Evening star., 1936-12-25

thinking that perhaps some of our
readers may have forgotten lust to
what extent our manner of living
and mode Of dress have altered, we
decided TO carry today two photo
graphs OF rs years ago and two of
this year of grace, 1886. OF course,
at the particular moment when these
costumes first came out, We presume
that the designers and wearers
thought that the incongruity of the
hats and muffs and the boned high
collars were attractive. The waist
line was the only natural feature of
the period. but the long cumbersome
skirts and complicated patterns of the
the costumes must have made life
very wearing for the girls with
limited budgets" who after all in
the last few years have been on easy
street.
hate to think what it meant in the
good old days when young lady said
OF her latest creation. Il Just ran 1t up
on the machine" What with the
elaborate amount of trimming in the
line of fur, braid, soutache. more braid
and an abundance of Irish lace, and the
underthings with the everlasting pink
and blue ribbons running through
beading, life was whole lot more diff
cult than it is today. Then. Of course.
there was the coiffeur problem. We will
have to admit that that is an acute
problem this year. too, for though the
r fe
dressers have made the style just az
complicated as they possibly could. In
order to keep those swirls and curls in
place-and what. I ask you, is worse
than short hair when it is not in or.
der?-one must keep constant eye
upon their locks. be they black. brown.
red or white. Thank goodness, how
ever, we do not have to worry about
those horrid hairpins which were Moth
| ing short Of crowbars-and it seems
that there once was q brand by that
name-which were a necessity to keep
the abundance Of hair piled upon the
head. Then. topping of the whole 1911
costume. was hat with a head size
sufficiently large to cover the whole
head Of hair, which in the picture was
coiffed low upon the neck. resulting in
the very most unbecoming profile.
1t is always risky 20 say that the
style Of the period is the best, for good.
ness only knows what we will think
of our current photographs 10 years
from now, yet the fact that many of
us admit that most Of the present-day
hats are utterly absurd, makes me feel
that we are qualified to judge the
styles with an unbiased attitude. Off,
hand, having sat on the edge Of ball
rooms at a number of dances and balls
this year. it seems to me that the eve
ming dresses are particularly becoming
and f1attering. Surely no one is going
to try and enveigle US into wearing
skirts above our knees again (tha.
| frightful period following the war;.
What could be more unbecoming, or
just plain ugly, than to see woman-
or even a very young girl-dancing .
waltz in a short skirt?
Decorations in the hair are flatter.
ing to many pretty faces topped with
curly hair. though, like so many fads.
| tAiC AOWC1 All uIC-lldli llhUlb Ilno pC4 .
haps been overdone to a certain ex-
tent. There seems. too. so much more
variety in the clothes OF this period
than there was IS years ago. Today,
we have short tweed skirts. pour le
sport, in-between length for afternoon
wear and the dinner dress and the
full evening dress. What could be bet
ter. when after all. as the old saying
goes. variety is the spice of lifeI"
All, me, yes, times have changed
whether for better or worse, I am glad
that I do not have to dress as Mrs.
Taft is attired in this picture published
today, or as the former Elizabeth
Moves, now Mrs. Smith Hempstone, Is
done up" for what is more annoying
than huge stiff-brimmed hat in
high wind.