Evening star., 1938-10-23

them originated.
For instance, there is the Marie An
toinette influence. More prevalent
than ever this season are the hoop
skirts and jewelry that characterized
her era. The graceful gowns that
were a part of her court have been
embodied into our modern life, and
the finely wrought jewels that were
80 fashionable then have been re-
produced and copied to a great ex-
tent. While hair styles of that day
were great deal more elaborate-in
fact, hairdressers came equipped with
stepladders-their influence is also
seen. Ladies of the era wore such
elaborate coiffures that they always
stood while the million and one little
ornaments were placed in their hair,
for if they sat down while it was
being done they were unable to assume
. standing position under the weight
Of the hairdress. Whole pastoral
scenes were sometimes wound round
and round in their coiffures, and diff
Guilty was often encountered in try
ing to get through door. Neverthe-
less, this-in a modified form-is the
basis for many of our hair ornaments
and styles today.
Elizabeth of England was a fashion
setter. too. 1t was she who intro
duced the tiny. 13-inch waist and
who wore brightly colored wigs-due,
they say, to the fact that she was
slightly lacking in hair. But at any
rate it was Elizabeth who was one Of
the moving factors in the introduc-
ton Of the corset-a notable step in it.
self. In addition this queen is re-
sponsible for our standing collars and
full puffed sleeves.
For the halo-effect hats which dip
Into a point in the front, we are in
debted to Mary Queen of Scots. This
has been an extremely popular style
In the past few years and many a
bride and bridesmaid has unknowing-
ly paid tribute to the Queen on her
march down the aisle.
From Russia comes a fashion due
10 the whims of Catherine the Great,
who favored great massive pieces of
ieWelry. The trend is noticeable this
year in the enormous gold bracelets,
pins and necklaces which were a part
Of her scheme of dress.
Last, but by far not least, is the
Empress Josephine. She is respon-
sible for any number of our so-called
Empire" modes. From Josephine we
get the souare-neCked, high-waisted
gowns with tiny puffed sleeves-the
straight and simple lines which char
acterized her clothes. The "upswept"
coiffure was worn by this Queen, too,
for pictures show her with her hair
brushed up on top of her head with
few curls tumbling down the nape
Of the neck. Josephine is responsible,
too, for much of the ornate jewelry,
for Napoleon in his invasions of Italy
raided many of the museums and
churches and brought back samples
OF fine italian art and ornamental
tion.
It would be impossible to overlook
In this review Of famous women the
commoner, Nine. Pompadour. In an
age when women's rights were prac-
tically nil, she used every feminine
vile to gain her privileges. She is
famous for her frills bows and ruff
fies and the pale pinks and blues
which she wore continuously. An
other fashion setter for women OF
the future!
Every one of these women was a
complete feminist, intent on fash
ion and beauty-just as they were
intent on ruling their people and
realizing their own ideals We are
apt to overlook the influence that
these women had upon our fashions
today, but little study shows that
these styles and many others origi-
mated long ago. Merely through
adaptation and modification we have
taken to these modes-improved upon