Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 178, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 August 1917 — War Activities Affect Clothes [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

War Activities Affect Clothes

New York.—War relief work has given an unusual stimulation to the clothes industry. The dressmakers were not in a happy frame of mind during the spring. They felt as if ill luck were hitting them all along the line. There was an offensive against the center and the ends. First, there were the enormous prices that had to be paid to the French designers for the gowns that were sent to this country as inspirations for new work. Added to the prices was the serious danger of not being able to get the clothes that were ordered through the lack of transportation that came after this government dismissed the German amThe renewed activity of the submarine campaign was liable to make Mr. Glnty and French gowns comrades on the sands of the sea. When the prices had been paid by the dressmakers for the spring gowns and the transportation had proved secure, America declared war, and the economy cry was ralsed. - The dressmakers and the shopkeepers who sell clothes had not had sufflclent time to resize a profit on their vast expenses for French gowns in March, and the majority of them decided, possibly unwisely, that they would hold sweeping sales in order to clear out whatever they had before economy brought about a crash in commerce. The shops were also compelled to pay their salaries during this troublous time, and they believed that they could do this more easily by holding sales. They would get cash, and they would keep the workrooms busy by alterations.

New Clothes for Quiet People. By the time a great many people who deal in women’s apparel considered themselves on the verge of nervous prostration through the strain of the spring, there came into the whole clothes situation a glimmer of fight that has broadened into a strong ray of sunshine. It has created optimism in all quarters. It came through war relief activities. That seems an astounding thing to have happened, but it is another phase of the proverb, “It is an ill wind that blows nobody good.” It makes an interesting chapter in the history of women’s apparel during the great war. Something similar to it happened in England, not in France,

but the entire thing happened where it only could happen, in this tremendously prosperous country. The beginning of the war has been written in chapters of activity on this side and fighting on the other side. Literally, millions of women insisted upon doing their bit. The drive of the Red Cross, which was nationwide; the extraordinary grouping together of various units for sane and- Instant relief; the hospital work, the arrangement for providing comfort kits for the navy, the Teague work of rolling bandages, are merely a few of the dominant activities which interest women this -summer. , While those who are rich and fashionable have put their shoulders to the wheel with tremendous energy and enthusiasm, the appeal for workers has gone into the byways and hedges of social life. The summer, therefore, is a season to be filled with intense activity and a great, national grouping of women from every rank and file of human life on this continent, all met together under one flag. This extraordinary condition connecting the buying of new clothes and the doing of war relief work, appears to the apparel people in all the glory of an unexpected Christmas present. The city centers age humming .with

Women on every kind of errand bent, stopping at restaurants for lunch, shopping in the hottest days for new clothes to carry thfem through the appointments of the next month; and the sewing rooms of those who make their gowns at home are busy preparing the Increased number of blouses, skirts and underwear that this sudden call to arms has brought about. The government of the United States steps in also as a buyer of huge amounts. It is ordering clothes for the enlisted woman of the naval reserve force. Already it has asked for 1,000 blue serge suits, smartly made, 2,000 white cotton drill suits, 1,000 separate white skirts, 1,000 straw hats, and another 1,000 dark blue felt hats. Government Sets Styles. The tendency in all the new clothes is toward the silhouette adopted by the government for its enlisted women. Skirts are narrow and of reasonable length, blouses are simple, with wide turnover collars of lace or white wash material, and jackets are short and made on a mannish model, depending on the cut for distinction. Those who do not care for suits are fitting out their wardrobes with cotton frocks. Even at the smartest hotels in the heart of great centers, fashionable women are appearing in checked ginghams with broad straw fiats. This Is a fashion which has never been tolerated in the majority of great American cities. Such clothes have, always been kept for the suburban towns and the country, and when a woman found it necessary to go on the street of a great city during the heat of the day, she felt that tradition demanded that she subject herself to the discomfort of a suit. She preferred to pass away from moisture In a blue serge coat and skirt,then roam the streets in a checked cotton gown and white shoes. Now, the embargo on such costumery is lifted. The-only one costume which is comfortable and is yet taboo in city streets is the- separate skirt with the white shirtwaist. There must be a coat or wrap of some kind to cover the sharp juxtaposition of two fabrics and two colors. One of the great Western houses reports that it has been necessary to provide the greatest amount of frocks and suits for war work for women during this summer than ever before. The reason is the somersault in the summer regime. Women will not spend

their time these months ot hot weather as they have done for a century 1 . A ndtable maker of shirtwaist gowns, on whose books are the names of women who live in every state in this country, says that his workrooms are deluged and that his fittings telescope themselves throughout the entire day in' 15-minute appointments. He holds that the reason for this, in addition to the extraordinary number of clothes demanded by women for their new activities, is the reversal to the simplest form of warm-weather costurnery, which was onCe the habit of the simple-minded American people, before the extravagant ideas of chiffon, lace and hand embroideries came into being, via Europe. He makes a certain type of gown which Europe thinks Is the fatigue uniform of the American people, as the coat suit is the dress uniform. The skirt is plaited or gored, buttons down the front, and often has wide tucks from hem to knees. The bodice is laid in fine tucks or side plaits, or is quite plain. It has long sleeves, tightly buttoned cuffs and a wide muslin turnover collar. There are two belts. He is turning out these costumes by the hundreds, and one sees them on women at all she smart places. (Copyright, 1917. by the McClure Newepa per SyndlcaieJ c . -

These are lovely frocks for summer days. The first Is a lingerie of dimity and lace. The skirt Is trimmed In two sections, and the slim bodice has a wide Martha Washington kerchief of white. The small bows on the sleeves are of blue taffeta. The second is of silk with an odd skirt. The material is French blue faille, and the skirt Is plaited in an exaggerated manner to a tight-fitting bodice of white crepe which has wide Mandarin sleeves. The scarf is attached to the back of the waist and Is weighted with Jet tassels. The third is an apple green frock for open country. It is of georgette crepe trimmed with green and white checked silk. There is a deep white fichu that runs to the waist. The front of the coat Is slightly braided and trimmed with buttons and loops.