Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 January 1917 — Season’s Skirts Must Be Narrow [ARTICLE]

Season’s Skirts Must Be Narrow

Paris Has So Ordered, and of Course American Women , Will Obey. PETTICOAT A DEAD LETTER ' - ■>' » Unless of the Thinnest Material, IWill Not Be Worn—Outside Blouse Grows in Popularity—Ribbon to Be Used as a Substitute > K , for Embroidery. New York. —Every cable brings from Paris the news that the skirts of 1917 will be narrow. All those in the watch tow’ers have proclaimed the coming of this enemy to full skirts since last September, but only in limited segments of society was the news acted upon. The manufacturers had the material for full skirts, the wholesale houses turned them out by the thousands, and it was only left to the exclusive women and their dressmakers to cut down the width and lengthen the hem. Even nyw there are skirts that are Slightly gathered to the waistline, and these are'earning'Trom some of the best houses in Paris, but they are dropped over a lower skirt that is quite narrow. No matter what the fullness, every skirt clings to the figure, as it did in the end of the eighteenth century. Petticoats are dead, unless they are of chiffon, crepe de chine or jersey silk. ~ "*• The question which will soon confront every woman is whether she wishes to change the silhouette of her skirt or go on wearing it until ft is ready to be discarded; One cheerful feature of the return to the slim silhouette is that a full skirt can be cut into a narrow, one with ease. The Outside Blouse. That garment known as the outside blouse, which is merely a short, twelfth century chemise, has grown quite important and popular since the large shops copied the exclusive French models and placed Jhem within the reach of the average purse. The new ones started at SBS; you can now buy them for $5 or $lO in those shops where vast quantities of garmpnts are sold. They at S3O in the shops that are neither departmental nor exclusive. . ——. Women like them. They are more becoming than the white shirtwaist and they do not make demands on one’s purse for laundry. They have a thin lining of their own, which is a boon to the woman who has neither the time nor the money to arrange a vast variety of expensive underwear which shows through a thin white blouse. Skirts of Other Materials. These outside blouses are worn with skirts that are not of their material or color, so this makes for economy and comfort at once. So far, they are in chiffon embroidered in silk floss or bullion thread, but there are some very smart ones coming in colored satins. The sleeve is half length or long, but the latter should be chosen for every occasion except one’s own dinner table. The neck is cut in the Renaissance fashion; in fact, the extraordinary high collar, standing or turned over, has given way to the flat, twelfth, century neckline. This is cut ih many ways. The dressmakers i. > not hold one down to the veritable Renaissance. Jenny has taken up the Italian decolletage for the daytime, which is cut in the form of a delta. A. new gown which she sends over,.which was copied from a Rembrandt portrait and which is of black panne, velvet with girdle and arm pieces of black satin, has no ornamentation at the neqkllne. The velvet is cut to the base' of the neck at the back, then out on each side to the armpits and goes in a straight line across the chest below the collarbone. It may be safely said that the thousands who are continuing to wear the neck arrangement of the last three years because it is becoming and comfortable, arenot in fashion. The vast industries in this country connected with the manufacturing of neckwear will surely set up a howl of protest

if this new style of the collarless neck makes strong headway. Ribbon Instead of Embroidery. There is rtumor that France and America in combination will present ribbons as a substitute for embrold-„ ery. It is possible that America is the father to this thought. The manufacturers in this country have ardently wished for definite fashions from Paris that would feature miles of ribbon used in any way possible to cover the surface of clothes. The demand for ribbon has been worked up in Paris te some extent through American exporters who represented factories that could turn out ribbon in this country, but so far all attempts have failed to produce a real call for this kind of ornamentation. 7 A minor fastiion which has come into being and which calls for embroidery is the ornamented glove. A few women have been foolish enough to wear hand-painted ones recently at afternoon affairs, but there will always be women foolish enough to do anything. The glove which Is embroidered in a simple way will be at the height qf style, because America has learne<r\ how to do it with the machine, instead Of by hand. (Copyright, 1918, by the McClure Newepa.