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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 19, 1911)
The Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page . a t w K. la 6 J IK 1 cti Copyright. 1011. by American-Examiner Great BritaJn Rights Reserved. r wnarefJEf Wffc ' - a . ax . in ' y. c jfTnev . .4 in mm. 1 u. " Tie 0 Exaggera tiona gamble Off Fashion, by Lady Duff' Gordon with Gaby Deslys as the Model V ADY DUFF-GORDON, the famous "Lucile" of London, and fore most creator of fashions in the world, writes each week the fashion article for this newspaper, presenting all that is newest and best in styles for well-dressed women. Lady Duff-Gordon's new Paris establishment brings her into close touch with that centre of fashion. Lady Duff-Gordon's American establishment is at No. 1 7 West Thirty sixth street. New York City. 1 vj-,n,-r, w I m w - it- .. -- .v.-K. 1 1 1 I t I I A. ft- drpss arp more durlnp. Just as her actions, hor words, are accentuated, no must the linos of her drciws be accentuated, exaggerated. When eli Is off stage a part of that life of hers clings to our Imaginations. Wo see her always m-re of the actress, less of the woman And so she Is wise to harmonize with this visuali zation of ours nnd still accentuate her dress, even though she be driv ing along the Bols, the Mall or the Avenue. Here are three pictures of Gaby of the Lilies. Gaby knows that pearls are harmonious with her beauty, that they express her. It Is nn exaggeration for a woman to hold up strands of pearls and peer through them as she Is doing. In most women tt would be bad taste. But Gaby is an actress and can do this t v r :S fir s.r v , t . i .V mil 1 Terli ezpreat her. ThU action, though exaggerated, U artistic and aelf revelant." lady Duff-Gordon Says: Th wheel of eorrow are turned by foole. For a woman to be stupid in dress is always criminal.- Luck Is only a. perfect harmony with life. Dare to be individual but beware eccentricity. If you have a charm UNDERSCORE it the world is singularly unobservant Don't put your soul in a uniform. Don't be stupid. By Lady Duff-Gordon ("Luclle") THERE U a fine art of exag geration la dress Just aa there la a fine art of exaggeration In painting. In literature and even In conduct. It Is the trick of bring ing out the high lights. The high light are . more or less the inter esting things of life. Exaggeration In conduct, when It la artfully or Interestingly don, we call Individuality; when It Is somewhat extreme or somewhat un pleasant we call It eccentricity : when It is carried to exeeus or doeaa't fit the person essaying It It is Just very, very unpleasant. Exactly the same . rule applies to dress. like every other thing In life con cerned with tte blgn lights, exag geration must be skilfully and thoughtfully done to be effective. Aa an arlstocratlo taste it runs its dangers. Done un skilfully or stupidly It is worse than ineffective. It Is Just stupid. Nothing In the world is worse than stupidity, nothing! It Is stupidity that causes so many divorces. The wheels of sor row are turned by fools. Stupidity, not Fate, causes most of the failures I11 this world. And It is stupidity that causes so many women to dress o badly. Women even less than anen can afford to tm stupid. 1 have often beard women say disparagingly: "Why, she dresses like an actress!" And I have heard perfectly estimable women, both in America and England, exclaim: "Why do actresses dress as they do!" I would like to tnswer both these exclamations. And so. while this artlcl will be a btt off the usual fashion article, in reality It will dent with one of the very causes of fash ton, and 1 really feel it should be written. Women are of four sort a There are the few who really know them selves and who know how to dress so as to brlug out very good point and obscure each bad one. There are the many who want to dress well and who gratefully place themselves In the hands of those who really know how to dress them. There are the Immensely many more who follow like sheep the prevailing mode whether It suits thecs or not. And there la the r:J ft- J !' f . f ' -A" . "-'V J ;J .A I V' "The feathers are soft, clinging;, luxurious and dainty. So is Gaby. c m 1. -.- - . see all women dress ed in one plain, undlstinctive garb. These are the ladles of the uniformed souls. Now, actresses, al most always exag gerate in their gowns. In Paris what is called tho fashion is set by about twenty act resses. Monna Delza, the beauty who is destined to take the place of I.antelme of the tragic death Is one. I have just dressed Monna Delza, and soon I hope to show you Gaby Deslys as another The Parlslenne goes to the theatre as she goes to a house of fashions. She studies, she criti cizes, she analyzes. She sees the gowns In move ment She picks what she wants, modifies what is not har monious to her, adapts the nplrit of the gown she sees to her needs. And that Is right. If she slavishly copies then that is stupid. Now on the stage a woman moves In a strong light. It Is all high lights. The glare of the footlights, the rays from the wings all beat on her. And In front are many eyes concentrated upon ber. No actress could go upon the stage without makeup. The lips must be redder, the cheeks rouged, the eyes darkened, the arms and neck whitened. Similarly the voice Is raised above the ordinary pitch, movements are accentuated. The very action of the pluy Is an exaggeration. Life In it is under scored, emphasized. The unessen tial, the laborious leadings up to the great movements are subordi nated or left out. It is the old, rumbling three-decked novel of our childhood condensed Into the short story. It should have In every bit of It what one of your American news papermen told me I ought to get In every dress. lie called It "the k" S JKr $ . ; - ( tt V - ''- -i" punch." As I Interpret It, "the punch' should be ulck, without too much preliminary, and not to pun striking from the start. "The punch," as I see It, Is an artistic ex aggeration of the push. "The punch," lie told me, Is always "the punch," and always effective In pro portion of Its force. The punch la in its essence dramatic. A series of good punches make u; a push that cannot be withstood as long as the punches are cap able. Napoleon, ho told me, was a puncher. The result of Napoleon's punches was the push of the Kmplre. All grea' men havo had "the pancn. it is behind eery great movement. Life Is "a push." The stage Is n "punch." Just as the strong points of life have to be exaggerated for presentation on the stage, to an actress has to dress her strong points to accentuate them. Just as her eyes, her cheeks, her Hps are made brighter than nature makes them, so the combinations of color in her ,1 I n 'Here Gaoy's simplicity is accentuated by her costume." naturally. See how in this cleverly posed picture the gems and the w oman harmonize! The exaggerated Delicious Ways of Cooking Mushrooms A .JON b.l ho, class who In their "The piquancy of Delza it emphasized by this point heart would like to ' arrangement in her gown and hat. Dy A.. F.siroff ler. MONO the many improvements that I ilieve could be made In American housekeeping would be an Increased use ef mushrooms, especially of the many ex cellent kinds that are now entirely neglected. I am Informed that a group of enthusiasts In Boston have devoted themselves to the pur suit of hunting up and popularizing the leas known edible varieties of mushrooms. Their work seems to me worthy of all praise. An Increased appreciation of mushrooms should lead to Increased cultivation and lower prices. In Francs probably one of the most deli clous of all mushrooms Is the "morllle," or "morel," as It is called in English. I am In formed that this Is found In the United States, but that the native product Is rarely If at all used. Preserved morels or "morllle" bottled In France may, however, be obtained In New They may be placed In bottles and preserved during the rest of the year for use at any time. Morels thus preserved may be served with white or dark sauce. They are excellent when served "a la creme," "au gratin" or "a la Bechamel." Chicken Saute with Morels and Truffles a la Creme. CUT the chicken up and place In a saute Ing dish. Add a pinch of salt and pepper Place on a slow fire until it takea a golden color. At this moment add a small glass of white wine. When the wine has been somewhat boiled down, add the pre pared morels and a truffle, chopped tine. Complete with a large glass of good, fresh cream. Allow it to simmer ten to twelve minutes and serve very hot. -No. 8 ol "The Fine Art of French Cooklnt" By A. Escoffler. the Greatest French Chel After having washed the mushrooms, dried and chopped them In large slices, and sea soned them with salt and pepper, toss them with butter In a frying pan over a fierce fire. Sprinkle them with chopped parsley at the last moment If It Is desired to present them In a very elegant manner at the table, they may be served In a timbale. A' York and other large cities. It Is only for a short time In the Spring Atords (or MushrOOms) S lllte that the morels appear In France. We take , . . . care to gather all we can during their brief stay. There are two kinds of morels, white and black. The latter have the better flavor. Their preparation requires considerable care on account of the earth which Is gen erally found In their crevices. It Is nece. sary that each morel, large or small, should be cut In two In order to mans sure mat the centre Is sound and contains no foreign sub stance. The favorite way of preparing morels Is as follows: After cleansing plunge them sev eral timts Into cold water and drain them on a clean cloth. Melt In a casserols sauce pan an ounce of butter for every pound of morels. Put ths morels In the saucepan witn a pinch of salt and pepper and a little lemon Juice. Cover the saucepan and place on the fire. Allow It to cook ten to twelve minutes. At this point the morels are cooked. FTEH having thoroughly washed the morels, dry them well In a cloth and halve or quarter them according to their size. 8eaton them well with salt and pepper and aute them with butter In an omelet pan over a sufficiently fierce fire to avoid the ex udation of tfcalr vegetable moisture. Dish them In a timbale. 8queeze a few drops of lemon juice over them and sprinkle them with chopped parsley. Grilled Mushrooms. T.KE seme large meadow mushrooms. Carefully peel them, season them well. Smear them well with French olive oil by means of a brush and grill them gently. Set them on a round dish and garnish them In the middle with well-softened maitre d'hotel butter. Maitre d'hotel butter Is prepared as fol lows: Mix until perfectly combined four ounces of butter and three ounces of sifted flour. Soften Into a cream. Add a table spoonful of chopped parsley, a little salt and pepper and a few dropa of lemon Juice. SELI Z Aushrooms Saute. E following Is a simpler and more economical way of sauteing mush rooms tnan the previous one, and will probably be more generally chosen for use in the average home: THI : Stuffed Mushrooms Au Gratin. ELECT some fine medium-sized mush rooms. Remove stalks; wash them md dry well Set them on a dish: season them; sprinkle them with a few drops of French olive oil; put them in the oven for five minutes. Then sprinkle the surface with fine cheese raspings and a few drops of oil or melted butter and set the gratin (I. e., the crisp crust that forms from cheese raspings) to form In a hot oven. action colls attention to the har mony. The pearls are only an ad junct, but they strengthen her. And so another woman not or the stage, but to whom pearls are n per sonal expression, should study a modified accentuation of them, either in their arrangement or their shape, and get their full value. That is what I call artistic exaggeration. Again, note the picture with the 1 feather muff and wraps. There seems to be n very great HeaJ of feathers and very little of Gaby. It Is an exaggeration. Yet the whole effect Is to bring out the esseutial charms of her. They frame. Inter pret and suggest. The feathers are soft and clinging and luxurious and dainty. All of these attributes they suggest and each of these attributes are Gaby's. "This is I." says ths piquant face of Gaby. "What?" asks the imagi nation. Answer the feath ers: "We. Soft, clinging, luxurious, dainty." Do yon see? That Is the process. "Why, of course." answers the imagination. "That Is Just what she should wear." It is the personal expres sion, you see. The wraps are not simply something to put on. They express the wearer. And eo another woman might study her charms and adapt this fea ture to herself. Always re membering that she is of the outside life, and that about her does not cling Ihe Idea or the footlights, and so her exageration .oust not be eo great . In this picture of Gaby In the simple little dress it. too, is artfully exaggerated. The simplicity that is. one of the charms of Gaby Is underscored. It has the same lesson as the others. Look at this picture of Delza. See how the piqu ancy of her face Is under scored by the arrangement of points in her costnnie; in the lifted skirt. With what I have written surely you can work out Its philos ophy now yourselves and, I hope, learn from It ' Gaby, by the way, does not wear corsets. Her "own model Is one of the "statue" shapes that I originated and cling to and that has since been adopted everywhere. She wears no petticoats at all, using tights to match the costume and to the knees only. In any woman' that is all that is necessary,, and the difference It makes' in a gown is enormous. But to return. Proper ex aggeration on the stage Is art and is necessary. Im proper exaggeration is not art; It is Etupld and it in "unlucky." And it is so or the life off the stage. Let every woman study herself or let herself be studied by someone whom she can trust. She has her good points. They need accentu ation. She has her had points they must be obscured. Let her put her self in harmony with life In Just the same way that the actress puts her self In harmony with that condensa tion and accentuation of life we call the stage. Life Is more or less of a play the same rules bold. The play Is the mirror of life the same rules hold. It is true either way one looks at it Do not copy the actress In her gowns. But study the way the per fectly dressed nctre6S Is gowned master the philosophy of the thing and then put what you have learned In practice. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean at all that actresses are the only well-dressed women. Far from It. But I do mean that every woman should study her charms, her attractions and then should dress so as to bring these charms, these attractions, out In full strength Only dress can do this The well dressed actress is a lesson In bow to dolt Dare to be Individual but beware eccentricity. If you have a charm unders.-ore It the world is singularly unob servant. Don't put your soul in a uniform. Don't slavishly follow "the mode" reat your own "mode." Dont be one of a multitude be one In the multitude. This Is a busy world. No matter how excellent a thins may be It has to be advertised. To a womun u perfectly thought out dress is the best advert iht'meut of her vl-tum. The stage Is a model but model are made for women, not women for nodels. Dou't make a model or 1 mou Into an Idol make your own hlo.s I'se discretion. Don't be stupid.