THE CULT OF THE UGLY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19269, 5 September 1924, Page 10

THE CULT OF THE UGLY.

From the revolt against Victorian insipidity Futurism was born. Because of weariness with the drab and dull tints of our homes, jazz colours appeared and flaunted their way into favour. Because of the discomfort of tight waists and long flapping skirts, what is known as “modern dress” is upon us. Futurism in all its early hideousness is now “as a tale that is told ” It served its purpose in shaking us roughly bv the throat and worrying us out of our lethargic acceptance of the “pretty-pretty” in art. and it stimulated our young painters and inspired them with courage to experiment in now directions and along original lines for themselves. .There have been absurdities and oxag-

gerations in the modes of the past—the polonaise, the chignon, the crinoline —but rarely has dress been so persitently and grossly ugly and vulgar as it is to-day. Surely there is a mean between the wasp waist and bunches of blothing and the hideous shapelessness of to-day. Dressmakers talk of “line,” but there is no “line” in a modern gown, shaped like a sack—often without even as much shape as a string tied round the middle would give—with a bald, hard decollptage, unbecoming to all but the very young, and unredeemed by any touch of feminine softness in the shape of a lace or lawn tucker, frill, or berthe!

Surely there are enough people left in toe world to admire the soft curves and, slim waists of true femininity, to make it worth the dressmakers’ while to encourage them? Men, on the whole, would prefer it. By this I mean men of character and experience, whose opinion is the result of thought, not the judgment of unthinking youths who have known no other slyfo than the bean pole outline of toe moment. • From Futurism and Jazz we have very sensibly abstracted for our daily use much that was good and comely, and discarded the extreme. Isn’t it time we did the same with our dress? Anyhow—being a woman, you mustn’t be surpised if my ending *is illogical—if we must wear slim sacks that show every curve that isn’t there, ■ and skirts to our knees, then for goodness sake let us learn what to do with our, hands and our feet, since they are so much in evidence. There is not one woman in 10 can sit down and stand up again gracefully in the average “smart” frock All I ask is a little critical observation at any social gathering—indoors or out. itou will see “line” all right. Extraordinary, perhaps, but not by any wild stretch of the imagination could be considered beautiful.—Eleanor Mathioson, in the Weekly Dispatch.