Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-06-15
JUST BE |'NATURAL" AND
YOU'LL BE WELL DRESSED
BY MARGERY WELLS
(Cnn1,r,i chit 1QoDl

sense about their dressing. They
are ceasing to load on their persons
layer after layer of irrelevant
clothes.
Our grandmothers would be shock,
ed at our lack Of petticoats. They
would shudder with imagined cold
at our disregard of f1anneled
warmth. And yet, If we could bring
their traditional minds to examine
our theories Of dress, we could, no
doubt, convince them that we had
gained in wisdom, not to mention the
ways of grace.
Petticoats are a mere indication Of
the trend Of the dressing of the
times. Who wears pettieoats these
days? Only the few who have not
walked to the fact that they are not
at all necessary. When we wear
thick skirts that do not show the
light of day through their folds, then
we wear boomers that are much
more to the point really. They are
warmer and more snug. They an
swer the purpose with far more eft1-
cheney, in other words.
We have put aside corsets-those
of us whose figure can stand the
strain. And those who can not be
free to this extent are not burdened
with nearly the Weighty and bony
arrangements that encountered their
lives some years back. What cor
sets there are are born to hit the
ways of nature now rather than to
mold us into some form never con-
ceived by our Creator.
Oh, yes, we are being more and
more natural, and consequently more
and more charming, as the days go
on. For what is more charming
than the reality that is ourselves
We hardly need layers of petticoats
and stays to draw us into peculiar
shapes when we are so really good
looking, just naturally speaking.
Stockings Less of a Formally
Now we roll our stockings below
our knees and fasten them there
with inoffensive, little round carriers
that are easy to adjust and tncon-
sequential to wear. No uncomfort-
able long carriers are dragging at our
systems to- give us a dragged feeling
while our only satisfaction lies in
knowing that our stomachs are as
fiat as any board. We are more
courageous now about letting our
stomachs show some slight curve
some rounded line that is natural.
The newer stockings have elastic
tops, so that they stay up all OF their
own accord, and thereby they &C.
complish another feat of elimination.
No garters at all are in order. The
stockings are complete things in
themselves.
We are improving. We are get
ting farther and farther from that
place where they can call US fool
ish dressers." And the beautiful part
about the whole thing is that we
are just as well dressed as ever We
were. Yes, some think that we are
even bitter dressed.
At the opera you used to see moth
ing but long, white gloved arms
hanging over the rails of the boxes.
They made a nice, white pattern
against the red velvet, but analysed
they were rather useless.
Now the younger girls who go to
the opera are frankly refusing to
wear long gloves. You see their
bare arms quite beautifully posed
against their colorful dresses and ar
ranged on the box rails in all their
natural beauty. First this elimina-
ton of gloves happened at Dances
then it betook itself into the realms
of that formal gathering, the opera.
And now there seems no valid rea-
son for wearing long white gloves
unless you really want to. And even
then they are not as smart as the
arms that are quite unadorned.
60 fhc
hair, has been cast off. Many are
the new bobbed heads among young
and old. The fashion is no longer
confined to the flappers. 1t is
something that has taken hold CT
the VITAL modern instincts Of many
women. They are beginning to say
"How unnecessary" How hard to
take care Of" "How unbeautiful
most of the time''-all this in rela
ton to that we'll known "woman's
glory" They see that it can be
Just. as glorious when it is entirely
comfortable.
Furbelows Going by Boards
Trimmings, If present fashions
are to be regarded as any indica
ton, are fast disappearing from
sight. It is almost a crime now tC
have a trimming upon a frock
which does not, at the same time
serve a purpose. 1t must finish ar
edge, or weight a skirt, or give line
to a general composition. There
are no silly furbelows. Everything
has raison detre.
It IS all quite cheering to girls
who think and who resent being
apo,,Y,,barad with rlotboS that have
| no bearing upon their lives or their
pursuits. They take much more
pleasure in gathering together
the clothes that, after all, are nee
essary, than they ever could, ir
this modern age, in compiling
clothes meant for vanity alone.
Where, when, you stop to think
have the large, unwiedly hats called
picture hats gone?
1 remember when they said that
certain type of woman had tc
wear a huge hat. But now they are
making small hats in such delicare
proportions that they are just as
becoming as large hats would be. You
see how subtle the change is and
how it reaches to every fine poin;
Of woman's dressing and her ap
pearance before the world?
I Some of the changes continue tC
shock the old-timers, but they are
inevitable marks of the progress OF
the feminine population and of its
emancipation. They are not noticed
every day, but they are there anG
all of our lives are the easier fol-
them.