May 8, 1915 
LAiNU AJ\U WA i h-K 
THE NEW TONE IN DRESS 
By MRS. ERIC DE RIDDER. 
AWELL-known Englishwoman, who has just 
returned from some months spent in France, is 
of opinion tliat the whole atmosphere here has 
changed in a very subtle fashion. She declares 
there is a visible difference between the country 
as it is to-day and as it was in August and September of last 
year. There is a growing fixity of purpose, a graver apprecia- 
tion of the serious problem before us ; an intensity of tone 
which several critics formerly 
found lacking. The woman 
in question was one of the 
many who, from time to time, 
have waxc-d indignant upon 
this theme. " If people in 
England could only see 
France," she has written, 
" then you would at last 
realise what war really is, 
and how wholeheartedly the 
French are meeting it. 
When will England wake 
up ? " 
But at last it seems we 
are to have this reproach 
removed from us. To all 
intents and purposes the 
country is going on much the 
same as usual, but there is all 
the same an underlying in- 
fluence showing the changes 
at work. It is something 
that cannot be seen so much 
as felt. Theatres are open, 
so are the restaurants. The 
inveterate race-goer can still 
take the train — always allow- 
ing for it being delayed — to 
Gatwick or Newmarket. It 
is true that after ten at night 
nobody, however thirsty and 
however temperate, can slake 
their thirst by anything 
alcoholic. It is true that 
anybody who makes any 
engagements at all does so 
on the spur of the moment. 
We live too much from day 
to day, fearing yet always 
hoping to allow of any other 
course. Our days and their 
disposal lie at the mercy of 
an official telegram or a 
name in the dread Ust in the 
paper, and in consequence we 
make but a few plans. Social 
entertaining, in the ordinary 
sense of the word, is dead 
naturally enough. It is true that there is an unusual number 
of men wearing uniform. At any evening, at any play, it 
will be found that a great proportion of seats are occupied 
by men in blue or men in khaki. It was, however, none of 
these things that gave the impression of our altered point of 
view, but the general aspect of things as a whole. And 
foremost amongst these must be counted the way in which 
nine women out of ten are dressing themselves at the 
present time. 
Subdued Note. 
It was a case of this tenth woman, a morning or two 
ago in Bond Street. In the distance appeared a patch of 
vivid, unusually aggressive, pillar-box red. As it grew nearer 
it resolved itself into a girl who looked nice enough to know 
better. She was dressed in a suit of this flaming hue, and, 
without exception, she was the one woman in all that crowded 
thoroughfare who wore any strident hue. Every other woman 
was quietly garbed, that is to say, every woman whose dress 
in any way merited notice. No impression of poverty was 
given — in the greater number of cases very much the reverse — 
but there was an absence of colour that was almost remarkable. 
Everything worn was of neutral tone, or verging on the 
dark side in colouring. It needs but the briefest thought to 
see that this lack of ostentation, of anything glaring, blaring, 
or unduly striking, is symbolical of the Englishwoman at her 
best. It is the outward and visible sign of her feelings. 
The war has had many indirect influences, but the one 
it wields over dress is amongst the strongest of all. 
It has kiUed vulgarity at one fell swoop, and nobody 
is a penny the worse, but on the contrary infinitely better. 
It is to be hoped that even the strongest reaction in 
days to come will not revive blatancy of fashion once 
more. We have surely learnt to eschew anything so 
ugly. 
Studied Simplicity. 
In the meanwhile every- 
body is agreed that women 
have rarely appeared to 
better advantage than at 
the moment. Clothes being 
stamped with the hall-mark 
of good taste are more be- 
coming than they have been 
for a long while, and every 
tendency towards undue ex- 
aggeration is slowly but surely 
being curbed. Exaggeration 
might easily have crept in 
with the new outhne, but up 
till now it is conspicuous by 
its absence. When the first 
new coats and skirts were 
launched in the leading ateliers 
there was but the smallest 
difference between them and 
the crinoline modes of our 
grandmothers. It was felt 
that while full skirts are 
delightfully practical, half 
their comfort is gone with 
any suggestion of the hoop. 
Numbers of women, who 
allowed a stiffening of whale- 
bone to be sewn inside the 
hem of their dress, had it 
promptly removed, and not a 
few had folds of material 
taken away, leaving only a 
reasonable fulness — one more 
proof, if proof were needed, 
that moderation is the goal 
aimed at by most folk just 
now. 
Since women have proved 
the utihty of the wide skirt it 
is likely to remain, otherwise 
it is more tlian possible that 
such a radical change of 
fashion at this crisis of history 
would not have been tolerated 
for a moment. As it is the 
relief from the day of shackled garments is great, and again 
the war influence makes itself felt. Many women are on their 
feet from morning to night, planning, organising, and helping 
some fund or work in one direction or another. The wide 
skirt is a boon to all industrious people without doubt. So, 
too, is the disappearance of flamboyant headgear. The almost 
severely plain hats presented to our notice amply fulfil the 
needs of the moment. And that being so, it is kind of them 
to be attractive at one and the same time. 
The Cause and the Effect. 
Women are grave, and, as a natural result, their clothes 
are grave also. It is a cheering sign that in spite of this 
tendency to sombreness there is no tendency to neglect the 
personal appearance. The fact that there are stiU some 
women amongst us who continue to take an interest in 
clothes is not a proof of what was neatly termed " our in- 
curable levity." The true answer lies in the character of the 
clothes themselves. They are practical, they are subdued, 
they are free from any taint of aggression. These at least 
are the main points of clothes chosen and worn by the 
women who matter. The mere idea that Englishwomen 
should dress flauntingly and unbecomingly at this time is a 
painful one. It is not, however, carried out in reality, as 
anyone can see at any gathering of responsible women. The 
country is the gainer by this tendency on the part of Its 
daughters. 
Copyright Madatue Lallie Charles 
THE COUNTESS OF STRADBROKE 
Who has turned Henham Hall, her husband's place in Suffolk, into a 
hospital for wounded soldiers. Lady Stradbroke has been in charge 
herself since the war began. It is not so very long ago ihat 
Henham was visited by ZeppeHns. Several bombs were 
dropped without any serious damage being done. 
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