Evening Republican, Volume 59, Number 66, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 April 1917 — Paris Designers Doom Old Gowns [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Paris Designers Doom Old Gowns

New York. —There are quite enough changes in the new clothes arriving from Paris to make every woman shake her head in despair and say that she must have a new gown, whether or not her dress allowance canTffir stretched to cover It. There are women who hold out that the gowns of autumn can be renovated to meet the demands of spring, and the forehanded person has already Tjeep^at _ wbfklhthesewihg“rdbinTiav 7 ' ing her ski rts reshaped and her bodices built up or down to meet the requirements of the hour. The dressmakers are divided into two classes of opinion; those who are worried over the seeming similarity between the spring gowns and those of last autumn, and others who are blowing the trumpet loudly to proclaim that the modern silhouette compels every woman to discard whatever she has and buy things that are new. , , Paris has spoken, however, and no matter how intense our patriotism, we listen and hearken to the words that come from the city by the Seine. That is the phrase one hears on every side among the commercialists. We know what we should wear. The gowns have been shown our buyers, and as many as possible have been shipped to' this coulttry. We may talk all we please about our own fashions following our own flag, but all fashions become ours after they have had their source In Paris, in a limited district of the city. The Drastic Changes. A mere cursory glimpse at a foreof French gowns may conFtmrerhe casual onlooker that nothing is to be feared from the new styles. Old gowns will do; old suits will serve: old wraps are not thrown In the

shadow; and last summer’s hat can be revived to meet this spring’s .need. That is the opinion of a most casual observer. The truth Is that the changes are more drastic than even the reporters and prophets felt they would be. Paris has been Insidious in introducing, a silhouette that wlB grow as the days lengthen and that will soon make the gowns of yesterday look too old-fashioned for even trivial uses, unless they are altered by a skillful hand. What is known as the American uniform was conspicuously lacking during the first opeuingsinParls, but Mme. Paquin, Doeuillet and Drecoll came out with tailored suits that met the expectations of the American buyers. The Paquin ones were particularly good, but no one style was emphasizedMme. Paquin has always liked the three-quarter coat and she was the first person to revive it a few years ago. It was then regarded as too oldfashioned for any American woman to take up, and yet, a year after, it was universal in this country. The knee-length jackets that the house of Paquin showed have the barrel effect between the waist and knee and are worn over an exceedingly narrow skirt that is from two to four inches longer than what the women have worn over here for two years. Paquin also revives the redingote with a narrow hem and slender waistline, but the barrel effect is given in the middle. This house also insists upon the short Coat. It is made somewhat like an old-fashioned basque, with a short peplum that clings to the body, although it is cut circular. Paquin introduced a coat like this last autumn which, was. excessively liked by the women who- had turned away from the long coat, and It is probable that with its revival for this spring it will gain headway before June. Paqn'n, Ukq Jenny and Premet, uses the unusually wide, loose girdle on all gowns. She does not touch the

empire waistline, which nearly all the other houses show in two or three of the best gowns of their collections, and she does not go in for the medieval girdle,' whicn hdS not becn- rclin quished by every other designer, but added to the belt 0Y pr thp normal waistline. Royant’s New Coats. The house of Royant, which is not as well "known to the public as it well known to our buyers to have the tSshlons brought to this country every few months,'has sentxiut an exceptionally good looking coat to match each onepiece frock. It is a diversion from the winter top - coat, which often turned out to be a troublesome problem, although as a garment it is wellnigh This new coat is like a cape that has little fullness and hangs limply against the bddy. It Is slashed. at each side from the hem up to above the knees, and the sleeves are loose and bell-shaped. The only trimming used, no matter what the color of the coat, is a pointed, floriated design of machine stitching. This stitching is by no means commonplace; it Is easily done in America, but it is very expensive. It is a loose chainstitch that must be perfectly done in order to carry out the sharp, interlacing outlines of the design. Beige, string color and dark blue are used for these coats, and the material is a sort of soft broadcloth. The machine stltchery is in black. Royant has made a great name in Europe for one-piece frocks, or sport suits, which can be worn on the street with dignity. The best gown sent~over from this house is such a decided contrast to everything we have been wearing, that it was eagerly accepted by the Americans who saw it. The skirt is exceedingly narrow, is laid in machine knife plaits and hangs in a plumb line from waist to ankles. The bellboy jacket is in a straight line from shoulder to hips, cut on slim measurements in order to make one look youthful, and its surface is covered with this machine chainstitch in oyster white. The sleeves are plain, small and quite long, finished with a narrow band of white satin that flairs over the hand, and a row of pearl buttons that keeps it tight at the wrist. From the bottom of the jacket comes a sash that goes straight around the figure at the hips and is lopped over Into’ two ends at the back. Driscoi and the Redlngote. Jenny is not the only Important designer in Paris who.put out the red-, ingote for the spring. Her house has never redlngote idea, but has played upon the one theme in different ways. Paquin and Driscoll come back to the actual redlngote in the form of a slim coat with a slight curve below the hips to show that the oval silhouette, as the French call it, is approved. Dylscoll has always had a high reputation for coat suits and for whatever is tailored, and he makes the straight redingote which opens in front over a narrow skirt of satin or crepe de chine, as opposed to the worsted fabric of -she coat. He also combines foulard The house of Driscoll is one of the few that makes afternoon gowns with full skirts. It is true that this fuilness is not displayed as much at the hem as it was last autumn, but there is not the straight; pull-down line that' the buyers feel is entirely new and will be accepted. (Copyright, 1917, by the McClure Newspaper Syndicate.

Thia Gown oi Dark Blue Gaberdine Shows the Type—of Barrel Skirt Which the Americans Have Accepted. Its Trimming Consists of Rows ofMachine Stitching With Gray Silk Thread, and the Neck Is Filled in With a Tiny Vest of Gray Tulle.