Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 January 1918 — EFFICIENCY GOWN IS NEWEST IDEA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

EFFICIENCY GOWN IS NEWEST IDEA

New York.—This season of the year witnesses the annual performance of stirring stunts to keep the women interested in the question of apparel. Heretofore, the traders have had two excellent pegs on which to hang new clothes at this time of the year: the exodus to Palm Beach and the incoming of midseason French fashions. But this year the trade has added a third peg to the row on which the two others were placed. They have had a sop thrown to them by the government in the nature of a request to

Sleeveless blouse of plaid velours. It is made In two sandwich panels with plaited, plain velours at the sides. The sash goes through buttonholes in the middle of the back and front and is finished with fringed ends. The short sleeves and turn-over collar give room for the frock to show.

make gowns out of as little wool as possible, and they have pledged themselves in a body to keep within the 4%yard measurement for a suit gown. This third peg was an actual stimulus to production. It offered a broad white way to exploitation. It fairly bubbled and seethed with advertising possibilities. It was taken up by the trade as eagerly as a brilliant phrase of a statesman is caught up by the multitude and made a part of an appeal to war. Each man jumped to his scissors, his pencil and his material and went to work to beat all his competitors in producing a costume to which he could point with pride and say, with a spreading, arrogant gesture, “this is the ultimate pinnacle on which art and economy can stand entwined.” - “I have made a gown from 1% yards of worsted,” said a famous Fifth avenue designer, “and it is good to look at” “I hope the woman is,” said the listener. “Oh, I have added other materials,” quickly explained the designer. “The gown does not affect the minimum of visibility.” The frock had to be brought down from the workrooms to prove the point that its wearer would not break the law of economy in wool or that of proper drapery. It was of black woolen material, made with a bodice that became a bib in front and a long panel in back fastened with bone buttons from neck to heels. The underslip was of plaited black satin, with a sash of Itself that tied loosely over the wide sandwich back. This is only one example out of hundreds that are being offered. A Chance for the Trade. Exploitation is the life of the trade in women’s clothes. When the government joined hands with the traders in helping them over a serious situation, there was joy in the land of appareL On every side we hear of efficiency blouses, economy gowns and conservation suits. Each firm assures us that less than three yards of wool is employed in each costume, because the firm is too patriotic to withstand the appeal of the government . The traders are trying to go the government “one better" and not even reach the maximum measurement of 4% yards per suit. Individual designers insist that no wool should be used in the new clothes. They confine, their acceptance of it to embroidery made from ends of yarn that cannot be used for knitting. ’ We are shown remarkable street frocks and restaurant gowns which depend for their color and brilliancy upon waste paper basket materials, so we are told —quarter yards of colored wools that were left from army and navy garments. We are shown efficiency gowns in which a gold-colored foundation is covered by a black georgette surface, the latter unhooking at the shoulders and dropping down to form an ornamental apron on the skirt, to disclose a lownecked satin blouse suitable for a restaurant and a party. There are economy costumes in ■which a georgette foundation in pastel color is disclosed when a one-piece jersey tunic or polonaise is taken from it. With the latter in its place, the gown is suitable for shopping, for trains and for the morning activities; and with the somber jersey pinafore shed, the georgette gown becomes a fragile thing, a butterfly emerging from its dull-colored cocoon.

A number of the importers have returned from Paris with midseason gowns, and these are disappointing, In a large measure, but a few of them point to something new, and their presence is at least stimulating. There are far more interesting sketches coming over than gowns, as they purpose to be the new clothes worn by the women In Paris who are buying smart things. Wood Pulp and Twine. The leading* feature in the new frocks is the constant repetition of artificial Jersey silk, matelasse and our common friend, gaberdine. This winter type of artificial silk jersey is thicker and heavier than anything we have had under the oft-repeated name. It has the stiffness that one associates with a fiber made from wood pulp. It may be, however, that we will not have permission to make much of it in this country. Matelasse is being made over here, and also the new type of brochure Jersey silk, and the claim is that the American manufacturers have made the stamping of the design more secure and durable than the French have done. Chanel sends over a black gown with a tunic and a narrow skirt made of this heavy wqpd fiber silk jersey which Is decorated in Indian fashion with white twine and tiny wooden beads. The importers think that this gown will be a success. Paquin is responsible for the fashion of two frocks, both worn at the same time, and it is this idea of’hers that is being copied here and exploited as an efficiency gown. This fashion is made easily possible by the prevailing idea of a sleeveless medieval tunic showing sleeves and collar of another fabric. As Paquin works' out the idea, the sleeves and collar of another fabric are also of another color and belong to a separate gown that is covered by the medieval, sleeveless affair of wool or some other protective material. As these long tunics are fastened down the middle of the front or back, they are easily removed. A sash is girdled about the hips once or twice, to give them character. That Sleeveless Blouse. What may be safely called a medieval garment is the sleeveless blouse that insists upon being seen at every turn of the fashions.' There is nothing new about the loose, straight tunic ent off at the hips or below, and we once wore it in a half-hearted fashion, calling it a Russian blouse. It has been exploited for two years, but never taken seriously by our public as a whole, although certain segments of women wore it constantly as a becoming and useful garment. The garment in its new shape presents Itself on the poster placards as an efficiency garment. It may be made

This medieval velveteen blouse Is In Burgundy red cut with the fourteenth century decolletage and has small armholes which are edged with stitching. A sash of beige-colored jersey cloth runs under the plaits and ties at the back. -

of any matertai, worn over any kind of blouse, and it drops limply over a separate skirt. Three of these have come over from Europe in the way of sketches to show how determined the French arj to wear them. They are of black ve> veteen, plaid velours and Burgundy red velveteen, and two are low in the neck and one quite high. Two of them have semisleeves, mere armbands that drop four inches below the shoulders, and each has a belt arranged in a novel and ornate way, always subscribing to the Jeanne Lanvin trick of going in and out through buttonholes and under plaits. (Copyright, ISI7, by the McClure Newspaper Syndicate.)