New-York tribune., 1922-01-22
TT = FREEDOM
Or THE KNEES
IKE their heroic ancestors Of 1776 and
1912, the women of the United

full for IL domination. They are defying
their European masters quite as boldly as
their forefathers and the whole nation Is be-
ing fired by the determination of its women
to be slaves 70 longer.
1t is not. however, freedom of the seas
or anything Of that sort which Is making our
women hurl their bold defances across the
Atlantic aud prepare to battle to the last ditch
in their effort 70 escape the oppressive yoke
o+ rurope's despots, This time the principle
involved Is sa~torial rather than political,
aesthetic rather than economic
Freedom of the knees!
Such is the slogan which raight wei oc car
ried on The banners Of Americas women as
they go forth to battle. This conveniently
small nouthful of simple words sums up the
Issue at stake better than anything else.
Freedom Of the knees is what our women
are determined to have at any cost. For the
sake Of this principle they are ready to de1y
all the Partisan designers whom they havs
40 long depended for their fashion ideas and
To declare their complete independence In the
matter Of styles
The story Of why freedom Of the knees has
become such burning issue and has led our
women to open revolt against Europe Is ono
that can be quickly told.
During the war, when economic necessity
compelled the reduction Of the amount OF ma
terial used in every kind Of clothing to a
minimum, the Partisan fashion experts wisely
decreed that women's skirts should be made
shorter than they ever had been before.
When the armistice came and the supply
of fabrics began to return to nornlalcy tho
Partisan designers promptly decreed that
womens skirts should be lengthened--
lcngthened so that they would once more hide
all the lower limbs, except a small portion
of the feet
Probably their decision was Influenced to
large extent by the pressure of the manu-
facturers Of silks, woolens and linens. Now
that these men had unlimited quantities OF
fabrics, it was only human nature for them
to want the fashions to be as liberal as pos
sible in their use of them. 1t requires only
ference in the quantity Of material consumed
it makes whether skirts barely cover the
knees or whether they almost sweep the
ground
Longer skirts" said Paris. But every
body who thought this settled the matter was
failing to take into consideration how at
tachcd Americas women have become to the
freedom of the knees which short skirts made
possible.
1t is now revealed that our women never
enjoyed any feature of their always changing
styles quite as much as they do these very short
skirts. They were so delighted from the very
start with the freedom they found in them
that they lifted the skirts to greater heights
than wartime economies made necessary or
than the Partisan fashion creators had any
idea of doing.
So devoted sid American women become
to skirts little If any more than knee length
that when Paris decreed they should be worn
no more. they said "Nonsense!" and just kept
right on wearing them. Then, of course, the
war was on, for such disobedence Of Paris
ian fashion edict is not thing to be passed
lightly over.
\ The reason why the Partisan fashion crea-
tors should be 80 insstent on a return to
longer skirts when their good American Gus
toners so united in opposition to them
is said to be found not only in the greed Of
the textile manufacturers, but also in the we'll
known fact that Nature has been infinitely
more generous to American women than to the
French in the matter Of shapely lower limbs.
Connoisseurs of feminine beauty and an
thropoogists are both agreed that the grace
full, well-rounded leg which is so common here
in the United States to pass almost unno-
tced is distinct rarity in France. This
makes 1t easy to why the French well
coined the return of the long skirt, which re-
heved them Of the necessity of displaying
their scrawny ugliness to the public gaze
any longer. American women, on the other
hand, having nothing to be ashamed of and
much to be proud of in the way their legs are
modelled, prefer to retain the short skirt and
the pleasant freedom of the knees" which it
pives.
This and other phases of the revolution in
which America s women now engaged are
interestingly summed up by the distinguished