Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 February 1920 — THE UTILITY GOWN [ARTICLE]

THE UTILITY GOWN

Black Velvet Draws Palm of Popularity, Writer Says. Fabric Suitable for All Purposes From Breakfast Robe to Ball and Theater Attire. In these days of the high cost of everything few women can afford to make a distinction between dinner gowns and evening dress. They both signify formal wear, hut to perSQIMUIf. meticulous care in dress there is a difference. With housekeeping such a tremendous problem and the domestic question a shoal on .which many households founder, the custom of dining out is becoming mwe and more prevalent. At the more exclusive restaurants one is not properly dressed unless in evening clothes, yet If the evening’s entertainment includes the theater one’s costume needs to be more reserved than if a dancing party or the opera is contemplated. Of all the materials we have seen this season, observes a fashion writer, the palm of popularity goes to black velvet —unquestionably the fabric suitable for all purposes from breakfast to ball gown, and in the restaurants and theaters it predominates. A clever woman whom we see at every Important function is not noted for her wealth nor her lavish expenditures on dress, but she is always tastefully If rather unobtrusively gowned. At the opera one evening she appeared in a stunning gown of black silk velvet made severely plain with a round of decolletage and the skirt ankle length with a long, straight panel falling from one hip to form a side train. We remarked the costume for its extreme elegance of line and lack of adornment. A few nights later this woman came into the dining room of our most fashionable and exclusive hotel again gowned in black velvet. We noticed that the bodice was cut rather low and filled in with a shirred gilet of embroidered black net, short sleeves edged with tiny ruffles were of net and chiffon, and on one hip several flat loops of the velvet simulated the bouffant effect. It was not until afterward that we realized that this costume was In fact the opera gown worn with a gulmpe of net, and with the train looped up. Not one woman In a hundred, unless she were in the habit of scrutinizing and analyzing feminine wearing apparel, w’ould have discovered the metamorphosed frocks. Very convincing transformations may be accomplished by a woman who is clever with her needle or who has a good dressmaker.