Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 302, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 December 1917 — Gowns Suggest Operatic Roles [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Gowns Suggest Operatic Roles

New York.—A musician made the statement the other day that if women follow the fashions of this autumn, they will look as though they were taking leading roles in wellknown operas. Aida, Anneris, Natoma, Lakme, Melisande and Thais are the operatic

Here is a Puritan frock In black velvet with under-blouse and panel In skirt of white broadcloth. - It is made without sleeves and held by a belt that slopes downward at the back. The white mouseline collar has a bright blue velvet cravat

characters on which the French designers have based their work for this season. Natoma Is suggested by the distinctly Indian clothing that has come from the great houses abroad and copied and launched In all the ho,uses here. Lakme is suggested by the Oriental clothing with its ancient coloring, Its dangling beads and its glistening tissues. Thais Is suggested in the draping of the figure by folds of soft material, such as crepe and satin, the drapery winding about the body and revealing every curve and line without confining the muscles. Alda has her prototypes today in the savage, primitive clothes, the brilliant blue and green necklaces, the barbaric armbands above the elbow and the uneven, fringed hem of the skirt. In Egyptian Finery. Amneris is seen in the ballroom and at the dinner table In all the splendor of her Egyptian finery, her heavy, banded head, the large waistline and the sinuous drapery about the hips, to say nothing of the addition of a gorgeous peacock-feather fan. It was a startling suggestion, this one made by a man concerning the modern woman dressed for an opera role, and the critic of clothes saw in it a truth that was both amazing and interesting.

Glancing over the moving films of clothes that are passing the eye today, one feels, in the light of this new fact, as though one might be in the salons of Marie Muelle of Paris, the greatest theatrical costumer in the world. Through her rooms flash all the singers of the world. Her knowl- ~ edge of operatic costumery, ’ her superb handling of colors, her ingenuity in carrying out the best artistic suggestions to be found in the great museums and picture galleries of France, are well known to all those who live in the musical world. Muell’s clothes represent the ages of the world; they are colorful and superb symbols of very powerful race that has passed over the planet But what has the story of Muell’s rooms to do with modern clothes? you ask. The answer is that you could find the Inspiration for every gown you wear today in those salons, if you looked with an eye trained to detail and accurate observation. Modern clothes, which means the clothes for this winter, are said to be simple. We all know they are'not Inexpensive. And yet, even with their simplicity, there are so many barbaric and exotic suggestions that they give a good deal of delight to anyone who studies clothes from the point of view of color and personality, rather than from price and serviceability. When, for Instance, have we had a season so full of fringes as now? When have we had a winter in which six floating panels of silk were weighted down with Indian beads to half conceal a pair of Oriental

trousers that looked as though they were elongated envelope chemises, or what the young girl irreverently calls her “teddy bears?” When have we ever worn the hat made famous in our Indian countries of America, with its peaked crown, soft brim and colored cords? ’ Since when have we worn clothes made out of a single width of material that is ’’caught at one shoulder draped across the back, wound around the hips, caught again above the knee, and left to fall on the floor In folds that cling to the ankles? This is Thailand the Tanagraa. Since when have conservative women gone about in the evening with a gold band on one ankle and a broad gold band on the upper arm? And when have women walked the streets in the morning and afternoon with Indian and Chinese chains dangling from their necks? How long S has it been since an assemblage of women at the theater gave one a vivid impression of a jungle full of tropical birds flashing their long tails and wings in the air —a suggestion which is given by the myriad of great fans made of peacock tails, of red, purple, green and black ostrich feathers, of Chinese sandalwood, of Egyptian fronds, of colored aigrettes? Mind you, every one of these fashions is in evidence wherever one goes among well-dressed women, and yet, we assert that the season Is dedicated to simplicity. It is, in a fashion, but we must learn to place simplicity on a pedestaj that it has rarely occupied. Mlles of Fringe Used. It would be Interesting to find out how many miles of fringes have been used for the winter clothes. To go into detail a bit: evening gowns are made of panels or straight widths of transparent material which have fringes of gold beads or metal at the hem; widely flowing sleeves for afternoon and evening frocks the same kind of fringe at their lower edges of another kind made of jet beads or silken floss. Wide girdles have deep, metallic fringe for eight inches across the front and back, or they concentrate the fringe over each hip and let it fall to the knees in irregular strands. A woolen frock or a cloth coat suit will have a girdle of velvet or Indian beads that drops slightly in front and is finished with a flat pouch of gay embroidery from which long, silken tassels and fringes drop. On the hats that the milliners turn out, the crown band is finished with fringe at its lower edge, or, reserving Its simplicity until it gets to the side of the hat, it breaks out Into a waterfall of fringes that reach to the outer edge of the brim. Feathers are arranged to look like fringes. Monkey fur and skunk are slashed and combed and brushed until they form fringes, and |he peltry is applied to evening or afternoon gowns of chiffon and georgette crepe. Street suits made of khaki-colored velours have Immense, high collars of the days of the Revolution, and these are slashed at the edges with a pair

of sharp scissors, to fall into deep fringe over the shoulders. The girdle Is subjected to? the same treatment, and the sleeves hang in fringes about the hand below a tiny band that holds them in at the wrist If you are an economical woman and want to provide the trimming for your clothes In your own sewing room, just get a' pair of sharp’scissors and amuse yourself as children do on wet days In the nursery, by clipping pieces of fabric into fringe. The children may do it for you in a spirit of sport, and the task will keep them quiet for the afternoon while you prepare the rest of the gown as a setting for these yards of fringe. (Copyright. ISI7. by the McClure Newspa*

This hat fer evening wear la of deep purple velvet, with long, pale yellow plume falling over brim at back.