Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 January 1919 — Quick Change in Style of Gowns [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Quick Change in Style of Gowns

i New York. —It fs'llme to change a few things in women’s apparel, asserts a prominent fashion authority. Women are leaping from uniforms into medieval gowns of gobi, and crystal, and tulie jn brilliant colors, and into smashing furs and red street appafel. ~ There are - sign ifieaHt- ehn nges working up from the ground. Tlwre is the new decolletage which was prophesied in this departniont w<’el;s ago ami which Ip coming into view as smart women exploit it. Half a dozen new ways of '’cutting the m-ckline have leaped into collars claim the" blue ribbon—-ef—ex-celli nee. No matter whether we dress differently about the hips and Jeet, we are dressing "decidedly differently about the neck t.nd ev. n lli“ w.rjsis. It is in li. " ?tfisc = tlie = great tnaSk of women are interested who do not feel that they can afford entirely new gowns for the midseason. . ’Pile artist who said that all changes in fashions for women consisted in the placeihent of. the bulge, of the absence of it. should have added that the open spaces in costumes were second in importance. Cut to the bone, there is no doubt that he was right. The contour is the thing. It is where a garment goes' In or out that determines its fashion. Few women there are who are brave enough to go against the contour of the hour, even though it may not suggest the best there is in their figures. New Decolletage. The change in the neckline is perhaps the most important to the average woman. She has belief in herself when it comes to cutting a new kind of neckline. She feels that a good pair of eeissors may be the medium of Transforming an old gown into a new gown by the simple process of turning an oblong neck into a round one, a square one, or a U-shaped one.

All history is filled with rapid changes in the neckline, and so far we have not had anything new.■ We have rung the bells of history all over again. Thai is all. When Edward II was king, of England the women wore the georgette. which wrinkled about the neck and spread outward over thb chin and! the back of the head. This was introduced to fashion a few years ago through a dancer and her clever designer. It is still worn by women who go motoring, and they make it of dark blue crepe or veiling, rather than of white satin. When Richard II was king his French queen brought over the fashion of the low neck, and so. after centuries, women dropped the neckband of the gown from chin to collar bone.' , When Elizabeth was. queen of England the delta decolletage was invented, and it ran along with another neckline that exposed all the chest and half the shoulders, and then, as if by a sudden spasm, of prudery, liid the neck and ears by an immense ruff. When James I came to the throne ..fif England hiS queen introduced the very degollete. tight bodice with' its immense, flaring collar of wired lace at the back, and when Charles I allowed • Henriette of France rto lead the fashions for his court, there was the low, round mx’kline'TFiat dipped well downward in the back and was finished with a deep vandyke collar that extended ovgr the sleeves. In the picturesque days of Queen Anne women introduced the low, square cut dectilletage. of collar, which our women have worn for two decades; and In the,middle, of .the eighteenth century, in the Georgian era, women used a simple decolletageiH a rounded.. V outlined With a wrinkled" handkerchief as a part of their street attire. Running the mind over this slight

summary of historical changes in the decolletage, it is easy to see that we have done nothing new; btit here is what we are going to do at the immediate moment the ' delta of the Elizabethan times, the deep square of v Queen Anne, with its tight, high U-shaped decolletage of the end of the eighteenth century, with its modesty piece <>f lace. ; 1 Return of Lace Collars. We have gone through; a season of r medieval severity in the—neckline. > Women have aided nature which made jhmu ugly or inade them beautiful by 7 going, about • ! without any softening effect at the. .neck, by wearing coat collars of heavy • ihomespun Uiirelleved by white,-and-by-.'he use of Y*shape"d lines of ii■•avy vei''veteeh and crepe' which fashion kept unadorned. True to history this was, but not true to arr.' -There were few women . who looker] their best, in such severity. Today collars return slowly. There are still those who tell you they .are not smart, but at the [ exclusive house there is a tendency to put precious lace, on the new neckline. It is not a V-shaped neckline; it is a deep U which calls for a softening outline and an extremely soft arrangement of lace or tulle across the: bust. The Queen Anne decelletage which hugs the side of the neck and runs down into a narrow L-shaped opening Is extremely sniart, and it is banded with fur and then filled in with fine folds of silk net. It is felt by‘those who haye their hands on the pulse of fashion that the oblong neckline of the Renaissance is no longer smart, although it is worn by some well-dressed women,* Double Neckline. There is a disposition on the part of some designers to make a double neckline, and this they do by a subtle

arrangement of thin fabrics. A certain designer has turned out a remarkably brilliant gown of raspberry Chiffon having a deep U-shaped decolletage outlined with chinchilla which swings the? chiffon with the movement of the figure, as though ft were a necklfice. Beneath it, and hugging , the bust in the eighteenth century manner, is a bodiee with a rounded decolletage. There will be an oblong Renaissance neckline that reaches fronnfshoulder to shoulder; cut on a tight satin bodice, and over that will swung a looser bodice of colored chiffon or tulle which is high at the back and has a long, rounded line in front that drops to the waist. Black and seal brown velvet afternoop gowns have the Queen Anne decolletage, which follows the exact line where the neck is placed on the body, until it gets to the collar bone, where it dips into a straight, dfcjen space half way to the waist. This is_DUtUned with fur. Again, it may be outlined with Venetian point. The delta decolletage is considered the most becoming of all for evening wear. Gfet out any picture of Elizabethan times and you will see what is meant. In that gorgeous era the women wore a jeweled piece of open net over the shoulder to the base of the neck at each side, and then the decolletage spread’downward and outward to the arm-pits. Take this change in the neckline seriously. It will govern the clothes of the next few weeks, (Copyright, ISIS, by MeClure Newspaper Syndicate.)

V-shaped decolletage in back of a black velvet evening gown which is cut high in front. This idea is worked out in many types of gowns, even those for street. Delta decoiletage shown in new brocade evening gown in white and gold. This neckline originated in the Elizabethan days.