Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 January 1919 — Style of Gowns [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Style of Gowns

i New York.—lt Is time to change a few things in women’s apparel, asserts a prominent fashion authority. Women are leap!ng fijom uniforms into medieval gowns of gold, and crystal, and-Jatie in Jbrilliant eolors. arifl inter smashing furs ami red street ttjqwirtd. There are significant changes working up from the ground. There is the ‘new deeullelage w Iflcli was prophesied 7 tn this department wi-eks ngri and is coming inter view a* smart women' exploit It. Half a* dozen new ways of cutting the neckline have leaped into existence amLa.ilozen. new i cnlinrs c];vm—the bhm ribbon of ex-?<-HeneCTlNo“ni:it ter wl ■ « dr-'S.-, differently about the hips and feety we are dre<- ; :i<z decidmlly diilerently about the neck anti'even the wrists. It is in these significant changes ttiac the i.’i<-at mass cf 'vnnu»n';ire-ifl-du hid t< (d liiat tney cun' ass or. t cnt-i r»-1 y i. ewg< ‘ was. f, ,r the midseason. . . The. art Ist wlm «u<l tlfaLat+ ediafiges -fn-’Tiishtons Tor-- xrniHTTT COTfSiKted iiT the placement of the bulge, or the abscnce of It, should liave added*that the open spaces in costumes were second In importance. Cut to the bone,' there is no doubt that he was righr. The eonliuir is the thing. IT is wle re a garment goes In or out fchat: determines its sash- ; lon. Few women there arc 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 eomes to cutting a new kind of neckline. She feels that a good pair of scissors 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 Ave have not had anything hew. We have rung the bells of history all over again. That is all. When Edward II Was king of England the women wore the georgette. which wrinkled about the neck ! and spread outward over tlifc chin and the bhek 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 darkblue crepe or veiling! rather than of white satin. When Richard II wtts 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. AVhen Elizabeth was queen of England the delta decolletage was invented, ahd it ran along with another neckline that exposed all the chest and half the shoulders, anti their, as if by a sudden spasm of prudery, hid the neck and ears by an immense ruff, gjirr: ■\VTien Jaines I came to the throne of England his queen introduced the very decollete, tight bodice with its immense, flaring collar of wired -lace at- the back, and when Charles I allowed Henriette of France to lead - the faslnbns for his court, there was the low. round neckline that dipped well down-ward in- the back and w;ts finished vVith a deep vandyki* collar that extended oyer' the sleeps. In tije picturesque days of Queen Anne . women introduced the Idw, square cat decolletage, guiltless of collar, whT?h“(fluu»'onien 'have worn for _t«vb decades; and in the pa'idtHe of the. eighteenth century, - in the Georgian era.; yvomen used :t simple decolletage hi' a rounded ’ V outlined ' with a wrinkled handkerchief as q part of (heir street attire. , Running the mind" over this . . ♦ i ■ ' . i ■ .

summary of historical changes in the decolletage, it Is easy to see that we have done nothing new; but here Is what we are going to do at the immediate moment: Revive the delta of Hie EHzabethan times, th e deep squ are of Queen Anne,—with Its ttgfrt, high - line at the side of the fleck, and the U-shaped decolletage of the end of rhe eichtr-r nrh century, with Tt3 modesty thfcC rrf tacf , _i . .. We have gone through a'season of medieval s verity in the neckline. Women have aided nature which made ilu : m ugly or cheated nature which made Thein beautiful by going about without any softening' effect at . the neck, by wearing coat collars of heavy homespun iiiirclievi-d by white, and by the use of V-shaped lines of heavy yel-, veteen' and crept) which fashio& J kepL: :in;:rliuT!i | d. ~~ 'i'rm>-toHist+>rythiswaT!t,-btrtHnot-true to art. There were few women ■ Jio 1. »< ,k cd tile> r best in such sever--ity; Today cnltars return slowly. There are still those who tell at the exclusive house there is a tendency to put' precious lace on the new neck-' line. It is not a V-shaped neckline; it is a deep IT which calks f.u- a. softci'iiig outline and an extremely softarrangenient of lace or tulle across the bust. The Queen Anne decolletage which hugs the Side of the neck and runs down into a narrow L-shaped opening is extremely smart, and it is banded with fur and then filled in with fine folds of silk net. ,It is felt by those who have 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 swines the chiffon tvith the inoveinent of the figure, as though it were a necklace. Beneath it, and hugging the bust in the eighteenth centurymanner, is a bodice jyith fl rounded fleeolletage. There will be an oblongßenaissance neckline that reaches from shoulder to shouTclerT cut on a tight satin bodice, and over that will be swung a looser bodice of colored chiffon or tulle which is high at the back and has a long, rounded line iii front that drops tb the waist. J Black and seal brown velvet afternoon 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, open space half way to the waist. This is outlined with fur. — Again, it may be, outlined with Venetian point. The delta decolletage is considered the most becoming of all for evening, wear. Get out any picture of Elizabethan times and you will see what is meant. In that gorgeous era the women wore a jeweled piece as 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, by McClure Newspaper Syndicate.)

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