Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 305, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 December 1920 — Court Train Is Given Approval [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Court Train Is Given Approval

Style Is Seen in Dressmaking Circles for First Time in Several Years. SASH PLAYS IMPORTANT PART Decoration Alda In Carryinfl Out Very Effective Results In the More Fashionable Informal Evening Frocks. The long court train has returned. It Is seen In the best dressmaking circles for the first time in several years. The resumption of social life by the many women who were engaged in war work set the dressmakers to designing clothes of a more .formal character. During the war years the patriotic woman thought only of serving her country and doing so In the most suitable dress that she could find. Then came the period of wild extravagance that followed the signing of the armistice. In the history of fashions this will go down as a time when clothes were elaborate, with little of beauty or good taste to recommend them. It seemed that everything possible in the way of decoration or elaboration was combined In a single model. Now, asserts a leading fashion correspondent, we see the reaction. The lines of the best clothes made today are very simple. There Is elaboration, it is true, but it is a dignified elaboration. Some models are really works of art in the beauty of drapery and cleverness of design. Their very simplicity makes them appear as though any one might have made them, whereas they could have been only created by the brain and hand of an artist.

Bride's Dream of White Satin. Lanvin features the long court train heavily embroidered. One of her most Interesting models Is a bride’s dress' of white satin having a court train richly embroidered in white. This falls from the shoulders in one continuous, piece, being attached to the bodice by means of an embroidered band which crosses the front just above the decolletage. Long bishop sleeves of tulle, the lower half embroidered In white, are a«• feature of this dress. Embroidery also appears across the front of the bodice and on the full, supple straight skirt. A Lanvin model of black satin with the embroidered court train falling from the shoulders is held in place by. an embroidered band about four inches wide which passed over the shoulders and crosses the front. Panels hanging at each side of the dress are of shirred in at the bottom tp embroidered tassels the ends of which are of black satin ribbon. The skirts of even tfte most dignified frocks still are short, although several of the best designers are showing skirts a trifle longer than those now actually being worn. Sash Train Lerids Smartness. A surprising number of the more informal evening frocks have trains. They may be only sash ends, and this, by the way, Is a favorite method of

evolving a train for a simple evening dress. Very effective are the results achieved through these sash trains. A plain little frock of orchid pink chiffon may be made with the neckline as high as those worn on street frocks and cut in the straight-across ■hallow line. The waist may be low and blousing, with the skirt short and straight. Then, to .make It the last word in smartness, a sash of two tones of pink, one a very bright whade, is tied about the low waistline and several Inches of one of the gayly colored ends trail on the ground. A model of this kind Is as adaptable as It can be, because the sash ends may be shortened, or the sash altogether and any sort of

a girdle used, so that one has a simple afternoon dress which may be worn anywhere. Train dresses of this sort are, of course. In direct opposition to.the one which is decidedly formal, but it, too, has its practical side, for the band supporting the train Is made separate from the dress and just slips over the shoulders. Train Makes Its Own Laws. The train, having once got-back Into the limelight, takes to Itself many liberties. It absolutely refuses to abide by any set rules. It may even fall from the front of a dress. A frock created by one of our own American

designers has a very uneven hem, the front being extremely short and the skirt falling much longer at the sides knd back. There is a sash which ties in a bow directly in the front and the long ends hang to the ankles several inches below the bottom of the skirt. To accentuate the appearance of the unevenness of'the hem there are side panels also longer than the skirt Perhaps the most popular place for a train is at one side. , The wrappedaround effect with the drapery drawn across the stomach, as in this model, is very prominent in fashions. These models, slightly draped at the waistline In a free and easy manner, are quite a contrast to the tightly draped princess dress sponsored by Madeleine et Madeleine. Dresses of this sort usually fasten at the left side. This one illustrates, too, the liking for black and white in evening frocks. It Is of white velvet, showing a long side panel of black velvet and black tulle. The large flat flowers are of velvet and tulle, i The back of the dress Is draped in the same . manner as the front. Black Broadcloth for Evening Wear. Ever so many of the skirts which wrap tightly around the figure have fullness let in by means of narrow godets on one side only toward the front. They may be laid in where the skirt laps over and forms the closing. Cheruit has resorted to black broadcloth for evening dress. She embroiders it in white. One such modej h/s a novel skirt, with one side whipping over the long train, while the other comes from underneath the train, fitting the figure quite snugly. On the skirt are two bands of embroidery lu leaf design. Long, full sleeves are of white Tace. So, also are the sides and back of the bodice, the latter having an of the broadcloth. Another model which Is very lovely Is of white brocade and black lace. It shows the corsage swathed about the bust and cut fairly low in the back. A length of the black lace outlines the square decolletage at the back. This band, about six inches at the small of the back, widens until it is at least twelve Inches over the shoulders, and then it falls at the front in pointed ends. The skirt is short and of the wrapped type, and there is a black lace train attached to the waistline at the side. Scarf Adds Distinctive Touch. - A most important movement in evening dresses might be termed the scarflike movement It appears on many models and may be described in this way : The silhouette of a straight chemise dress is changed by attaching a scarf to the hem of the skirt or to the belt of the dress. Scarfs starting at the belt line always loop at the bottom of the dress and then up, forming the bodice, swathing the shoulder, and falling down one side. These scarfs are of tke same material a< the dress. This season’s evening dresses are much less decollete than they have been for some time past All of the models today show a rather high neck line for evening gowns.

Frock of Gray Mousseline Embroidered in White and Gold Threads.

An Interesting Frock of Black Velvet and Black Lace.