Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-24

n clothes. as In viands, the up-to-
date American woman seems I" lie
little slleptlcat Of overelahorate
il furnishings. She knows that an
ingenious cook can often lis
x,hSs meat that Is stale or tough In
onion. mushrooms and other like
trimmings; she knows that clumsy
COOK can often ruin really choice
piece Of meat or delicious. succu-
lent vegetable by means OF ill-chosen
furnishings. So. too. clever trick
of trimming sometimes hides from us
the fact that the material whereof
frock is made Is wretched stuff. ready
to spot and shrivel when exposed TO
dampness, or likely to fade in the
bright sun. Again really lovely ma
terisl may he married by the wrong
choice Of trimming. and a gown that
possessed distinction and grace when
untrimmed may. he rendered quite
commonplace by too much trimming.
1t has been characteristic of the
century thus far that clothes have
been far less trimmed than they were
during all save the first decades OF
the last. Probably the fashion for
less trimming came about in some
what this manner. A woman would
stand before II long glass in her dress
makers workroom. She would see
the gown as II was first tried on
just long, straight lines unfinished,
unmarried by the provision OF trim-
ming that WAS waiting to be applied
once the dressmaker had made sure
of the At. The trimming seemed
quite essential. Without 1t the dress
wouldn't look finished. Still the wom-
an standing there before the long
glass could not help hut admire the
reflection She sighed and wished
that fashion would permit those long
unhroken lines. those unembellished
edges. An artist would appreciate
Just such simplicity. The woman
felt that she was quite her best as
shs stood there in the frock that was
only Just tackled together and waited
for much trimming. She felt that
she was the type who did better in
very simple things than in things
much adorned. not realizing that
every woman really belongs to that
san type.
Maybe she said something Of her
thoughts to the dressmaker.
Maybe the dressmaker agreed with
her. Or maybe II was the dressmaker
and not the woman standing there
who realized the charm in the simple
untrimmed frock.
Eventually dressmakers and their
customers. enough of them. came to
feel that way about trimming until
some of them had the courage TO
make and 10 wear skirts that hung
straight from the waistline with not
frill. ruffie futing. and with
hodiCes that lacked sdornment en-
tirely. When trimming was used il
was put on in a mass. strikingly. so
AS To enrich the garment without
taking from the charming simplicity
of it.
So things went for decade and
more. Then apparently women he
came somewhat fed up" on the sim
pie untrimmed frock-iust as one
heefsteak and srilled chops and ones
toOthSome farCi. SO gradually more
duced in our frocks Only it really
seems that nowadays trimming 10
used much more wisely than in last
century days. 1t is used sparingly and
with more sophistica ton. The de-
signer first thinks Of her frock as 1t
shall fe-trimming and all. She then
analyzes her picture and uses such
garniShments as she needs to complete
her dream. There are fewer dress
makers now who wait until after the
trimming as we add colored glass
balls. lead sha wings, popcorn strings
and electric lights to our tree on
Christmas eve.
Ribbon seems to be much used to
trim the new things-but sometimes
1t takes a second or third inspection
IL.