OCR Text |
Show New Styles Out of Old Fabrics Now York. Furls is never handicapped handi-capped .in creating fashions by the actions of other designers. That is why she is powerful. America has always al-ways suffered under this handicap he-cause he-cause she has followed I'aris, asserts a prominent fashion authority. She has never been inclined to risk the exploitation of fabrics, fashions and colorings that were not sponsored by the mother of fashions. It is said of us that we acknowledge the best in every nation and bring it to our shores. We know the best in One of the new black taffeta gowns that is far from commonplace. The skirt is a series of small ruffles edged with white silk cord and cut in peg-top fashion. The slim bodice is mounted on a yoke of taffeta braided with white cord, and the short sleeves are cut in one with the yoke. There is a pink rose with green leaves at the waist, and there are green shoes and stockings. every, department of art, science and literature. If we are compelled to put Dur knowledge to practical use, we at '.east have the best to go on. We are not ignorant. The time has come for this experiment, experi-ment, as we all know, and the observer thinks that a few medals of honor should be distributed to those who have gone "over the top" in designing clothes in this country. It took great commercial courage and it required a sound knowledge of the American public. What France Did America Does. 1 More are two anecdotes which nc- ;entuate the point. They happened a I iozen years apart. Mme. Paquin saw II several bolts of checked silk in a manufacturer's man-ufacturer's hands. Neither the weave, 11 Che coloring nor the design was in fashion, to quote her own phrase. The s- manufacturer complained that he had -r no call for this quantity of material e, and that he would sell it for about a franc and a half a yard. Mme. Paquin Pa-quin took it all, went to her salons on the Kue de la Pais, turned the ,rt cheap check silk into an alluring frock he of her own design, and then wore it an at Trouville-by-the-Sea. She made the ire frock, the design, the color and the If- fabric fashionable. Everyone wanted me to wear what she wore. She sold every inch of the material at a price that brought her unmeasured profit on the transaction. Last month an American rti-signer was looking over the stock of a lace importer. "Nothing new," said the importer. "Here 1 am hold up with about fifty Spanish lace scarfs which 1 bought at a venture, thinking I could distribute them in 1 lie trade in America, Amer-ica, but no one took them. The one answer was that they are not in fashion." The designer said that if the im-I im-I porter would give him one he would turn it into a gown that would sell ail the other scarfs, on condition that he received a commission on their sale. The bargain was closed. The gown was designed. It sold imuiedia'ly. It was copied so fast that the other -i'.l sc arfs molted, away like snow. j That is a good example of the change that has conic over the American Ameri-can merchant and the American designer. de-signer. We no longer have to ask what is the fashion, but are probably j enabled to make the fashion for our own continent. Management of Black Taffeta. It is easy to realize that taffeta has come into a first summer fashion, although al-though the popular mind does not regard re-gard it as one of the lovely weaves of the world, because it is plentiful. There is no trouble about getting all the taffeta one wants, and it is best that we model our wardrobes for the near future on the materials that can I be bought in this country in sufficient ! quaiivity to correspond to our needs. .Much ran be done with this material mate-rial that will result in a gown out of the ordinary and conspicuous for charm and cleverness. If you could have seen a woman who came into a restaurant for dinner wearing a certain cer-tain black taffeta gown, you would have been convinced in the twinkling of an eye that the fabric matters nothing noth-ing if the designer has cleverness. J The skirt was made of narrow ruffles that extended trom waist io ankles, each rullle edged with a white silk cord. The hem was excessively narrow. The foundation for these ruffles fitted the figure like a sheath. There was a bodice,1' straight and simple, sim-ple, and the major part of it was a yoke with short sleeves which was braided with white cord in a fantastic design. At the side of the waist was a deep pink sat rose with green velvet vel-vet leaves. The slipper- and stock ings were green. There was nothing demure about this black taffeta gown. Treat Blue Serge in Various Ways. Blue serge is a fabric that will al-wavs al-wavs be with us. as far as the manufacturers manu-facturers and the war board can look ahead. It is usually midnight blue, and, "iven a few vards of it in this color, the designers do not want to sit down and turn it out into insignificant frocks and inconspicuous suits. woman who came to a "defense" luncheon one day wore a blue serge -own that was the product of a clever designer and it surely turned our ideas about suits topsj -iui i . . The coat was split up the back as well as the front. It was worn over a long cuirass blouse, the kind that gains in importance every day. The blouse was made of a richly embroidered embroid-ered tricot in blue, black and dashes of dull red. It did not cling tightly to the fWure, but outlined it more than usuaf Over it hung the loose blue corse coat, opening In a deep V in the middle of the front and the black. It was closed at the neckline and had a collar of the serge. There was a loose belt of the material, and the skirt was exceedingly narrow-wed short. (Copvnsht, IMS. by the McClure Xewspa- per Syndicate.) |