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THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN. PORTLAND. DECEMBER 3 1912.
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Eastern Draperies as Modified by
the Women of the
West
r
i the Women of the J
I J t f . West i fT
Baroness ucnioa, an oriental tx
ponent of Occidental
Fashions
H East Is East and West Is West, and nerer:f !;;K--P-the
twain shall meet," sang Mr. Kipling. ''sr-Hl&SV :
But he hadn't reckoned on that fatal com
bination of woman and fashion. -
For to-day tn the realm of the woman
decorator, under which banner march all the
cohorts of those who help in the exterior
bedizenment of the sex, there Is no East or
West. The woman of the Orient, when she
can afford it, sends to Paris for her gowns,
and the Paris designer sends to the Orient
for motives and suggestions. The woman
of the Orient kicks herself free from her
entangling draperies, the symbol of her re
stricted sphere is life, and reaches .out toward
the freedom of the short skirts and tailored
simplicity, while at the same time the woman
'of the Occident demands draperies, and
draperies, and yet more draperies, and pro
ceeds to swathe herself in skirts so mod
elled that a good free step Is impossible.
"My progress has been long enough im
. peded by shawls and scarfs and tied in
ankle's," says the Oriental feminist "Loose
my bonds and let me go In the independent
Western attire."
And her sister of the West calls Just as In
sistently for all the shawls and scarfs she
iau Heap upuu iicr. jr
x ve gotten past ine ume wnen x iuiiik 11
is interesting to walk well," she says. "I
want now just to be able to support my fas
cinating complications of drapery across the'
sidewalk to my carriage."
Then she adds to her Orientation by adapt
ing the kimono sleeve from Japan or China
to her outfit, adopts the head band, of the
Egyptian, the turban of the Turk and the hip
draperies of an Indian dancer. She wears
long, barbarous earrings of lapis lazuli if
her eyes are blue, and of amber, if they are
brown, or of jet or filigree gold or Chinese
jade, according as her coloring is brunette or
strawberry.
"But not the nose ring?" remonstrates a
believer in Occidental civilization.
"Not in the nose, perhaps," replies the
dealer in Oriental jewelry.
From his case filled with wonderful gauds
of gold and amber and amethyst and pearl
he takes out a tray full of filigree gold orna
ments, all of them wonderfully wrought by
the skilful goldsmiths of the East, to whom
time doesn't mean very much money and
who can sit all day In the bazaars working
and gossiping and makins a sale now and
then when times are good and the European
stranger arrives with ready money.
Present Use of Nose Ring.
"This," says the jeweller, "is a piece of the
sort that is very much desired just now.'
He holds up a curious gold ornament which
has been made into a pendant. It is in the
form of a broad, flat crescent, fully an inch
and a half in width and perhaps two inches
and a half across. It is a mass of exquisite
gold filigree.
"The upper bar the one that went
through the nose I have removed," he ex
plains. "This is the ornamental part of the
nose ring. We use them now for pendants.
They are much admired." -
"A barbarous custom," shuddered the
young woman who was looking for amber
beads in t'-e next showcase.
Then the young woman turned a very
lovely head and the dealer smiled, for from
under her auburn locks there depended from
a pearly ear a wonderful amber eardrop.
"Charming, eh?" said the dealer.
The person Kao was looking for informa
tion about Oriental jewelry had to admit
that it was.
"And so," said the dealer, "why should one
criticise the nose ring?"
Although the voyage may have been per
formed quite unconsciously, it was to Egypt
that women of fashion resorted for the
one-sided effects to which they have been
so devoted for evening gowns. The Egyp
tian person, of fashion who first had her
picture taken In a one-sided ball room
frock was a little more daring, ' it is true,
than the Occidental disciple of the - one
sided art of dress- has ever cared to be. Her
gown was extraordinarily diaphanous and it
was cut much lower on one side than even
the frankest fashions would permit in an
opera gown or ball gown of to-day, but
otherwise it was much the same as the one
sided evening frock'. which reached us by
way of Paris chiffon back drapery , and
all. "No doubt Cleopatra Included several
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gowns after this model in her wardrobe. It
was one to have made a decided appeal to
Antony, or any of the rest of them, in fact.
When Mme. Bernhardt visited this coun
try a few years ago her costumes attracted
great attention because of the use she had
made on all of them of a very broad scarf,
which was tied around the hips and knotted
directly in front, the ends falling part way,
if not all the way, to the edge of the skirt.
Mme. Bernhardt is so original in her cos
tuming that she may have evolved the fash
ion from her inner consciousness, but there
is no doubt that the belles of East India had
been wont to set off their charms in a similar
garment for many years. The Indian
woman puts a shawl or piece of drapery
around her body below the, waist, lets it fall
in soft folds to the knees and fastens it up
in front usually by tying it so that the ends
fall free. That is exactly what Occidental,
women have been doing with their most
beautifully" draped gowns in the wake of
Mme. Bernhardt's suggestion.
Models After Nautch Girl's Costume.
Some of the extraordinary new wraps
are made after this model, which was orig
inally designed to set off the charm of an
Indian Nautch girl. The introduction of so
many Oriental designs, the full
ions with philosophy and strike a balance
by shielding ourselves from a critical world
behind the most expensive and dashing new
veils on the market
The women of the Orient have been equally
as generous in their adoption of Western
fashions as our women have In adapting the
Eastern designs to their needs. The Japan
ese women were the first of their sex from
drnpedjtbat side of the world, to take eagerly to
fashions, &c, has caused an amusing con- paris fashions. Well dressed Japanese
fusion between the fashions for the boudoir women of to-day have almost universally
and those meant to be worn in public. Bro- adopted European fashions. In their own
cade and satin, velvet and embroidered homes many of them still cling to their native
silk wraps are very much like the garments draperies, which, however, no longer set them
which are intended for wear over lace under-
slips in the boudoir. As in the case of the
boudoir cap, which was so very like a theatre
cap, and both of which so closely resembled
a fashionable nightcap, one cannot always
apart as belonging to the East. In public,
both for gala occasions and for ordinary wear,
they have exchanged their traditional robes
for those of the West. A number of years
ago a society of women was organized In
be quite sure whether the new draped gown j Japan which had for its object the develop
or wrap which one's friend has just received ment of a style of dress which would be suit
from the modiste Is meant to shine at 'theiable to modern needs, as the classic dress of
opera or to be reserved for the privacy of the Japanese couid scarcely be said to be,
and at the same time so constructed as to
show off to the best advantage the beauty of
Japanese women. The Occidental skirt in Its
ordinary rendition was particularly objected
to by some of the leaders of this organiza
tion, as it was said the Japanese figure fc too
short to look well in a skirt and waist style
of costume. Much was accomplished by this
society, but Its efforts to protect Japan from
the home circle. There are some members
of society who object to this, notably a
group of Cincinnati women, who want to
have a grand investigation of the entire
clothes question and a careful classification
of those suitable for the boudoir and those
suitable for the street , If the government
takes it up and sets experts to work it may
possibly be determined once and for all what
is the actual difference between a kimono the shirt waist and skirt were not successful.
coat and a kimono, one being meant for the
street and one for the dressing room. Until
then we shall have to take our Oriental fash-
The American shirt waist triumphed because
of its practicability even in the land of the
chrysanthemum.
xt
Week
tins
W
Interest
the
Women
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