Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-04-09

"est" to it. whenever they wish TO
emphasize it. Woe be to the person
who ever brought the word into the
American language!
The trouble with the American
women at present is their tempta-
ton to accept red. It is offered them
at every corner. Red Is a danger
Gus color, more so than green. and
this fact Is hard to impress upon an
impressionable public. Women buy
red hats who should not give !.
color a chance to get within three
yards OF them.s Girls buy red gowns
whose skins demand neutral tones.
No one seems to realise, except the
experts, that red needs certain
brilliancy Of personality to carry it
OF. 1t cannot be worn by those whose
characters are negative, whose car
riage is insignificant, whose style Of
dressing has no merit. Red Is for
the artist. for the woman with cour-
age. daring.
A bit Of red on a woman is some
times as effective as a bit of it in
house decoration. The colonials knew
this fact when they put in Chinese
lacquered table against the dark
brown mahogany and the buff walls
of their spacious houses. Lanvin Of
Paris can bring an entire costume
into significance by adding two
inch piquot ribbon sash.
The reason that navy blue can
never be ousted from the wordrobe
Of women is its ability to meet the
requirements of most faces. 1t does
not require striking personality to
carry it. 1t does not create a vivid
contrast between the wearer and it,
self Therefore it remains a staple.
something better than black, safer
than gray.
THE fanciful dressmakers take lib
critics with 1t. They ornament 1t
with satin roses. they pierce 1t full Of
holes in the eyelet fashion, they en-
broider it with jet, they now trim
1t with coarse white lace. But these
eccentricities Of fashion do not dis
turb the peace of mind Of the ma
jority Of the public. The plain suit,
the one-piece frock, the separate
skirt is navy blue. 1t has disadvan-
tages in the fact that a commonplace
person can emphasize q commonplace
fabric. and navy blue serge registers
under that definition.
When women leave dark blue they
get into deep water. Choice becomes
perilous. The color known as peri
winkle blue is not for every one.
Any one would think by observing the
milliners' windows and the groups
Of women in the streets that it was
the safest color in the world. It Is
4verpopular. The milliners have
taken it up with moro enthusiasm
than the dressmakers. 1t Is safer in
a gown than 4 hat, for 1t doesn't take
away the color from the eyes. But
there Is every evidence that it will
be worn by every one just once. May
be it will be discarded by June. What
is known as French blue, that faint
shade Of the horizon which the French
colorists designed for their troops
after the general staff realized that
the famous and traditional red trou-
sers were the means Of slaughter, is
an easy color to wear. 1t is troubled
with overpopularity. Last June those
who were fond of statistics insisted
that three out of every seven women
in the street would have on a suit of
horizon blue homespun or jersey.
Any one who reads the advertise
ments in the papers comes to The con-
clusion that green is to us what 1t
was to the Egyptians, and most of
the B. c. people. Students of racial
habits and predictions say that
green was the color chosen by the