Evening Star Newspaper, March 29, 1931, Page 87

MHR SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, MARCH 29, 1931 11 p——— Back to the KEternal Feminine in Dress Noting New, Roman- ticSiyles for Easter, Emily Post Predicts Good Manners and Dignity and Modes- tyAre toBecome Fashionable. BY EMILY POST, In an interview with Lillian G. Genn. T is only litile more than a year ago when women sounded the clarion call for a rebellion against the new styles. But now that the smoke of the battle has cleared, we find that slowly, surely and subtly women are succumbing to the wiles of Dame Fashion. Of course, the mode is no longer extreme and bizarre, but the hemline has definitely dropped and Spring clothes show that the romantic and picturesque will continue to dominate. What will be the effect of the flares and the flounces, the clinging skirts, the long gloves and coiffures on women? WIill coyness, intrigue and femininity return? ‘Wil it once more become fashionable to possess good manners, dignity and modesty? According to Mrs. Emily Post, who is an authority on the subject of fashion, social functions and manners, there is a definit> reaction of clothes on the wearer which results in mental, spiritusl and moral changes. Dressed in a black silk gown of the new mode, Mrs. Post presented a charming, dignified pic- ture. Her living room is an inviting, distinctive place, decorated in a soft shade between copper and peach, with curtains of peach and hang- ings of flame-colored taffeta. There are ex- quisite pieces of eighteenth century Engiish furniture, lamps of jade and Chinese pottery. ‘The walls are embeilished with arched bcok- cases and old family portraits. To thoze who know her personally, Mrs. Post is as much an suthority on interior decoration and architec- Sure as she is in the social graces and fashion. “I like the new romantic styles,” she began. ®At first I was afraid that the suddenly ex- aggerated drop of the hemline would have women tripping over trains and hampered by long, voluminous skirts. But I do hope we will never go back to the trailing street dresses. I can't think of anything more ugly or unhygienic than that. Besides, our life has changed too radically for us to go back to gathering up arm- fuls of swez=ping skirts and the hour-glass figure. We must dress for health, intelligence and comfort as well as for style. Our advanced standards of living would hardly tolerate the insanitary and uncomfortable mode of the 1890s which Paris first tried to induce us to accept. “BUT now that the Prench designers have, for the first time, listened to the voice of the American women, they have greatly modi- fied the styles so that they combine practicabil- ity with subtle f:minine appeal. They are far more charming on women than the abbreviated flapper mode, and I believe that we can expect much that is good and endearing from them. + “There is no doubt but that clothes bring an accompanying change in psychology. When you go to a fancy-dress ball in cha:acter you maturally act the part, whether it is that of an apache or a duchess. When, therefore, the bobbed style was in vogue, bobbed manners prevailed. Girls lost their feminine outlook as well as appearance and beecame mannish in thought amd in action. The abbrevjated dresses led to a subtie change in moral sfand- ards. A girl who is scantily clad is more Hkely to discard old-fashioned restraints and Ba freer in her manners and speech than one whe is swathed in clothes. “We all know, of course, that the history of ¢lothes has virtually been the history of morals. One reacts on the other. When people were deeply religious, clothes were austere and severe. Women revealed !r%}ing but the tips of their shoes and their firgngd. That was the time of puritanism and strict morality. In periods of wealth and lcisure there were romantic, elabo- rate clothes. Then we had great formality and elaborate courlesy. The post-war periods were marked by immodesty in clothes and immorality. “Coming down to the present age, the World War gave women complete emancipation. The change in their status and in their outlook upon fife was reflected in the way they dress-d. Courtesy, chivalry and modesty vanished. We had an era of reckless and then casual dis- regard of moral standards. “Now the echoes of the war have faded. Women have passed through the destructive period and they long once more for their dearest attributes apd privileges. They want %o be courted and admired by men, to be spoiled and adored. They hunger for beauty and graciousness in life. “Men, on the other hand, are tired of the boyish creature. They dream of 2 woman who 85 likely to be one who will give flavor to romance; whose clothes, femininity and charm stimulgte their,imagipations and inspire them. They had little feeling for the.flapper. She was & good pal angd it was fun to be with her, but & man felt toward her much as he did toward another boy. She was not his complete ideal. “The frank spirit of comradeship among men and women is a splendid thing,.but like every- thing else it can be earried too far. It de- stroyed the mysterious element that has ever been all-feminine and charming. “Now there are indications that a different type of woman will develop, one who will be more romantic and alluring, but one who at the same time will be able, on proper occasion, to be a comrade. “For example, during the day a girl will be a comrade and friend on the golf links, the tennis court or the beach. But in the evening she will blossom forth as ancther creature. Dressed in a gown of ruffles or lace, she will play a com- pletely feminine 10le. In this way she will give double variety and interest to life. Romance will be added to genuine friendship and under- standing. ““ ALTHOUGH the pendulum has already started to swing away from curtness toward more graciousness, it is to be hoped that we will never go back to the old-fashioned manners and etiquette of our grandmothers. It would be trying to return to such formalities as ‘Mrs. Friendly presents her compliments and begs that Mrs. Neighbor take a dish of tea with her.’ Or to return to the routine of a life spent in leaving visiting cards upon one’s entire visiting list. One of the admirable character- istics of the modern g:neration is that it has no toleration for such superficialities and insincerity. “However, the leaders of the younger genera- tion already have begun to establish a higher standard of morality. The hard-boiled flapper with her flaunted claim to indifference has had her day. Even she lost interest in her own intent to shock when confronied with the petting parties of her own imitators. So now these Jeaders, taking the new fashions for key- note of their interpretation, turn back to the eternal feminine. “You will find that the women who have been most loved in the woild ar> these like Mme. Recamier, Lady Hamilion and Ninon de Lenelos. They were not only supremely feminine, but femininely superfine. They were admived for their wit and conversation, for their generosity and charm. They made a study of men and knew how to awaken their interest. They eould create an atmesphere-of cultivation no less than of gayety and sympatby. Exen.when they were ne lenger young’ they.cewld attract and hold men. I wonder whether as much shall be said for the hard-boiled, bobbed-mannered flapper? “I think that as the modern woman realizes the priceless value of charm of femininity and makes serious and persevering headway toward becoming cultivated she will be able to offer the man she loves companionship, sympathy and understanding, sweetness and affection. “A normal woman playing such a role will be happier, toe, for it is more natural for a woman to be herself than to be striving to be an imitation of man. To cultivate her innate femininity will satisfy her instinet for romance and will at the same time fulfil man’s ideal of her. “Every man has an ideal. He carries it with him even through common affairs, through all loneliness and disappointments, That is why a woman will have the amount of love that she herself inspires. She will have romance in the proportion that she measures up to that ideal which he carries with him.” Mrs. Post thought that a happy result which the return of femininity would accomplish would be that the feminine type of woman who is not fitted by nature to be an athletic Amazon would not be forced to become one merely to be popular. “Such a woman, going in for all kinds of sports for which she had no aptitude in erder not to be left on the sidelines, will be able to play a role in which she can be a star. ‘The ieminine, graceful woman will perhaps come to the fore again. At all events, the athletic, pal type will have to round out her appeal. That is, if she wants to keep her enchanting sister from monopolizing the aflections of the men. “IF you doubt tlke allure of the essentially feminine netice the lemgth of the bex- office line and the proportien amd quality of the men in it when Greta Carbo and Marlene Dietrich are playing. Both are of .the mys- terious type. They are enigmatical and fasci- nating women who can give to leve the glamour of romance. Such women. are the type who inspire artists, musicians and poets. Certainly the flapper with her scaniy clothes and her hip flask ceuld bhardly have inspired great works of art or literature. Yet the feminine woman, -right throughout the ages, has always helped to arouse the best amd the highest qualities in man. She made herself a shining part of his life.” Mrs. Post laughingly commented on the faet that the mew fashions are aiso proving to be a boon to the older wonmian, for. she .need mo longer look like a figure of fun or & sufwiver of the Ark. “The older woman really had a terrible time trying to adjust herself to the midway between dowdiness and the flapper dresses. With her skirts up to her knees and her one-piece frock she provided the cartoonists with an endless source of material. If she wore her skirts long and her dresses draped she looked dowdy. “Naturally, when the older women were forced to wear clothes that were made for girls of 16, they began to act like flappers. Women of 46 and over fancied themselves youngsters again and we were treated to the ridiculous spectacle of bobbed-haired flapper grandmothers whe cavorted about at parties and night clubs and who soon began to break into print. Such women could hardly command the respect of their children, and any consideration that their age entitled them to was completely annihilated. “The new fashions enable the older womanm to be smart and at the same time wear clothes becoming to her age and dignity. I personally believe that when an older woman does not ape the clothes and ways of a young girl and re- places youth with the depth and richmess of maturity she has definite distinction and eharm, But when she gets out of the part which she should play and makes a pretense of youthful- ness she loses her attractiveness.” While American women have never particu- larly dressed to please the men, but rather themselves, the new styles are very much liked by the men, Mrs. Post pointed out. “Buropean women,” she said, “have al®ays realized that their clothes are important te men because subconsciously they are influenced by them. They choose their clothes with an eye to intriguing and captivating their sweethearts, A woman will even persuade her husband te go with her to review the collections of the season and to advise her when she chooses her wardrobe. “I am certain” smiled Mrs. Post, “that woman never consulted the préferences of the men when she made the graceless, flat, angular her standard of feminine beauty. Nor she ask their opinion when she wore dressen that were like ‘feed sacks with holes in them.' To man she was about as attractive as a clothes rack. “There is not the slightest doubt, it seems ta me, that with the new styles woman is again following the impulse of the eternal feminine, which is ever the power to charm, to win and to hold the admiration of man” Cost of Being Ilk Continued from 8ixth Page less than $3,000. This certainly cannoct be con~ sidered adequate in view of the fact that it cost him years of study and at least as much ag $10,000 in money to get his training. / The weakness of the existing sysiem s therefore mot based upon the lack of physi- cians, but rather upon uneven distribution and the inadequate business methods and lack of organization for handling the problems which the profession is to meet. Wherein lies the solution of the many prob- lems involved? What can be done {o bridge the great hiatus which so often exists between the sums which illness costs the individual and the meager and hard-earned salary which the phy- sician is able to collect for his iabors? As yet the committee has no answers. It is seek- ing dependable facts upon which action can be based. Perhaps some form of co-operative service is the answer. The “private group clinic” is an illustration of one of the plans now under- going actual trial. TH]!. private group eclinic is an organization of independent practitioners of medicine for the co-ordination of services through com- mon use of medical specialties, and the phy- sicians serve on a full-time basis. Patients are the responsibility of the entire group. Although each physician has complete independence in his practice, the personal relationship between patient and physician is established through one individual member of the clinic where- ever possible. The income is collected, pooled and administered by some business man in ac- cordance with a prearranged plan formulated by the physicians themselves. Since the World War the tendency toward the private group clinic has been growing rapidly. Although the exact number in exe istence at the present time is not known, 8 has been estimated at probably 150, the mas ;ority of which are located in the Middle West They vary greatly in their characteristics, ia the number of physicians, policies, types of service rendered, in the way they are housed, the amounts of money invested and in the economic motives behind their formation. The economic advantage of the clinics from the standpoint of the physician are immediate- ly obvious. From the standpoint of the patient, thorough examination and diagnosis can be ex- pected without the necessity of consulting gev- eral specialists located in various widely sepa- rated places, each of whom is likely to give a diagnosis or prescribe a treatment entirely unrelated to that of the others. For instance, one young maun, after being examined by five specialists, including an ear, nose and throat man, & blood specialist and a heart speciallSt, eventually found out that an operation for ap- pendicitis was necessary to cure his peculigr condition. How much frouble, pain, time and money he would have been saved if he could have visited all of the specialists under one roof and have had in a few hours the immedi- ate benefit of a related diagnosis! Other things being ecual, it is reasonable to expect that such ee-oueciative groups should be able to remder hefter medical care at the same cost, and probably af a lower cost, than ties of business administration.