Evening star., 1925-09-13

ATTITUDE has much to do with
s color fashions. And because
the center for womens fash
A ions for all of what we call the
civilized world is located along
the banks of the Seine in the 48th de-
gree of northern latitude the fashion
Tor bright colors can never remain a
permanent thing. If history had been
such as to make Madrid. not Paris, the
hub of feminine styles the canvas of
fashions would doubtless be spread
with more brilliant colors. For Ma
drid is in the 10th degree of lati
Iude.
So is New York for that matter
and there is a general tendency here
TO interpret French fashions with a
more coorful brush than that used
by the originators-that> lis. so far
as daytime clothes to be worn in the
city are concerned. 1t really is a
matter OF latitude matter of the in
tensity, of the sunlight-that affects
our taste for color. rather than a mat
ter of .~mperature-for New York and
most of our other large American
cities are much more like Paris than
Madrid SO far as temperature is con
cerned.
In the Summer observers spoke of
the vogue for bright colors that pre-
vEiled in Paris as something that
grays, somber blacks, musty browns
and unobtrusive dark blues seemed to
some to have passed away. In their
places had come verdant greens.
lmpid blues, vibrant reds and yell
lows and intoxicating purples So
long as the perfect weather of the
Grande Semaine lasted in Paris, these
rainbow colors lasted Never before
had Parisians worn such bright colors
out of doors
But when gray DAYS came as Sum
mer advanced and as the gayeties of
the early part of the Summer left
Paris for seashore resorts. these bril-
liant colors became less and less evi-
dent. Closet fitting tailor-mades soon
took the place Of airy frocks and
flimsy cloaks and capes of radiant
hues.
But it is only for daytime outdoor
wear that the brilliant colors have
passed. The bright Solors remain in
fashion for evening. In rooms bright
ly lighted artificially heated, deco
rated with flowers and palms. every
evening of the fashionable woman $
life even in Winter becomes little
interval of tropical existence where
one may still wear the light frocks,
the soft thin fabrics and luminous
coors that bloomed at the races and
garden parties for a brief week or
SO in early summer.
Go with the coming of autumnal
~ weather ii seems to the French
woman that the only occasions for
wearing bright clothes come in the
evening. Perhaps because our skies
are brighter in Autumn than theirs
and because we actually do live eight
degrees nearer to the Equator we are
more inclined to wear bright street
clothes than are Frenchwomen. In
fact, American women have not in
frequently been criticized by north
ern Europeans for this apparently
primitive taste in colors. 1t happens
that evening clothes as they are now
shown for evening are more colorful
than they have been for many years
before-so many years before that
the observer does not hesitate to say
that they have never been so colorful
before.
One thing that may have struck
you on seeing and being present in
a gathering of women in lovely eve
ming dresses is that words of descrip-
ton really do fail to give an ade
quate impression. Simply to name
the colors used in an evening frock
does not convey the right color i'm
preston nor describe the effect upon
the beholder of the subtle blending
of the colors mentioned. Rose-col-
ored georgette is one thing when 1t
Is folded on the shelf in the dry goods
store and quite another when it is
combined by an artist with metallic
lace, beads, brocade and other rich
fabric, posed in skfllful drapery over
the body of an exquisite woman and
worn at some evening assemblage
where the hum of voices and the
rhythm of music, the scent of flow
ers and subtle perfume mingle against
the background of well furnished
rooms.
So 1t is that descriptions of the
new evening frocks fail to carry a