Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 January 1917 — LONGER SKIRTS PROMISED [ARTICLE]

LONGER SKIRTS PROMISED

Reasons Why New Styles for the Spring Would Seem to Be Inevitable. LOW SHOES WORN IN PARIS Scarcity of Leather Responsible for the Lengthening of the Frock— Present Style of Shoes Cannot - Be Called Beautiful—Blue Serge for Springtime Wear. New York. —The smart firms on Fifth.avenue are turning out severely tailored and stitched suits of black satin for the south and offering them as the first choice of early spring, and It is quite probable that this fabric will supersede all others for the street, as the.season turns from cold to balmy weather. There is more than uncommon interest displayed in the rumor backed up by facts that Paris will launch longer skirts for spring thata we have worn for two years. There is no evidence of this in the rtew Callot models, but, then, Callot never cared for long skirts. This house cut its evening gowns into a high arch or point in front that showed half the leg to the knee, at a time when other dressmaking houses wouldn’t consider such an Innovation. Years and years ago, Callot and Poiret joined hands on this fashion and It was ridiculed by two continents ; now every woman wears

gowns shorter Than these first ones without a blush or an apology and, sometimes, without a good reason. - - Low Shoes Worn in France. The commercial interest in the situation is stirred on account of the vast output of high shoes in, this country. In Paris there is good authority for saying that this form of footgear is not in first fashion and is rapidly disappearing. The reason is simple. France has no leather, and her women have been wearing low shoes for a year. The oxford tie with the high heel, round toe and broad ribbon bow at the instep has for a year been the first choice of fashion in France, in connection with street costumery. And to meet the situation, France made her skirts longer. The scarcity of leather Is pinching the shoe industry on every side in America. Shoes have advanced from $6 a pair to sl4, and even higher prices will be asked this spring. Eight dollars is asked for an ordinary pair of laced street shoes at unfashionable places, where the amount bf leather used is negligible and the amount of cloth substituted conspicuous. ~ Longer Skirts Probable.

bit of hideousness, as Chinese do, by, exaggerating the length of the vamp and running it out into a point like the one-piece shoe worn by the men in the fourteenth century, but we have added to the medieval vamp the tottering spindle heel of the seventeenth century in France. The two in combination make an ugliness.that no one thought possible in this day w’hen people really struggle for beauty of line. Points in French Shoes. Throughout all this madness in America, France has been steadily wearing what is known as the sculptural shoe; that is, the rounded toe, the broad vamp and the side pieces that cling to the instep and hold it up. She has insisted upon straight Spanish heels for her walking shoesand in every way made herself comfortable, and she has brought her foot, which has never been notable for beauty, into a well-rounded part of her silhouette. The leather men tell us that even if we wear low shoes, the prices will not be reduced, and this is being said to us in so many w’ays about every commodity of life, that we have begun to cease thinking about unmeasured prosperity and have turned to face the possibility of the hardships of living that existed during the Civil war in this country. The shoe people tell? us that one factory alone has refused an order of $1,000,000 worth of shoes to go to Russia, because of the difficulty in getting leather; and yet, they have no excuse for the fact that cloth spats have gone up to $5 and

If women can continue to pay the exorbitant prices asked for high shoes they may be able to continue to wear short skirts, but if France Insists upon -longer skirts and the bootmakers insist upon frightful prices, it is a safe guess that the low shoe and the longer skirt will be inaugurated in the springtime. It is not easy to say whether the oxford tie SjTiich has, ruled in Paris for 12 months will be taken up in this country, for we have, unfortunately, gone quite mad over the subject of ugly shoes,-And, although we owe the Inspiration for them to eccentric social circles In Paris, we have done things so much worse than France could dream of doing that it is only fair to say that there is no allegiance between the two. We have not only twisted the shape of the foot into a serious

It behooves every woman to take excgssive care of her footgear at the present hour. Trees, polishing and careful usage will save money and annoyance for months to come.