know that the leadership in
fashions is slipping away from them,
hence the outcry about our changing into
their accepted longer skirts. The short
skirt Is sanitary. it is comfortable and
II is becoming-I mean the moderately
short skirt Is. Trains are abominablt
and should be forever abolished, even Oh
evening gowns, except for court occa-
sions."