Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 February 1920 — PARIS CLINGS TO MODE THAT SUITS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PARIS CLINGS TO MODE THAT SUITS

Lines of Gowns Straight Instead of Puffed Out, According to Edict TAFFETA GROWING IN FAVOR Popularity of Fabric Indicates That It Will Be Favorite for Spring Wear; Guaranteed to Give Reasonable Service. The latest fashion In Paris —to which the eyes of persons interested In dress persist in turning in spite of what America now has to offer of its own —include many useful nints to the woman who has still to think Of winter clothes, states a leading fashion Correspondent. In the first place, Paris fashions are apt to indicate what our fashions will be a season or two hence, and, in these days of the high cost of everything, if one must huy a frock now, it is only good sense to see that it is the sort of thing that is to he instead of what has been or is ceasing to be. One important assertion from a Paris fashion authority Is that the lines of the gowns that the Parisians have accepted for the winter are straight instead of being puffed out in places. The further the season ad vances, she states, the more evident it becomes that the pannier silhouette is not so popular, at least in Paris, as It was expected It might be. For an astonishing number of seasons that have trailed into years the straight silhouette has been the thing in Paris, and it looks as though the French woman is determined to hang on to a mode which so well becomes her. Keeping Clear of Extremes. The Parisian, too, in her dressing is keeping clear of any extremes in fashion. She has always done this more or less, and she Is stUl holding to the rule that her style once discovered must be clung to rather than changed merely for change’s sake. The straight silhouette seems to suit the majority of them. They all love it and keep on wearing it. We in this country are taking up the style more and more as time goes on. Within its limitations there are many variations possible. An Infinite variety of the gowns can be designed without depending upon the idea of straightness. Sleeves In Paris are still short —very short, in sact —there being no disposition to halfway measures. If they are not very short, they are long and tight and reach over the hands, fitting snugly all the way down. Skirts, too, are as short as they were at the fall openings, which means not almost knee length, as they were in the summer, but a good 11 or 12 Inches from the ground to hem. Coats are medium length and are trimmed sparingly with fur. Some-

times the fur is used to give a slightly exaggerated hip line as it finishes the lower edge of a coat. Then again it is employed only for a tiny collar fitting the neck snugly. Trimming in Moderation. The trimmings on the Parisian midwinter frocks are gorgeous and beautiful, but rather sparingly used. Little strips of gilded trimming edge necks and sleeves in clever fashion, and sometimes these edges are repeated on pocket flaps or on the edges of long slit pockets. Fringe is almost extinct, but there are bits of it seen on the ends of flapping panels or to trim the abbreviated evening skirt of an otherwise tightly fitting gown. Embroidery is more fashionable than ever, though when the French do it they lean, especially just now, to rather inconspicuous strips rather than to large and heavy banding. . Taffeta is fast growing In favor, and every day from the couturiers come new models made of this mateHui Thiy wrmld seem, to Indicate the popularity of taffeta for spring wear in our own country. Taffetas now are soft and pliable, and they are

guaranteed, too, to wear reasonably, well, so that the purchase of them, does not mean the taking of any very desperate chances. One of the very latest of taffeta models Is from Madeleine et Madeleine, a house which is the recent rage of Paris. The color Is black and the stripes across the front are little tucks run In by fine hand stitches, Then there is a plaited frill of the taffeta about the neck, tied with a ribbon woven In bright green and gold threads. The overskirt, low In front and high at back, is edged with a deep fringe of monkey fur. The sleeves In this model are short and puffed. The Parisian Waist Lino. The basque on this frock is one of the new decrees of Paris. It ..does not reach as low a line as basques of the past few months have done.

It drops just an inch or two below the normal waist line and fits rather snugly into the waist where it wrinkles slightly at the sides. All the Paris reports received In the last few weeks state that this is growing to be the waist line more and more accepted by Parisians themselves. Another new French taffeta gown Is made in shades of taupe, dark and light. The foundation skirt, a little bit fuller at the sides than It is at the back and front, is made of the darker shades and so are the little, tight, short sleeves. Then there is one of those basque waists that have Just been described. This Is made of the lighter shade, as are also the straight panels which fall over the skirt at back and front. There is an embroidered medallion on the front of the bodice at the waistline and one on each of the lower ends of the panels, this being done in threads of the darker shade of taupe with some gold threads intermingled. Plaited taffetas and satins and serges continue to be created and worn to a large extent in Paris. There are plaited skirts with plain basques, and there are whole plaited dresses in taffeta with only a fold of the dress’s material at the neck to finish the thing off. Modest Evening Dresses. - Evening dresses in Paris are, ao cording to reports, taming their ways very materially. Recently at a huge reception where all vs the smart people in Paris were gathered the evening gowns were of the simplest and most unradlcal type. 1“ spite of all that has been heard of the low back or nothing at all in the back mode, the necks were only moderately low. The skirts were only moderately short. Sashes of all sorts and descriptions are Important , parts of the later season evening gowns. They are used by the French literally to make a gown, for on the lines of the sash, the color and the manner of arrangement depends the effect of the finished creation. On a black charmeuse evening gown. Interestingly draped to follow the line of the figure, a wide sash made of cloth of gold is wound about the low waist line, tied in a huge knot at the left side back and Its ends lined with golden chiffon and tipped by weighty gold tassels hanging almost to the hem of the garment Indeed, one end hangs below the hem. Charming French Hats. French hats for the mid-season are as plain as ever and so charming that It is hard to teU just why. For <m« reason they manage to fit the wearer most astonishingly. They are shaped as an adjunct to her features and as an accent to the other parts of her ah tire. The little, draped turbans that turn away from the face and slouch over the ears are the popular favorites. One of the draped velvet hats pet culiariy French In the way It carries out the lines of the face is in dark blue and has for its trimming two bunches of a few coque feathers each, and they stream out over each ear in the most unstudied and careless fashion. Draped oriental turbans made of the most gorgeous of old and new brocades are much in demand.

Dress of Black Taffeta and Monkey Fur From Madeleine et Madeleine.

Street Frock of Black Velours. Skirt and Bodice Piped in Faille.