i Beauty and Usefulness Are. Now ,the Touchstones by Which W omen’s Appa‘rel 13 Judged, and N othing Long Survives W hie}: Lacks These Two Essentials Below—A coat frock of chiffon voile, lace- trimmed, over a. foun- dation slip of printed silk and finished with ‘ a wide lace collar ., 4 Photos from Felon-ms “\ 'An interesting two-piece sport frock of knitted fiber 4.7, silk in pink, with knitted ' ‘ . scarf tie of rose '"1 By Edith M. Bus. 3% FASHION no longer is influenced, as it once was, by either seasons or weather, and it just naturally follows that comments or pictures of new clothes are just clothes news and not a report extraordinary of radical changes in modes. , Perhaps we miss a thrill or two that women of other generations enjoyed as they were informed seasonally of Fash- ion’s arbitrary rulings; but we must remember that our lives are much more full of thrilling experiences than were the lives of our grandmothers. We have lost nothing in thrills be- cause of changed conditions in the pres- entation of new modes, for other op- portunities for thrills are all about us. We are too busy, too occupied with afi'airs outside the home and our own personal interests to miss the petty arguments about the length of skirts and the size of waists, that kept our female ancestry so busy. As for de- fending our acceptance of Fashion’s rul- ing against the onslaught of masculine criticism and abuse, there is no need for that. Masculinity personally and pub- licly is seemingly quite agreed that women today dress entirely to men’s liking. About the only ones who have suf. ' fered, apparently, from this revision of the woman-clothes question are the punster' and the cartoonist, who once found this topic so rich in material for their pens and pencils. Women and their clothes are no longer material for ridicule, paid, printed or otherwise, for fashions come and fash. ions go, naturally, normally. Their prog- ress and ultimate success are the result of that most consistent of conditions, a“... Youthful yoke frock with gathered panels in printed chiifon voile Printed and plain silk. com- bined by most modern treat- ment, makes this youthful frock not only interesting but decidedly desirable their worth in beauty and usefulness. Nothing survives that lacks one or both of these qualities, and when a mode is rich in both its stay is prolonged again and again, despite Fashion's persistent efforts to hurry it out of vogue, through women’s determination to be their own judges of what they will wear. Yes, We have made excellent progress in matters of dress, and in a period of time so short that even the woman who will never tell her age is quite willing to say she remembers when such free- dom and independence were not enjoyed or even dreamed of. FOR my part, I can remember per- fectly When to write of fashions was to stress, over and over again, that skirts were seven gored, or five or four, and four yards around, more or less, and nothing except this one particular atrocity, as these details appear to us today, was permissible. Each article of woman's dress was thus most accurately measured oil, so to speak. Coats were full length, three- quarter length or shorter, as was de- finitely settled by the powers that make the modes, whoever they might be, and woman singly and collectively had naught to do but as she was told. This she did, and instead of the op- portunity of dressing to type or with greater individuality, as is dens today. I we looked like a regiment in plaited 3mm, fitted jackets and huge sailor hate, or some other equally definite outfit. . , The good old times are gone, if we are so foolish, some of us, to lament the passing of this clothes condition as such. Today we wait no longerI figura- tively breathless and on our toes, for Fashion’s seasonal presentation of the mode. ' ' 7 stair: Now we read almost every day of in- (mwung new dpvelopments in dress for women, dress in all its main and allied details, apparel and accessories.- We sally forth and feast our eyes on shop windows that are as interesting, as beautiful and as informative as some special exposition for women. We are privileged to read, see and pleasantly absorb all the news about the new and beautiful and useful in dress, until to dress Well with individuality, as well as with style, is as natural for us as it once was for women to do, for new modes and with them, exactly what Fashion, the dictator, demanded. So it is that often the variations of established rather than reported changes in the mode are the subject of my chat, and today it is of several dif- ferent variations of the summer frock that I would tell you» Every woman certainly knows of the tractiveness, style value and utility q‘ lities of knitted suits; she knows, too, or should, that in knitted frocks the two-piece style is highly desirable, and when the knitted frock is done of a fiber silk in delicate coloring, she knows that in such a frock she is assured a modish appearance that Will do much to make her worthy of agreeable notice. Prints and more prints mark the trend in frocks as summer brings its need of cool comfort as well as smart appear- ance. Were it twenty years ago, we would - all be clothed alike in a stifl printed taf- feta. Today, thanks to the changed situation in things fashionable for women, your printed frock may be of 'a lovely soft tafieta or foulard. It may even be some lighter-weight silk of similar weave, a crepe, or voile, both in either silk or cotton. Then, too, there are the printed chifl’on and tub silks, or some inexpensive cotton so firm yet delicate in texture that these seemingly bear no relation to the printed pereslaa and other cottons of yesterday. _ Yes, modes, like many other essentials of living, have changed, and decidedly for the better, and in the character, Good taste prevails when, as in the case of E this lovely flowered ', ' tafl'eta, the beauty of the fabric is , ,not marred by unneces- sary construction lines or trimming quality and quantity of embellishment there is another bit of compelling 6V1- dence of this change. No longer do we paint the lily. 35 it were, in destroying either fabric or line by an overabundance of trimming or in- tricate and unncessary lines of construcv tron. Trimming today is consistent with the mode as a whole—lace, ribbon, beads, embroidery, fur and exquisite handwork enhance the native beauty of the mode by their almost conservative assistance . to the whole design. We should rejoice that the fashion and clothes situation is as it is today, and do we not, and also express our ap- preciation by. the smartness and good taste of our apparel and the'pleasure We enjoy in knowing that we are well dressed? i AFFETA as an evening dress fabric is registering more and more frei quently and will no doubt enjoy more and greater favor as summer gives way to autumn and autumn 'is succeeded by win- ter with its greater needs for evening wear apparel. ' Costume jewelry continues in vogue. Late importations show combinations of a flat-choker necklace with matching bracelet, semi-precious stones, enamel and metal filigree being utilized together to develop some new and unusually love- _ ly effects. The turtle-neck sweater has the in- dorsement of many smart woinen as an out-and-out sport model for practical wear, and there is no denying the desir. ability of this type of sweater for many real sport needs. ~ i Summer.hosiery is gay in color and gayly decorated, fanciful clocks being surpassed by colorful decorations in em- broidery or garter effects and floral and other motifs at the knees.or just below In silk and wool and silk and lisle for real sport wear are colorful stripes and plaid and diamond-shaped patterns. Con/Ham by Public Ledger comm I
Norwalk Chronicler