Evening star., 1931-11-01

A great revival of industry is certain to take
place in America now as a result of the present
renaissance of the elaborate and formal fashions
Of the Second Empire, Ieplicas of the same
fashions which Eugene launched for reasons
Of state.
Saucy Empress Eugene hats plumed and
tiny which sit cooked over the right eye OF
thousands of American women today, will be
followed by looped skirts. .&puffed sleeves fr1ngeS
and ScallopS and ruchings, velvet neckbandS,
scarlet capeS, voluminous draped skirts, modified
forms Of the hustle polonaise and leg-o'-mutton
sleeve, already limited at in the new FAN and
Winter fashions. And mittS and muffs and
waterfalls will all help to make American girls
resemble living pictures from GodeyS LAdys
Book, thereby bringing prosperity right over the
home threshold
It Is obvious that the wearing OF these fancy
and formal clothes, which calls for many yards
of silk laces velvet, trimmings, ribbons, braids.
Satins and for feathers, fans buttons jewels,
ornaments and various other gewgaws VIII
have q Salutary effect upon the hundreds OF
varied trades which have long been at q stand.
still. which have been weakly functioning-
A ND Second Empire finery will, in turn, start
Na prosperity cycle on its way for formal
clothes are bound to launch an era Of gayety
and exuberant living and thus thousands OF
other industries will be called into action, those
out Of employment will obtain work and money
viii be spent freely and with abandon.
This optimistic note on the trend OF the
times, revealing itself like undercurrent
through women's fashion tastes, is sounded by
Mrs Maud Hart Lovelace. novelist. who has
been doing considerable research work on the
life of the beautiful Empress, whose style crea-
tions being copied enthusiastically by
American and European couturiers and pounced
upon so avidly by women all over the world
Mrs Lovelace, charming, dark-haired young
woman herself attired in lacy and ultra-fem-
inne frock, left her typewriter in her home at
New Rochelle, N Y, long enough to explain
why a revival of Empress Eugenie styles presages
o sure era of prosperity.
France was at a low ebb when Napoleon III
came to the throne" began Mrs. Lovelace. He
married a young Spanish girl OF devastating
beauty, but not of royal blood. She dressed ex-
uuisitely and had fair for originality in dress
When she introduced a new gown, new kind
Of fan jeweled hair ornament at q ball, the
next day every woman in Paris was searching
about for the same thing So aSsiduously was
this beautiful Empress copied that at one time
almost every woman in Paris dyed her hair
red the color of Eugenie's. They even went
no far as to giId their hair when this style
ARoiter set the fashion for that kind Of hair.
MANY people thought the Empress was
frivolous and spendthrift because Of her all
absorbing attention to dress and the 1ntroduc-
tAon Of ever-changing style extremes and
novelties in the way of dress accessories. But,
a q matter of fact she was nothing Of the
sort Elaborate clothes were part Of her political
career and political fneSSe She called her more
costly costumes her political toilettes.' 1t was
her aim to revive trade. which was then at
Ssandstill and so she launched fashion era
She was particularly anxious to aid the Lyons
sIlk manufacturers and lacemakers, who were
having q hard time of it, but she succeeded in
helping all lines of industry to flourish She
introduced fashion trimming of every imagina-
BE kind, new types of hats and thousand
other fancies Dressnlakers, milliners, fabric
designers had to take extra help and work
overtime to supply the women who aped
Eugenie. Prosperity naturally followed, and 4
Continued for at least 10 years.
And during all this gay and carefree time
Eugenie reigned amid tulle and diamonds,
lavish hunts cotillons, carnivals, fancy COS
tune balls charadeS, teas dinners, the opera,
ianguorous Strauss waltzes in a rich setting
which her own diplomacy had created.
hONE of the first things she did was to re-
~ vive crinolineS. These required SO
yards OF material, $50 yards of lace and hun
dreds OF yards of ribbon. These crinolines or
hoopSkirts constituted q much-criticized style In
that day, but they caught on While I do not
think We viii ever have the exaggerated form
OF the crinoline it IS coming back into pop-
uiarIty IN a unASifiad form, Ar. aOa in,