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By Lady Duff-Gordon
1ATS, hats, "everywhere, but
bo fow or them I feel llko
wearing! A morning walk
on 'the, boulevards, In tbli
lovely Spring weather, brings out nl
moat as many hats as people
Tbcro aro the shlnyjLlterct bats In
black, bluo, green and yellow,' there
aro tuscans. leghornsVand mllans.
Thero are plain straws and twisted
straws and flowers! Yo gods' It Is
Impossible to supply tho demand.
So Impressed huvo I been with
these last , minute hats that I so
loetod four, at random,' to send to
you. Two otf them are by Lewis,
and tho other two by Amello. You
see that tho trimming either stands
up fa 'foot or more, or else hangs
down-from ),tho under side of the
brim. It is an up and down season,
you "see.
By way of contrast 1 am sending
youa: Rodfcrn costumo which up
poals.very greatly to mo. Tho linos
aro gracious and matronly, and tho
draping Is particularly effective.
And now I am going to say "I told
Last Minute fahiorir
on the BoulevarcLr
Defers bed by
Lady Duff-Gordon.
f ADY DUFF-CORDON the lamou "Lu-
, cile" ot London, and (oremoit creator of
fashion in the world, writes each week the
fashion article for thu newipapex, presenting all
that it newest and belt in aty lea for well-dressed
women
Lady Duff-Cordon s Parts establishment bring
her into eiosr touch with that center of fashion
Red fens Evening
Gown of Black
Satin Draped
Statuesque Lines.
you so'" again I simply can't help
It. and. roally. under these particular
circumstances. It Is not nearly so
odious a remark, as It can be and
generally Is! For the happening I
foretold Is iuch n pleasant ono that
you should all be glntl It tins thus
"enrae truo." and that the coats you
nro going to wear In the Spring will
flaro outward In the mnnner already
rando familiar by the "lamp-shade"
tunic, and In this wuy, also, proved
to bo wtont becoming.
Only the new style of silhouette
will be still more striking, because
the coats will be much longer than
the tunics, and their fabrics, too. so
much more substantial. Moreox-cr,
rhey will frequently and. Indeed,
generally bo deeply bordered and
weighted with fur. and. altogether,
win give their wearers a most Im
posing appearance and wldtb to
the knees, that is'
But after that they " will taper
swny to a mere nothing, or 6hould
do so. If nature has been kind Instead
of pencmus In the matter of ankle
measurements! Certainly there will
not bo n superfluous half Inch of
fabric, so far as tho 6klrts aro
coucerned, these being cut In a way
which pays the Battery of closest
Imitation to tho "peg-top' trousers,
whose perpetuation, In our memory,
has hitherto been confined to old
time prints and publications.
Some of these coats will be a
permanent part of tho one costume,
while others will be in the nature f
a wrap, which can be worn with
various gowns. Such a coat I made
qulto recently tor stage wear with a
ckarmeuse gown In one of those
"queer" shades of blue which I love
to use, and Its material was black
satin, with very broad borderings of
snow-white fox fur.
Which reminds me to warn you.
however, that If you have any Idea of
choosing this same black satin for
ono of your new wraps you must
needs bo absolutely sure of the skill
of tho maker, for it Is a material
which can be so easily, and fatally.
Why Some Women of Refinement Are Acting Like Barbarians
An Interesting Psychological Analysis
by G. K. Chesterton of the Mur
derous Mme. Caillaux and the
Wanton Acts of the Suffragists.
By G. K. Chesterton, the Famous English Essayist.
IF.ono.wrote.a.thousand books about tho
matter.'one could 'notmaWa plainer
picture of I tho difference botween the
English temperament and tho French tem
perament In practical' politics than by com
paring tho two outrages that have, recently
been dono by prominent and educated
women.
An English lady comes slncbroly to the
conclusion that It would bo good for her
body and soul to have a vote, which means
the thousandth fraction of a lawyor on the
mako, who will always do what his party
leaders toll htm. and somotlmos what his
party opponents tell him but never, under
any earthly circumstances, what she . tells
fairri.
Very well. What does she do thon She
thoughtfully . betakes herself to a picture
gallery, and 'walks round it until she has
elected ttio picture which has tho least
possible connection with the buslnoss in
hand a very dubious Velasquez 'which. If It
is in honor of anything, Is presumably in
honor of tho beauty of her sex. She carefully
slices It about with a chopper without do
ing it irreparable Injury.
To my simple masculine mind the connec
tion of ideas is not clear.
Not long alter this occasion, the wife ot a
French politician comes to the conclusion
that her husband is being slandered by a
Journalist. But, strange to relate, she does
not go to the Louvre and Ore bullets at the
Venus of Mllo, Twhich would seem the more
natural course. On the contrary, she goes
.to the Journalist's office and fires bullots at
the Journalist.
This is certainly a much "more wicked
thing to do; but I cannot conceal from my
self that it Is also much more Intelligible.
It is not very sensible, of course, because
it has really sounded a trumpet for the tri
umph of her political enemies Just as the
murder of SL Thomas of Canterbury was
instantly followed by the victory of the
'Church and the humiliation of the King.
Bui I can trace that connection of Ideas in
this case which entirely escape me In the
other.
And though both these unfortunate ladles
were probably, hysterical and -desperate, and
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my own instinct would be
to doal lenlontly with them,
yet in the French case one
can ' see. i through all its
distortion of derangement
and criminality, a curious
kind of crooked shadow of
the political genius of
France.
But the point I wish to
raise. here is quite apart
tromttbe horror and dls- tenon by
tress of this particular crime. There is ono
peculiarity which, both offenders have in
common, and which seems to me to go very
deop into the strange squabble of the sexes
that has arisen In our time.
Now the real poison and perl) In 'that
squabble Is not in aqy mero anarchy arising
out of It. - It is not that people break win
dows, still leas that they attempt to vivisect
tho Rokeby "Venus." I think It rathor
healthy for tho respectable classes to have
their windows broken at proper historical
Intervals, and as for the Rokeby "Venus."
had 1 not attached some Importance to self
control. 1 might bavo put my boot through
It long ago
No; the vital evil is this, that the sexes,
like any other two parties to a business,
may got themselves Into eucb an attltudo to
each other that neither can respect the
other Everything and everybody has Its
weak side and Its strong side; and this Suf
fragette business means the woman always
turning her weak lde to tho man, and the
man, In cousequenco, turning bis weak side
to the woman.
Very broadly, the woak fide of tho woman
is unreasonableness, and the weak side of
the man is brutality, and not a few signs
of it are beginning to show thomselves.
If I make myself clear, the one sex cannot
get round to the right side of the other.
It is maddening to watch. It is like
watching somebody trying to Join a hook
and eye. each ot them held tho wrong way
round. It is like watching a drunkard try
ing to find the keyhole with the wrong end
of the key.
Now there are certain perfectly definite
oddities or. limitations which are more com
mon In women. Just as
tho.ro are others which aro
more common In men. And
If a man nover appeared
to a woman except when
he was drunk, and a wom
an nevor appeared to a
man excopt when sho was
In hysterics, what some,
call the comradoship of
tho sexes would scarcely
be advanced. And tho two
political women of whom
1 have spokon both ex
hibit a trait which would
probably bo exhibited by
the best and wisest woman
In tho world if she stood
In this unlucky attitude
toward accidental circum
stances. Frankly, the trait is this
that tho things the Suf
fracettos do are not half
A. Ctever Casieattsre of G. JC Che. n sillv na thn thtntrs the
" say. And tho reason for tho
silliness In the things thoy say Is not in the
least that they aro sillier than other people,
or that women are sillier than men ('which
they certainly are not), tho reason 1b that
they do not care what they say.
Thoy are full of the practical feraalo glow
of having done something; and the explana
tion they givo is simply anything that comes
into their heads.
Tho lady who gave the "Venus" a good
hard knock said afterward that she had
soloctod it as tho most beautiful woman In
mythology, and aa a parallel to Mrs. Pank
hurst, who was tho most beautiful charactor
In modern history. The logical deduction
of which, as It present sltsolf to mo, is that
sho ehould- take a chopper and give Mrs.
Pankhurst a good hard knock, slnco that Is
her symbolic way of saluting female excel
lence But I do not believe for a moment that
the lady bad any such theoretic reason bo
foro she performed the practical action. 1
think It waa an afterthought And by this
1 do not mean in tho least that sho Is not
serious about tho Justice of the vote. I
moan that sho is not what I should call
eerlouo about the Justice of the Word the
spoken utterance, declaration or definition.
So long as she is right, she doesn't think
It much matters what she says. And
this Is not a proof of silliness; It is simply
a bias of sex.
Now it is the curious fact that the un
happy woman in Paris, who went much more
directly about her business In the practical
sense, exhibited very much the same weird
frivolity about it afterward. She appears to
have said that sho didn't shoot at M Cal
mette to kill him, but to "give him a lesson."
dowdy, though Its possl
btlitles in the other di
rection of special smart
ness aro equally great.
Only It must be cut
and trimmed in Just ex
actly tho right way.
Indeed, it Is Just be
causo of Its difficulties
and its possibilities
that I make frequent
use of It and chose it for another1
coat which Is being worn by a very
strikingly handsomo and graceful
actress In London's latest revue.
It makes a background in this caso
for a daring devlco in ivory white
lace, gold broidery, and all its
fulness is deeply bordered with
sable, this same fur of furs (ami
roally It Is as supremely beautiful
as It Is costly!) finishing the wide
sleeves and forming the collar, which
is laid stralghtly across the back.
And then the lining comes as a great
and glorious surprise, for its satin
is of that vivid and weird shade of
turquoise blue which is bo closely
akin to green that Its Inspiration
must needs have been an emerald
seen through the blue ot a Mediter
ranean sen which mirrored the rival
blue of the sky.
This same color was repeated In
the velvet brim lining of tho black
nat. a orim wnich turned sharply
at one side, while from behind
sholter thero sprang up
ward and outward a superb
white aigrette, centred
with a veritable bush of
black fronds. And the
dress Itself was of yellow
satin as to the skirt, while
flesh-colored chiffon and
soft brown net, with a
touch of fur. fashioned the
long-sleeved corsage, and
at tho waist there were
swathlngs of satin In emer
ald green, turquoise blue,
black, white and orange.
Now, can you imagine
something ot the result
ing effect and sensation?
She may bo telling tho exact truth for all
l know, but itjs a logical position which
cannot unravel. It seems to mo strange to
suppose that a gentleman who iias a lot to
say against you would bo more Inclined to
lot you off after you had tried to murder him
and failed. It also soomB to me to imply
considerable confidence in your own marks
manship to' suppose that you could exactly
regulato tho extent of tho lesson conducted
by emptying five barrels of a revolver Into
a man's back.
Was It perhaps a lesson In marksmanship?
And tho moral of all this is not in the
least that women are Incapable of common
sense, but simply that wo have not enough
common-son3o to give thom a real chance
of expressing it Women ought to be doc
tors; but women were doctors in the Middle
ages. Women ought to alt on Juries Ip cer
tain cases; but in thoso cases thoy sat on
Juries in tho Middle Ages. Women ought
to bo queens, but they were queens in the
Middle Ages.
The reason why some hesitation has been
felt about their adopting some other pro
fessions and practices will generally. I think,
be found to work back to a dark subcon
scious doubt In the malo mind about whether
those practices aro quite unlmpeachably
honorable. Tho eoldler is right to kill; but
killing is rathor boaatly. The barrister is
right to cross-examine; but cross-examining
Is much more beastly.
What I suggest Is the strange fancy that
our forefathers were not all fools, and that
it is worth while to consider seriously
whether their traditions did not generally
follow the trackB of buman Instinct and
experience.
And tho primary Instinct Is to avoid the
occasion when people appear at their worst.
If a Frenchman and an Englishman want
ed to settle something, it might be wise (or
tho Englishman to make an appointment on
Shakespeare's Cliff, overhanging the sea al
Dover, or It might even be wise for tbe
Frenchman to make an appointment tn the
old town of Calais, for which the burghers
dared so much and which Mary Tudor bad
written on her heart- But I really do not
advise the Frenchman and the Englishman
to settle their differences on tbe boat be
tween Dover and Calais on a rather stormy
day Neither could be certain of the preser
vation of that dignity which is a consider
able part of diplomacy
It Is not really a spiritual degradation to
be seasick, nor is It a spiritual degradation
to bo hysterica).
But there is a very real blunder In people
putting themselves Into these repulsive and
Impossible attitudes when they are trying to
persuade somebody else that they are right.
And the modem quarrel between tbe sexes
is really a misunderstanding of this sort.
Girlish H'' Bu"" t
Black Crinoline Beat .S 11 fel
Hat. with High Blaclr S
'4s !".;& - 'Ik!!
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