CRINOLINE OR NO CRINOLINE.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume X, Issue 11, 18 March 1893, Page 261

CRINOLINE OR NO CRINOLINE.

® many fair readers of the Graphic are exceedingly interested in the question of the re-Wte-x W vival of the hideous crinoline, one or two interviews held by a representative of the PallMall Budget with several noted London firms will, doubtless, be found worth reading :

The question that is now convulsing the fair sex, not only of the metropolis, but of the world, is—Shall we or shall we not wear crinoline ? No one possessing the smallest modicum of delicacy or tact would think of suggesting that any of the women of the present day ever wore crinoline, for it is known that the ‘ birdcage ’ skirt died an unregretted death about 1863, just thirty years ago. But old prints and old plates which show a fashion that, in spite of all that envy, hatred, malice, and common sense could do, held its own for a dozen years, are still extant. Until quite recently these made men and women laugh. Now they make women contemplative and strike terror to the souls of men. It must be three months ago since Worth whispered in the ear of a favoured customer, ‘Crinoline.’ The shock shook, but did not kill the customer. ‘ A profound secret,’ added Worth with an air of mystery that quadrupled its value. On the following day the magic word was gently breathed by the favoured customer into a half-dozen delicate ears. In this way it Hew from one quarter to another until all Paris talked in hushed tones of the possible advent of crinoline. Then the word crossed the Channel, in the usual wav, by boat. When the Pall Mall representative called at Redfern’s, in New Bond-street, the manager was absent. One of his aids, tall, statuesque, clad in clinging black, lifted two white and shapely hands, and shuddered when I asked if crinoline were soon to come into fashion. ‘ I should hope not,’ she said. • But will it ?’ I persisted. A shrug of the shoulders preceded • Can anyone tell ?’ Then she added, ‘ The rumour is three months old or more.’ ‘Oh, it came from Paris ?’ ‘No ’ (said slowly and distinctly), ‘we do not get all our ideas from Paris. There is a difference between rumour and ideas. We have the models for our spring styles now. The skirts will be much fuller than those now worn ; the fulness will be produced by goring. No, there will be no stiffening in the lining, no matter what the material of the skirt may be. The present style of skirt is very tight. The new skirt will be much fuller. That will be the principal difference. It is possible that the change may be but the thin end of the wedge. I hope not, though. All women hate the idea of crinoline. And think of the poor men in ’buses and cabs?’ Why not think of the poor women ? Because if they adopt the crinoline it will be their own fault.

‘ The old steel wire will not be used during the coming season,’ said the lady manager of Messrs Howell and James, in Regent-street. S. W. ‘John Leech killed that,’ said the manager, under whose wing I had entered the costume department. ‘ How did he do it ?’ I asked.

‘ By his caricatures,’ replied the manager. ‘ Don’t you remember his sketch of the fashionable lady who could not pass a turnstile at the Exhibition of 1851, in spite of the efiorts of two immense attendants to pull her through ? That and other caricatures on the women who wore cnno-

lines of the largest size certainly helped to kill, if it did not kill, the fashion. For a fashion that lacked every element of grace or attractiveness it lasted a long time, and did not die, I think, until 1863.’ * Now, this is the new style of dress,’ said the lady manager, pointing to a headless female form that had a voluptuous bust made of steel wire and a single but shapely wooden leg, which was sunk at the base into a disc of wood or iron. * There,’ pointing to another form of the same description, ‘is the present style. You see how tightly the present style fits the form. You see how much more full is the new style. This dress has nine gores. It bangs straight in a series of folds or flutes. Each gore makes a flute. The flutes are the same in front, back, and sides. Here is another. The shape is not unlike an umbrella. This is cut out of one piece. This can be made only in cloth. Here are but three flutes, and they are behind. The flutes are stiffened with horse-hair. No, not of the kind of which old sofas were upholstered, but of a lighter kind, which is made just for this purpose.’ Gores and flutes, forsooth ! This constant reference to bulls and musical instruments troubled my wits, but I determined to push on. ‘ Do you consider the new style more attractive than the old ?’

The lady manager lifted her shoulders in a manner almost imperceptible, and said: ‘lt is time for a change. There must be a change. The old style has been in so long that the lady and her maid now dress in exactly the same fashion. The old style required much less material than the nfew. There (pointing to them) are a lot of old-style skirts. Some of them are as low as 30s. It will not be possible to make the new style for such a low price. You must have change, whether for better or worse.' We go back for our bonnets, and we must have dresses to match the bonnets. We are now going back to the time of the first Empire and to 1830. You see (showing a plate) that the skirts in 1830 were fluted. The coming or new style is bnilt upon that and upon the fashion of the Empire, a combination of the two, with such changes as the lapse of time and our present surroundings warrant. The waists of the new style will be short, particularly for evening wear. Here is a plate showing an evening dress of 1830. The waist, you perceive, is just under the arms. English women will not like it, lam afraid ; for they generally have good figures, and it will not show every figure to advantage' The mantles that go with the new style are ’ (showing a number on an exceedingly attractive-looking young woman) ‘ long. They hang gracefully and are fluted like the dresses, whether with or without capes, even to the sleeves.’

‘ Crinoline,’said Mr Alfred Smith, manager of the costume departmental Messis Liberty and Co.’s, Regent-street, ‘ is against all the canons of art and nature. Our idea is to follow the lines of form as far as possible ; never to introduce any diametrically opposed to it. The innovation of ample draperies is consistent with our ideas and hygienic requirements. Fashion nearly always jumps from one extreme to another. The present style is frightfully tight, to tight that many ladies dislike wearing it. The new style is voluminous in comparison. The new style may not be so our taste, but if any of our customers want it they will be supplied. We have, as it were, two departments—in one

we stick to our own tenets ; in another we keep pace with the prevailing fashion. Still, we woold be sorry to see one of our garments—the style for which we are known everywhere—extended by crinoline. Ido not think crinoline will come into fashion here. The rational among our ladies will never adopt the birdcage. The faddists may have a try at it, but I cannot believe that such a style will come into general fashion. ‘ But if all the dressmakers are against it, how can crinoline come into fashion ?’

‘lf crinoline be worn it will probably be worn first in Paris. Some woman of social position who is anxious to obtain notoriety may adopt it. If she have any sort of a following her example will be followed, to w hat extent it is impossible to say. But I do not believe it will meet with favour here. Nowadays many of our ladies have distinct styles of costume. They believe in individuality. They find something which is satisfactory, and they wear it in spite of the prevailing fashion. Once they would have been hooted at in the streets because they were not dressed in the prevailing fashion. None of these of whom I speak wears anythingthatcallsformarkedattention. None of them, I feel almost certain, would wear crinoline. Our special styles are based on the Greek, for we have traced the various styles back to the Greek. The new style, speaking of the fashion that will be generally adopted, partakes both of the first Empire and of 1830. There is a plate of a gown worn during the first Republic. It has a curious look to modern eyes. There is a plate of the same adapted to suit our times. It makes a nineteenth-century gown in every respect. There is agown of theFirstEmpire.andthereisamodern adaptation (in a plate). In the first plate the bouse dress has little of the beautiful in it. In the adaptation it is not altogether lacking in grace. I think the style based upon that of 1830 will obtain great sway for outside wear. It is not truly artistic, but it has a boldness that is attractive. It has a meaning in it, and is not a senseless fad. Still, the style will give faddists a chance to go back to the birdcage. There must be more defined colours this season. Shots and stripes will be in fashion, as well as thoroughly defined shades of all kinds ; but save us from the birdcage !’ As the result of the foregoing and other interviews, the impression made upon the Pall Mall representative is that dressmakers have a horror of crinoline, yet are afraid that, in spite of all opposition, it will creep, or perhaps jump,, into fashion. They are, generally speaking, in favour of the new style on account of its fulness. As one costumier explained, ‘lt wdll be better for trade.’ That means that it will require more material to make a dress next spring than it did last spring. To this they see no reasonable ground for objection, but to the introduction of crinoline they do object. They consider it not only inartistic, but hideous.