Evening star., 1942-02-20

arching an eyebrow, Does that re-
mark include you?" Said Mr.. Cas-
sini, "It certainly does"
But before you believe that all is
lost and that the future of fashion
is Just so much sackcloth and ashes,
this designer will hasten to tell you
that there is going to be more sim
pncity in clothes from now until
that lovely day when the war Is
over. Good, wearable lines, he be-
neves, will be in order, with less
business. At the moment, in ad-
dition to all his other work, he de-
signs Miss Tierney's wardrobe for
private life, and certainly he has
carried out his ideas Of simplicity, II
she is an example. At the party the
other day she wore a severe black
dress, high at the neckline, with a
slim skirt slit at the sides. Sheer
black hose although Mr.. Cassini
agrees that they're difficult for the
average woman-and black pumps.
Also q little black cloche-like hat
and dark gloves. Simple but smart.
As yet, Mr.. Cassini says, there has
been no noticeable shortage OF fab-
RIGS and materials on the coast, al
though it's obvious that such Will
arise, When it does he feels that
substitutions will be made with no
great loss of chic. And, believe 1t
or not, he likes uniforms on women!
On the other hand, Designer
Charles Armour, also in town last
week. thinks that uniforms are not
for the feminine figure. He prefers
To think of women as beautiful and
bedecked, with, again, that accent
on smart simplicity. Mr.. Armour
has felt shortages and will tell you
about his difficulties with such pro-
sale things as gray and white polka
dot fabrics! Imagine" says Mr. A.,
"a firm that has been making polka
dots for three generations suddenly
can't supply me with a bolt OF gray
and white! It's positively embar-
rassing!"
Charles Armour. however. IS an
other designer with exceptionally
leyel-headed ideas about clothes. He
feels that we shall turn more and
more toward spiritual guidance and
that our activities in the church
will dictate the type Of clothes we
wear. Purely my own idea," he'll
tell you, but it seems to be an IDEA
upon which he's pretty well sold.
Mr. Armour is doing lovely things
with porcelain buttons, as well as
other substitutes for hard-to-get
materials, and his new collection
seems to have suffered little.
Frankly. he's more interested in
talking about the war than about his
creations. Such little incidents as
the caretaker's too-frequent use OF
his car and precious tires. his being
trapped in a blackout which was
not fierce fun; his idea that the
DAYS of snobbishness are on their
way out "but immediately"-an are
part of his amusing conversation.
And, surprisingly enough, he doesn't
believe, like most designers, that
women are going to live in tailored
suits. after a while" says the bub-
bling Mr.. Armour, you just want
to tear them of and get into some
thing feminine!"
Designer No. 3 to hit Washington
last week was Nine. Maria Krum.
who appeared suddenly with some
perfectly lovely clothes of imported
fabrics. She has the faculty for
design and appreciation of tailoring
that make her suits and dresses
things of joy. Formerly associated
with Digby Morton in London, Nine.
Krum has been designing in New
York for the past two years and al
though she finds the process here an
entirely different one from that
carried on abroad, she loves Amer
lea and has made an almost fabu-
lous success here. In Europe, she
explained, it's unheard of to make
more than one of anything; here
it's ridiculous not to make many
things alike.
Nine. Krum'S collection includes
many suits, two-piece dresses and
even a few well disguised culottes.
Our favorite is a double decker"
affair in which the model does what
one fashion editor calls a refined
strip tease" The model appears in
what seems to be a wool jacket and
skirt with ascot tie of printed rayon.
Then she removes jacket, lined with
the print, to disclose blouse and
ascot tie. Of comes the tie and the
blouse has an interesting skirt and