Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 February 1917 — Spring Styles Not Determined [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Spring Styles Not Determined

Fashion Seems to Hesitate Between the Directoire Period dnd the Panel Skirt. ■» TUNIC MAY BE DISCARDED Would Naturally Be In Conflict With the Directoire Effect—Collar Not _ Much in Evidence—Apparel for the Street—Wide Variety in Belts. New York. —There are conflicting rumors coming from France, each of which has a set of American, experts to accept it. One rumor is that the directoire' period will come back for spring, followed by the first-empire fashions for summer. Another rumor is that the Jupe tonneau, or barrel skirt, which Callot put out a year ago and which we wore ten years before that, is to be revived. To guess which of these two prophecies will come true is as futile as guessing what is to be the outcome of the great war. It is quite probable that the directoire will be greeted with a bit more enthusiasm by Americans than the barrel skirt. There .is nothing new- about the latter. It provides the same extended circumference between the hips and kaees that we got ’so familiar with last winter, and its only claim to a departure from the commonplace is its narrow hem. It may be that the introduction of this barrel skirt as' a forerunner of the spring openings is really to emphasize the determination of the French designers to make the skirts longer and much narrower at the hem. It will also be remembered in connection with this fashion that there is a certain type of directoire skirt wihch is high-waisted, has folds that fall outward at the hips to increase the circumference there, and, then shapes downward to the very ankles, where it is so narrow that can scarcely walk. First-Empire Skirt. Four years ago this skirt - was launched for the evening by a few smart designers and was called a flrst-einpTre skirt. Mark is a grace about euch a skirt, and not the ugliness which the stiff barrel exploits. If we are to wear narrow skirts, and everything points toward that fact, then it is much better to have the kind of skirt known as the first-empire. This has'jptiitts at the high waist line, which, in their downward sweep, keep the material of the

skirt from girding in the figure at the end of the corsets across the back, •which provides one of the ugliest lines known in the history of dress. Such a skirt is admirably portrayed in that wonderful picture by Zuloaga of Mlle. Marcelle Souty, which is on exhibition in America and which has been widely -copied and printed throughout this continent. The barrel skirt as it is seen in its present form, arriving from the house of Callot and a few of her imitators, has little to recommend it; If it is merely an indication of something else to come, a shadow that foretells the loosening of the waist, line and the tiglifbntng of the roikic fine, their It should be gladly greeted. There are Jew women who look well In extra full skirts, especi ally "whfefr their fullness Is added to by vague and useless drapery, by horizontal bands of orna-

mentation and by taffeta petticoats that hold the hems far away from' the ankle and display the feet in an ugly manner. Will the Tunic Go Out? Even the best advices from Paris differ as to whether or not the chemise, or twelfth-century, tunic will be ‘entirely ousted by the hew spring fashions. Surely,. one cannot be medieval and later directoire at the same time, but fashion can keep both styles going as it did Victorianism and Louis Quinze. There are,enough women to dress one way or the other, and it is a relief to the reporter, the artist and the dressmaker when the.

whole world does not take up one silhouetted, one fabric and one style of ornamentation. The high-standing organdy collars with which the continent was flooded last summer and autumn, have not only given way to other things, but the new line which Is being aceeptedmOfe commonly every day, threatens to relieve all garments of collars. Young women are wearing their new coats with only a neckband, slightly elongated at the shoulders and finished With an Egyptian or-Peruvian design in silk floss or bullion threads. Street Apparel. Regarding street apparel, it may be true that the one-piece sandwich gown will become second in choice to others, but it is more than probable that the shortened tunic made of satin and embroidered in a primitive design that could easily be used as a stage setting for-Alda, will remain high in favor. This is all'that can so far be said” wkh -any-authority to help -1 hose wh" - a're thtnking' oiity o^-freshentng—up-" their winter wardrobe in order to make it last until spring. There are the gowns and suits that we have, for there is no doubt that the accessories have changed since September 'and that remarkably good and new touches have been put into the . field of fashion to stimulate new fruit. It may be that these will make instructive reading, for one can always rely on the fact that a large mass of women prefer to know the small touches rathehr than the broad general outline of dress, except at' the moment of the sharply changing seasons. : ; .. '.. .. __ J J .. New Touches That Count. Suppose, let us say, that you have taken an Inventory of the clothes* that hang in the wardrobe and have made up your mind, wisely, an expert would say, not to buy anything new unless you are tripping to a fashionable southern resort.

Human nature is quite capable of almost any endurance that it puts upon itself, and it can steel itself to wearing clothes from the first of October to the first of May in exactly the same condition as when they werd first worn; but human nature likes diversion, and diversion is good for It, and the weariness of the clothes we have abolished and our senses are stimulated by_ doing something, we care not what, to the garmefits we have. - Variations in Belts. If there Is no belt on your coat, it is wiser to put one on. The sandwich gown has also taken on a belt, and Paris is* running the scale In these girdles. They are as narrow as that worn by Marie Antoinette, and as wide as that worn by a Russian peasant. They are Chinese ’in coloring, Montenegrin in embroidery, Serbian in the matter of applied fabrics in bold designs, and Japanese, because Frarice has gone quite crazy about Japanese accessories during the winter," K no on your winter clothes, at least see to it that they have a gay piece of material that goes around the waist or at the hip& ; ;.. • * . (Copyright, 1917, by the. McClure per Syndicate.)

Gown Wtth Belt Only at Back: New kind of medieval frock which has a straight front and a gold band and bucklo holding in the back; it Is of chestnut-colored satin trimmed with bands of gold embroidery. ,

White and Red Sports Suit: It is of gray silk jersey, with hem of skirt turned up and faced with white, the deep collar is. also white, but the buttons and tie are cherry red.