Evening star., 1923-08-12
Heard and Seen

Somebody ought to write a pane
gyric on the prevailing styles in
women's clothes. 1t ought to be done.
for never in the last two or three
thousand years have womens dresses
been 40 artistic and sensible as today
If Tutankhamen is responsible for
the vogue of the simple one-pece
dresses which all the girls are wear
ing this summer. mankind should
rise up and call him blessed. for he
has freed us from short skirts and
unnatural waist lines.
The much abused "fappers" got the
jump on King Tut by a few years,
however. 1t was they who intro
duced, for the first time in the his
tory of clothes. a sort of uniform
wearing apparel for women corre-
spending to the standardized suits
worn by men
At the same time that many were
slamming the little fapper girls.
there were thousands secretly admir-
ing them as they sauntered by in
their fringed skirts. sweaters. Peter
Pan collared waists, rough hats and
low, sensible shoes.
They had succeeded in creating. al
most overnight. a good looking, COM
Portable costume that looked good
upon them. and at the same time
looked good TO the beholder. If some
girl achieved only sloppy appear
ance. 1t was not the fault of the IDEA,
but of the girl.
Those days of panning the girls and
their clothes have given way to an
attitude of silent commendation. Per-
haps King Tut had been waiting his
5000 years just to come to light
again in these days when women at
last had given up their absurd
"blouses" and ridiculous high-heeled
shoes, and gone back to the simple
flowing lines OF the ancient Egyptians
and Greeks.
The dresses the girls are wearing
this summer may be called night
gown dresses for they are construct
ed on the lines of the robe de mutt
made suitable for street wear. but
retaining all the grace of line of the
more intimate garment.
To mere man 1t seems that all one
would have to do to make night
gown dress would he to get a big
piece of cloth, about the size of a
small table covering, sew up places
for the arms TO come through. cut a
hole for the head, and slip 1t on;
The making of such a dress is al
most as simple as that. many of them
being cut out. sewed up ana donned
in less than day. 1t is the lines
that count. not the amount of work
on them.
1t is their simplicity that makes"
them. not their decorations. As a
matter of fact, they have very little
decoration. If decorations are placed
upon them they lose their simplicity
and become like the old dresses.
The nightgown dress emphasized
the woman. The old dresses put the
emphasis upon the dress. But the
new dresses, falling from the shoulder,
display what beauty a girl has got in
the manner that the Creator intended.
Women are made along certain de-
signs. Fashion devoted itself for
centuries. with corsets and other
articles of wear. to attempting to
destroy the normal lines of a woman's
figure. and substituting in their stead
artificial curves that were only ugly,
looked at fairly.
But Nature is resilient.
Like rubber balls that have been
squeezed to no purpose. put a girl in
a nightgown dress and she immedi-
ately takes the form and shape which
an all-wise Creator intended her to
have.
The result is lovely beyond the
dreams of mere makers of fashions.
Woman takes her rfghtful place again
as the most beautiful of created
things. OF course, there can be abuse
of this new-yet very old-style of
dress, but where there is use there
always can be abuse.
| CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.