Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-14
BY MARY MARSHALL.

T HERE was a time not so long
ago when all evening dresses
they really were proper eve
Il ming dresses belonged to the
same general classification.
Some, of course. were more gorgeous
and more formal or more pretentious,
gayer, or more sophisticated than
others, but there was no definite line to
distinguish them into distinct groups
Now there are two very definite sorts
Of evening dresses that differ from each
other almost as much as bathing suit,
let us say, differs from a tennis cos
tune, or sports suit from an after
noon gown. There are, in short, formal
evening gowns that one wears to the
opera or important evening receptions
and dances or large formal dinner
parties. And there are the other eve
ming dresses for which no really good
blanket term has yet been devised.
GUNDAY evening dresses some people
call them until they realize that
they are more likely to wear them Mon
day, Tuesday or any night Of the week
than on Sunday. Cocktail dress-even
II there were no Eighteenth Amend
ment-would be no better, since no
one would make a special change of
dress Just to drink cocktails, anyway.
One might just as well speak Of q
canape dress or an hors d'oeuvre dress
In the Summer we sometimes called
dresses Of this informal evening sort.
daylight dining dresses, and some
times, for no very good reason, they
are called bridge dresses.
Whatever you call them, they prob
ably play an important part in your
Winter wardrobe and you doubtless
need more of them than Of the very
formal, conventional type of dress that
you wear only for so-called important
occasions.
WHITE, black, red. rose and pink
these are the colors or tones that
stand out pre-eminently among the for
NAL sort Of evening dress. And the
present vogue for the all-white dress is
especially interesting. It is not SIM
pie little white dress Of the rather in
genue sort. Far from it. It is dress
to which one is tempted to apply such
adjectives as gorgeous, luxurious, ma
jestic, magnificent. It is made of rather
heavy silk crepe. stiff satin or velvet, !
and though retaining the slender lines |
that are essential to SmartneSs, often |
contains many more yards OF material |
than dressmaker could possibly have |
made use OF a season or so ago. And |
let me make this suggestion. If you are |
getting formal evening dress of any
sort this Winter that you hope to be |
able to wear next season, by all means
choose one Of the more voluminous |
sort, with full, long, flowing drapery.
SOMETIMES the new formal white |
~ evening dresses are studded with |
glittering beads, sometimes they are |
trimmed with lace, but almost always
they are entirely white. the only touch |
of color appearing in the jewelry-
rubies, emeralds, sapphires or a COM
bination Of black and brilliants.
There is q definite drift of fashion |
away from black. But for formal eve
ming wear black is unquestionably i'm
portant. Sometimes 1t serves as q |
background for colorful jewels and
sometimes the color note is achieved
by real or artificial flowers. Some Of
the loveliest Of the new black lace
dresses show suggestion Of light pink
or rose.
Red, rose and pink follow black and
white in Importance for formal eve
ming wear, and following these tones
one should mention emerald green, |
turquoise, q number Of light or bright
blues, and a variety Of luminous pastel
tones that suggest the colors Of precious
stones.
A N important difference between the
1 formal evening dress and the more
practical one that you might speak of
as an every night dress is one Of length.
The formal evening dress must be long
and very often shows an actual train, |
while the less formal dress rarely
comes below the ankles or insteps. and
may be even shorter. It is a very few
inches that make a world Of difference.
Generally speaking, the formal eve
ming dress Is made with more pro-
nounced decolletage than its informal
cousin, which IS almost never cut low
at the back and frequently shows
sleeves that extend over the shoulders
to the elbows, or even TO the wrists.
There Is a difference too in the fabric
and general line Of the two types Of
dresses. Stiff satins, gorgeous brocades,
costly laces are chosen for the dress
that you wear only for special occasions,
while less expensive. more wearable
materials are chosen for the evening
dress that you wear on less ceremoni-
Gus occasions.
tCopyrisht, 1892