The Crinoline

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21326, 29 October 1932, Page 6 (Supplement)

The Crinoline

MENACING REVIVALS THE PERILS OF FASHION BY AMOBY STRATTON Recent illustrations in overseas journals of 6ome pf the ensembles • worn at Ascot and other fashionable functions send our minds ranging over other illustrations o;f the modes of 30, 40, 50, and even 60 years ago. These recent creations, in theit appalling kinship to styles in vogue in tHfe imrggdiate;- post-crinoline . period, awaken a lively-dread of other possible 'terrors which the arbiters of fashion may have in store for us. To turn the pages of fashion books for the last 70 or 80 years, and to observe .the tendency pf fashion toward full circle, sets us thinking. Some of the latest ultrastylish modes bear a remarkable likeness to the unlovely robings prevalent in the mid-years of last century. , Is it Possible? Supposing crinoline, in its turn, came back again—how much would come back with it ? How much would have to go ? Would/ woman, when she exchanged her scanty skirt for the inflated one of 70 or 80 years ago, with its yards and yards of material, exchange the modern stride for the movements of a swan ? Would she lay down the tennis racquet and the hockev stick.and take up the croquet mallet? Imagine her working in a kitchenette! If she used tramcars the doors at least, would have to be enlarged! She couldn't push her way through a crowd. In the'"fifties" and "sixties" of last century, on the rare occasions when women were caught in a crush, sets of crinoline were afterwards found among the wreckage on the streets. In that dress there Could be no rubbing of shoulders. Wherever she went the lady of the crinoline claimed a little island space of her own. This may account for a certain inaccessible air she had. ' The Crinoline Age Except in outward formalities, however, I doubt if she was more difficult of approach than her grand-daughters and her great grand-daughters. Much of her time was occupied with her " beaux," as she called them. And one of her quarrels with our modern ways would be that beaux have become of so little consequence or are treated so She would wonder what is the matter with girls nowadays. In her time, to be without a bevy of formally attentive admirers was less a misfortune than a fault; want of beauty-wras not eveu considered a mitigating circumstance. " Affairs " were conducted in most ornate and formal manner and were the occasions of much nodding of heads, twittering of tongues, and flutterings of heart. It must be admitted it ■was a manner with -a • distinction all its own. Her flirtations were earned on most circumspectly. Yet occasionally she could venture all the courage of her love in a desperate elopement. Very sedate she was, this lady of the crinoline. Never for a moment solemn,"however. She sang " I'm Captain Jinks of the Howe " with a demure merriment that . went far to rob it of vulgarity. Her laughter comes back across the years as an exceedingly pleasant sound. And she laughed a great deal. Something of the real light-liearted-ress of her generation seems missing from the wdrld now. It has been superseded by a grim will-to-pleasure that can never take its place. Ib is a pleasant time to recall—yet we would not have it back if we could. We do not' want our girls changed—much. We should like, perhaps, to see them borrow a few qf; thefgraces of that other day. We should like to see their faces bv some miracle acquire the smooth impress of its unhurrying leisure and at, the same time retain the look of competent self-reliance that is the stamp of lihese more crowded times. Tyranny of Fashion I try the question on a circle of intelligent friends; " Will crinoline ever come back into fashion again ?" They ajl make the same answer; " I hope not, but if it does I will not wear it!" Perhaps not! Who knows ? How many times have women in conclave debated as to why they wore clothes they didn'i/ like just because everyone else was doing it ? And yet liow meekly they fall into line. There have, been other modes since crinoline that justified revolt. There was the vogue of the " hobble " skirt that imposed on women 1 the mincing trot of the eastern coolie. This, and other fashions have been as ridiculous in their way as crinoline now seems. But women submitted—complainingly, of course, but they submitted. Any woman who boldly defies freakish fashions in the interests of comfort condemns ■ herself to mental misery. Why it should be • misery you will never under- . Btand unless you have known for yourself the e-xpression in the eye of the passer-by which tells you you are an object of curiosity and ridicule —a freak. No train, no restricting tapes can occasion such discomfort to a woman as can that embryonic eye in the back of the head that tells when other heads are turned in passing. For . years the return of crinoline has been periodically announced as a imminent danger—a long, low, rakish craft sighted first above the horizon. Let us hope it is one of the troubles that never come. After all, the apparent circle of fashion may turn out to be only a spiral.