The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1926-07-15
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ey pRoEHL HALLER JAkLoN

BY PROEHL HALLER JAkLON
~ HORT skirts are no longer news. And wom-
ans apparel, what there is of it. isn't half
Y the topic of heated conversation that it was
few years ago.
OF course now and then you read news item
announcing that next seasons skirts are to be
shorter or perhaps you may encounter wheezy
old joke involving popularity Of woman's
dress, but in general, critical comment on feni-
nine attire occupies less and less space in our
news columns. OF fashions and modes we have
aplenty and the space devoted to style informa-
ton steadily increases, for as a nation we have
become dress conscious.
Short skirts are no longer news merely be-
cause news Is supposed to concern itself with
the unusual And short skirts are no longer I'M
usual Today long skirts are almost as rare as
the hustle. You see short skirts everywhere
shorter than they ever were-and the world goes
along unshocked and, for all that has been prom
lsed and threatened, seemingly unframed
Womens clothes are lighter now than they
ever have been, with the exception of the period
directly following the French revolution when
the girls of Marsees simple TUNES mod
eled after the fashion of the ancient Greeks The
clothes of Miss 1925 weigh sixteen ounces To
list them here would add scarcely one line
And it seems that America by no means is
unique In this matter of dress. France England
Germany, in fact, most of the civilized world has
declared for the new freedom in dress and is
S6lIlAlS away With IL. IN PaflS the skirts
short that an American woman who had lived
there for several years found upon returning
to our shores that 1t would be necessary to re-
model her clothes In Berlin and London it IS
the same. The lower picture above shows a
group Of Berlin mannequin, with their numbers
waiting to be called
From the standpoint of health today's fashions
have the endorsement of physicians, except where
fashion demands dieting and self-starvation In
order to attain that slfmnnss which Ar,,artaox.
have come to recognize as beauty Medical sci
ence many years ago warned the ladies that If
they persisted In encasing themselves In long
tight-httng corsets they were likely to injure
themselves permanently. They laughed at this
advice at hrst but gradually they loosened the
strings Then the World war came and the
younger generation finding it could play better
without harness, discarded the corset entirely.
Some of the abbreviated dresses of today would
have caused panic In the streets of twenty
years ago, Does that mean that women have be-
come deprayed? Is it Immoral to wear skirts
that reach only to the knee? mo daughter of
mine viii make such spectacle Of herself |"
said parents with Nineteenth century standards
of modes and manners. Now these same parents
sit in the gallery little puzzled and bewidered
patiently watching. secretly relieved that wom
ans attractiveness far from being impaired, has
been greatly enhanced by her new liberation.
One observer argues that the idea of smmoral
ty is closely allied to the idea Of shame: and
that, having got rid of good deal Of shame, we
have attained to higher degree OF moral health
than prevailed In Jane Austens day when
had only one pre0ccupation-se sex. This is the
opinion OF Hugh A. studdert Kennedy, former
London correspondent of the Christian Science
Monitor. and brother of the Rev. G. A. Studdert
Kennedy.
Writing in the Forum Mr.. Kennedy recalls a
June day ein London twelve years ago. Passing
under tile Admiralty arch, he was shocked to be-
hold woman obviously of grace and refinement,
beautifully gowned in the mode Of the day. save
for the outrageous fact. that the sleeves Of her
dress were completely transparent from the
wrists to the shoulders"
Soon crowd started to follow her. Some
youths began to jostle her. and before I knew
what / was doing / had pushed my way through
the crowd, enlisted the services Of a policeman,