Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 305, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 December 1914 — COTTON FOR WINTER [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

COTTON FOR WINTER

ATTEMPT 3EING MADE TO MAKI IT FASHIONABLE FABRIC. Can Be Prettily Made Up in a Number of Designs, and for Many Reasons the Idea . Should Meet With Favor. There is a strong attempt to make cotton velvet a feature of the winter’s fashion, because France took it up with quite a show of vigor, and be-

cause the patriotic American woman knows that the more cotton fabrics she buys, much sooner wiU the present supply be exhausted and the new cotton in the bale be demanded to go into the mills, giving work? where work and money are frightfully needed; for, mind you, not all the suffering in this war will be in Europe. This is the second time in the half century that the South will be hit hard by battle. The campaign for cotton gowns is a good one and if successful will serve the country in several ways. There is little need to tell any woman of the loveliness of a cotton frock, or how she shall make it, especially if that woman has spent any time below the imaginary boundary line, in a land where the trick is turned in a graceful manner. Organdie and cotton chiffon and batiste, point d’esprit, and “footing” have been the staples of the Southerners’ wardrobe for more than a century, and any woman, especiaHy a debutante, looks well in them. If they will not servte for the formal occasions among women who are turned out smartly in society, they will serve /or the informal life of the house during the winter. / A debutante who wishes to do something individual should take organdie and colored muslin for her social uniform, make each gown according to the best style, vary them as much as her ingenuity suggests, proclaim her program, and the result would be that she would be written down as one of intelligence and originality, and she would have all the followers that every debutante craves. Added to this, she would be inexpensively dressed, which is an item of more importance this winter than it has been in ten years. Are brocades to be reckoned among the new silks? If so, they would take and make durable and attractive

evening frocks. Time was wheo ths belle of the day did not feel hers/lf properly fitted out unless she had fan. amethyst or pink faille evening frock trimmed with expensive lace ini a weave we never see now. One of the dressmakers started a fashion for making blocks on the black faille with strips of black velvet, and many dressmakers are now doing this. The shops also sell the fabrics already arranged in squares. It is not attractive as an entire gown; it must be past of a frock. For Instance, there is a model with a gathered skirt of the blocked silk and velvet that just escapes the floor, and above it is a short chemise of black velvet, the softest weave that the milliners use. There are long sleeves fitting the arms like gloves, and a medieval decolletage that shows more of the shoulders than the chest Trying, but ultra fashionable.

This«blouse of sheet 1 batiste, made more substantial with stitching and tucks, made still daintier with ostrich fringe effectively put on. With it is worn a huge' purple velvet hat, trimmed with a pink rose and a bunch of grapes at side.

Ostrich Trimming on Blouse.