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Show SPRING GOWNS AT' HOME AND ABROAD Now York. That large segment of people on this continent, culled society, soci-ety, which means those who have money to indulge in what they wish to do, has heen unable to decide between two problems. They did not know whether it was best to light out the cold of healless houses in the North or to take their . km CI) peculiarly suitable to her figure and personality. ! Sleeves tit the arm at the top and branch out into wide cuffs or flares that are lined with brilliant, striped silks, and the elongated deoolletago that shows the neck only as far as the collarbone is quite severe, edged wilh an upstanding ruche of white tulle or organdie. C'liains of brilliant quartz or carved, opaque stoiles drop over the plain, tight blouses in the early Italian fash, ion. Sleeves are sometimes latticed, as they were in the days when Ghir-landaio Ghir-landaio painted the lovely Giovanna Tornibuoni on the canvas which is now owned by J. I'icrpont Morgan. March will decide the issue between the two fashions. America is evidently evident-ly striving to produce a silhouette of her own, and she is trying it out at the Southern resorts. It consists of a straight, narrow skirt and a short Eton jacket, or a drapery of material that suggests such a jacket. She is destroying all severity of line by adding add-ing ruehings, plaited ribbons and various va-rious kinds of ornamentation that break the surface and do not sharply outline it. The Spring Materials. There is a patriotic effort made by the American dressmakers to bring in such fabrics as are produced by our cotton mills. The use of the gayly colored calicoes of the South which have been worn by the negroes for generations, has long been advocated, and the use of the bandanna handkerchief for trimming. trim-ming. It Is quite possible that the northern part of the country has never quite realized the beauty of the cheap fabrics that are turned out in bales by the Southern mills. Calico has never come into its own in this country, although I'aul Poiret admired it more than any other national na-tional fabric that we otter. There is an effort being made to introduce it at the Florida resorts this spring, and It may come about that we shall see it in a great variety of costumes late in the season. Jersey is rampant, and when made of artificial silk threads or of thin worsteds, It holds its own in an amazing amaz-ing manner. The novelty jersey shows a cream or oyster white background with a large and rather grotesque ornament or-nament woven into it or applied by means of small beads. All the Chinese fabrics have been reinstated. Shantung In its khaki color has again been found an admirable ad-mirable material, especially when Its dullness is enlivened by a bit of Nattier Nat-tier blue, deep, scarlet nnd sometimes with a combination of black and on auge. Georgette crepe has a powerful position. po-sition. It has taken on a bit of kinship kin-ship to the embroidered jersey by having stamped circles or interlaced rings dripping across its surface. It comes in odd colors of light blue with rings of deeper blue. Brilliantly printed silks, usually of American make, are put back into the spring fashions, although they need an artist to Incorporate them in a costume. The world is rather weary of the Futurislic designs, as they have Simple frock for young girl. It is of blue georgette crepe, the skirt tucked in groups. The waist is finely tucked and finished at the neck with a white organdie fichu. chances of getting South within a few days after they started. Each case brought its train of evils. Each situation situ-ation was full of discomfort. The majority of them shrugged their shoulders with the trick we are trying to learn from the French and used the phase that has become incorporated in-corporated in our language, "duns la guerre, comme la guerre." The dressmakers, who must be opportunists, op-portunists, divided their time between offering stay-at-home clothes that looked as though they were intended for a Siberian winter, and thin apparel ap-parel that is always associated with the sands of Palm Beach in February. Havana presents more novelty than the Florida, Georgia and South Carolina Caro-lina i-lf.ies. Another language Is spoken, other customs prevail and the Latin brush has been passed over everything and left its mark of color, allurement and brilliancy. Therefore, There-fore, ihe clothes that went to Cuba were extremely good looking. Shifting of Fashion. It Is undoubtedly important to take cognizance of the clothes that were invented for the South. They were put out in a tentative manner because of chaotic conditions that the war brought about not only in travel, but in (lie expenditure of money. The dressmakers knew that no one would wan'; these clothes except for Augusta, Augus-ta, Havana, Miami and Palm Beach. Aiken puts its faith in sport clothes. Pnsi-tbly that Is because Aiken is easily easi-ly n 'ire fashionable and lias moro social so-cial prestige than any other colony foregathered in ilie South, and as it is ii-liinato and goes there for outdoor out-door pleasure purely, it not only in-dii!g''S. in-dii!g''S. in new sport dollies, but in man-.', many old olios. Tin slraighl silhouette has been approved, ap-proved, the scarcity of material accepted, ac-cepted, plaited skirts are accomplished accom-plished and Ihe verdict has been given for clrictly tailored and mannish apparel. ap-parel. And yet, before Hie eyes, an actual ac-tual ind concrete fact, arc frocks that are girlish and futile and full of small anil minor trilles that destroy elegance. ele-gance. There are fichus and ruehings and plaited bunds of ribbon and silly sashes and awkward loopings at the ankles, and baby sleeves finished wilh ru'Iles and sometimes with a few blossoms. blos-soms. la this Ihe new silhouette produced by America? lias It anything to do with Paris? Is it a makeshift or a determined effort lo change what has been into something that has been dropped ? The Paris doors are opening to the f,.w American buyers that have crossed the ocean, and the sketches of the new gowns, as they have been outlined out-lined In Paris, do not lead one to suppose sup-pose that there is any shifting of fashion fash-ion over there from a severe, straight silhouette to a Dolly Varden kind of a thing that Is utterly unbecoming to Hie American woman and has nothing in con in with her stern activities' In wartime;. Over there, P.uIIok, who lias had n dominating Inlluence on clothes f'.r three years, has Hirown his cap over the windmill and gone In for the dl-rvctolro. dl-rvctolro. This 18 a fashion that the American woman wears In a manner Jilt 1 i Afternoon gown of shantung. It is khakl-colored and the collar is nattier blue. The 6ash Is finished with blue silk tassels and there Is a chemisette of tulle. The elbow sleeves are an added feature. been comnionl.ed In these silks to an alarming degree. The Italian striping strip-ing Is preferred, especially when used as a sash, as a turnover collar or as facings to the wide Italian sleeves that the French designers have pressed upon their public. (Copyright, 10 1 H. by llin MeC'luro Nowspa-por Nowspa-por Syndicate.) |