The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-11-16
Both Economy And Prac-' ticability Are
 Stressed
BY IMAGERY WELLS

w the blouse. It IS always With us
 in one way or another. And, after all. what can a wardrobe boast in the way of economy or practlcallty unless it is able to boast blouse or two to help out the general arrange ment?
 By blouse we mean. these days, something soft and sweet and fluffy and eminetly becoming. It has envolved to the point where it is the dress, where the skirt counts so little that 1t becomes merely background, where the centre of interest is concentrated in the direction of the bodice, so much so that the blouse is an entity by it's self And, since this state of affairs Goes exist in the realm of dress, as the poets say, it behooves us to take ac- count of the blouse and realize the importance of having just the right ones in our own possession.
 Born With Fashion Sense
 There are some girls who are born with fashicn sense. They seem to see into the future of dressing with an mcannyease. They do the little trick so instinctively that they scarsely know themselves what they are ac- complishing, and this is the way na- ture of that sort worked once in the way of blouse making.
 A girl bought dark blue serge pleated skirt five years ago. She liked the looks of the thing It wasn't parti- cularly stylish then but it did nicely and she had all kinds of reasons, prac- tical and impractical, for wanting 1t. She said she could wear it when she wanted to be without corset and some days her back just wouldn't stand one of those things. She said it would help her wear out some of her old blouses. She went on with excuses.
 Well, the skirt acted upon her clothes sense as a sort of inspiration and she got busy making blouSes to go with it. She hit upon one made of dark blue velvet. It came to the hips, had long, wide sleeves and was faced at the neck, ends of sleeves and along the hip lines with a deep violet-toned charmeuse.
 It was good looking and becoming and though the material was of that rather sumptuous sort, it worked into the work-a-day world she lived in with surprisingly incOHspicious mein. She found herself wearing it over and over again. especially when all other frocks seemed to be out of commission, in need of mending or cleaning. It cleaned beautifully, it steamed wonderfully well Gin her own little bathrOom), it wore like iron and in summer time it looked most interesting with a pleated white flannel skirt At the end of five years she finds herself still wearing that blouse. She is trifle apologetic about it. but she keeps on wearing it, and the chances at present are good for her making another one just like it.
 Now this is the life that can befall any blouse when it is carefully picked out and wisely attuned to ones in- dividuality and the usual contents of ones wardrobe.
 BlOuses Are Stunning
 Bl"uSeS today are perfectly stunning and they come in all styles and shapes and designs suited to every possible figure. They are no longer makeshifts. They are distinct costumes needing only a little something in the way of skirt to help them out.
 But don't ever think that a suit skirt-just any old one-is going to look we'll with just any old blouse. This does not happen. A thoughtless combination of that sort is worse than useless. It can rob you of your tone, your style, your good looks and a DOT tlon of your morale. Perhaps it is that blouse needs more thought than any other article of present day attire. But 1t pays you well when it is right. It's returns are valuable and, as was the case with that five-year-old warrior, 1t may pay many times over for the in yeStment
 The tunic blouse is something that has come to stay Its mechanism is so simple and it can be so smart. Then the material that is required to make 1t K but small in quantity and one can have variety of them to go with one skirt, thereby enlarging ones ward robe to quite considerable extent. But be careful about the straight. lone. uncompromisng costume blouse It does not do for all figures. It assemblies well only with straight lines and long ones. Anything else in the way of figure must have preferential treatment The blouse can be fulled at the sides little, or it can he laid in folds over the stomach, or it can be slit on the sides. There are lots of things to do with il, whereby it will look to all prac- tical intents and purposes quite the same as the blouse of uncompromising straightness.
 The straight, long tunic blouse are interesting when they are bordered with