I The Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page
War jrfap&r " A
LADY DUFF-GORDON, the famous "Lucilc". of London, and fore
most creator of fashion in the world, write each week the fashion
article for this newspaper, presenting all that is newest and htsl
styles for well-dressed women.
Lady Duff-Gordon's Paris establishment brings her into dose touch with
that centre of fashion.
J'
By LADY DUFF-GORDON ("LUCILE")
L'ST what to tell you to wear this
week I can hardly make up roy
mind tn this mixed weather.
I think possibly for an afternoon
the little grey duretyn trimmed with
deeper grey fur answers the purpose
as well aa any. It really Is charm
ing with its little short coat, an'
silver lace underdress with a large
muff and a small bat to match.
Any New York "Bud" should feel
that her American designed dress
was the last thing, la fact to use a
piece of slang I heard in the theatre
the other night "Paris has nothing
ou her."
For this dress was designed In
America for Americans as I expect
to design many more.
And. oh, yes, the new "neck muffs"
and, as they have been christened,
"war plumes." 1 think the "neck
muffs" Interesting and striking and
somewhat charmingly amusing. They
are enormous bands of . fur worn
around the neck. They came In on
the sleeves when they were first
started,, some seasons ago, and the
open necks of to-day are really re
sponsible for the development.
A draped velvet dress worn by a ,
lovely tall young married woman
has one of these muffs of pointed
fox the dress Itself Is a mystery,
suly the wearer herself being able
to tell how on earth it la put on, so
swirled and draped is it and only
possible for a tall woman. The hat
hat a gigantic paradise for Ita only
trlmmlug one of the so-called "war
plumes"
Now for my last little design t
little Belgian workman suit of bot
tle green cord velvet, with a reul
little casquette of the same mate
rial worn with a pink pulled over
the eyes. '
Besides the two large muffs
shown, very sniall ones are also be
ing worn. The little Victorian er
If-
.... )
' : !L -t J
Lady Duff -Gordon
Describes the Two
Newest Fashion
Ideas of the Season
and Some New
Dresses.
some of its scrolls or blossoms. Night blue
and black and silver will be thus brought
together In the lining of a broadtail coat,
while the soft tones of moles-kin will be re
peated In a crepe de chine on which a cob
web tracery Is wrought in gold and silver.
And as to the actual marking of the fur
Itself a band of skunk will, for. Instance,
be fastened closely and cosily about the
neck, and the broadtail will then button
down the centre, above and . beneath a
swathed waistband of black panne, the
sleeves in their turn being finished off at
the wrists with a band of the contract fur.
. . That their armhole
extend to the waist
line Is a detail '
which they share in
common with any
number of other and
more ordinary eoatt,
but, of course, this
arrangement faclll-
tates considerably
the transformation
of sleeves and coat
i? at the 'back into a
$ seamless, etralghtly
I hanging cape, deep
J ly bordered and
f weighted Into po-
f sitlofl. too, by a
J 1
vf
VV. ff
A '
y - uttu
V "Belgian
f Workman"
I Suit
1 1 of
Bottle
V Green
' Cord
Velvet
by
Lucile"
J
a
J
1 ,
1 w
The
Sabre
Plume
Hat
and
New v
Fur
Coat
of
Kolinsky,
Bordered
with
Skunk.
Lucile"
Model.
Draped Velvet Dress with
"Neck Muffs" and
Pointed Fur Muff.
l'Lucile" Model.
mine ones tl our grand and great
grandmothers may be dug out and
used just aa they are, aa also may
the little fur porkple hats of the
aaxue date, but the latter mast be
worn more tilted at the back than
they were in 1830. '
The fur coat at the bottom cor
ner Is of Kolinsky, bordered with
skunk, and the little hat has a Chin
ese suggestion with its high feather
springing from a bright colored tas
sel The plume is not Intended to suggest
the Chinese, however. It Is one of the big
feathers, and because of ita shape has been
christened the "sabre plume" of the "war
plume" family, of course.
To nave a fur wrap entirely and ex
qulsitely different from just the ordinary fur
coat is the smart woman's great ambition
at the moment. And, always supposing that
she be possessed of a goodly amount of
money to spend on the new possession, ber
desire can be quite easily and most fully
realised.
For, though It is late in the season now
for the appearance of new mod el r, some
y different and distinctive way of manipu
lating furs skeins to be managed and dis
closed every day. There Is. to begin with,
the coat, which is not a coat, 'but a very
cleverly contrived combination of coatee
and court mantle. Moleskin, broadtail or a
very fine quality of Itussian pony skin are
the aklna used for such models', a special
suppleness being, of course, a primary con
siderutlou and necessity. And in some
cases a trimming and a contrast of skunk
will be provided, htle the outer black or
"blue" or smoked fox will be the chosen
finish, it having been very wisely decided
In the case of these somewhat extreme but
very graceful styles to keep to subdued
color schemes Inwardly as well as out
werdly, the lining being of some softly pat
terned and subtly shaded crepe de chine,
with, perlmps. a few shimmering threads of
gold or silver Interwoven, here aud thent in
a
band of skunk. Various Mud fasteners are
attached to this drapery, so that It may be
manipulated In several different waya, one
corner, for example, being drawn round to
the front and caught up on the left hip,
while It la also possible end more protec
tive to fasten its folds together all down
the left side.
The more eccentric and careless looking
the effect the more succssful and smart it
will be considered, the one thing to be re
membered and managed being to have one
side of the fur bordering caught up above
the other. ' It would be quite a fatal fault
if the two were Accurately Joined together,
as at one time waa considered necessary
and inevitable.
Another new wrap, modelled on some
what similar lines, is in very fine quality
moleskin, the front part of the coat actually
terminating at the waist, but the much
lengthier back drapery being so contrived
that it can be drawn round and fastened
high up in front in a way which at first
entirely conceals its divided and distinctive
characteristic. And there Is this further
advantage about the novel aoheme, that It '
enables the folds of fur to be evea more
closely drawn inward at the back and up
ward in the front than would he possible if
the coat were made in any other and more
ordinary way. So, for that reason alone,
there would, of course, be a special demand
for the new creations, inasmuch a the new
curve rude people might call it a "bulge'
In front is being cultivated by every woman
and in every possible and Impossible way.
Kir fnini.anv. Crest Ilrtt!n r.arhts nervi
POSITION 1
The Maxlxe Walk.
POSITION 2
The Skating Step.
Do
POSITION 3
Second Skating Step.
the
How to
New Dances
s
No. 7 "The Two in One"
' ;'A..
. Charming
New
"Lucile"
Model
of Gray
Duretyn :
with
Large Muff
and
Small Hal
By Margaret St. Clair
THE Two-lnOne is becoming more and
more popular in ball rooms this sea
son, because it combines the most
attractive figures of both the maxlxe and the
tango, and lb is at the same time very much
easier than either of those dances.
The simplest tond the prettiest steps of
the Argentine tango and the Fartslenne
tango, the Brazilian maxlxe, and the French
POSITION 4 The Single Cortex.
maxlxe have been selected and standardized
by Robert Marks, to form an Americanized
version of all these dances, which he calls .
the "Two-ln-One."
Although the six figures in this dance are
standardized, there is, nevertheless, ample
opportunity for individual expression and in
terpretation in the many combinations and
the different order in which these six fig
ures may be presented. The "Two-ln-One"
is likely to outlive the hesitation, the one
step and the fox trot, because of its being
made up of the two dances that have in
them a true germ of beauty that will not
die out as quickly as those dances that con
tain merely syncopated rhythm.
The figures of the "Two-ln-One" follow in
detail.
Position 1 The Maxlxe Walk.
The gentleman starts In a slow, walking
glide, either backward or forward, beginning
with his right foot, the lady beginning with
her left There is no set count as to how
many walking ateps a' couple take. The
hands are held in the position illustrated, in
order to create a swaying movement of the
body, so essential to graceful dancing.
Position 2 The Skating Step. v
After six or eight walking steps as In
position 1 the gentleman steps half way
back of the lady with his left, taking two
ateps to get into this position.. Both raise
their arms as in position 2, and the pose is
then correct for the skating step. This
step must not be exaggerated for ordinary
ball room dancing. In commencing thte fig
ure the feet must be in the position as shown
tn the illustration, the lady and gentleman
both pointing their left foot forward. '
The count to this figure is 1, 2, 3; or left,
right, left, with a slight dip on the third
count or left toot. One should be careful not
to exaggerate this dip. The second three
counts are taken with the lady and the
gentleman both pointing their right foot
forward, with a slight dip on the third count,
alternating each time until the end of the
strain of music. The count 1, 2, 3; this
time being right, left, right.
Remember that the dip is what gives the
skating effect and hould be executed with
out any jerking. The sway must always be
on the side of the foot on which the dip la
taken.
Position 3 Second Skating Step.
The gentleman steps directly In back of
the lady, both lowering arms, as shown in
picture No. 3, without changing step nsed in
the skating figure described in position 2,
except that the lady and the gentleman both
raise their right foot on the third count
and both dip with the left foot each time on
the third count. Instead of alternating first
right and then left, as in the preceding
figure. Thla third position? completes the
first half of the dance.
Position 4 The Single Cortex.
The lady gets into the position shown la
picture No. 4. by taking a left half turn,
raising her left foot and glancing over her
left shoulder. The gentleman stands on th
balls of his feet, exactly as Illustrated la the
photograph, though, of course, he may oc
casionally drop to his heels if he finds any .
difficulty in maintaining his balance. This
pose is particularly interesting, because It
shows the gentleman In the correct pose for
the Argentine tango, and the standardized
tango step is made up of these two.
There are five counts in this figure, which
are taken by the lady alone. First she steps
back, lowering her left foot on the firet
count, at the same time shifting her weight
to the left, then on the second count, she
points her right foot backward, where she
holds some for two counts, and then brings
the right foot forward on the fifth count, at
the same time raising the left foot, as shown ,
in the Illustration above, which brings ber
back to her original position. The beauty
of this step depends almost entirely upon
the body movements of the lady. It is quite
essential that she pause a second or two on
the fifth count, which terminates the figure, 1
each time.
Position 5 The Slide Step. -
Both the lady and the gentleman start
with one foot raised, the gentleman' raising
his left, and the lady her right. For sliding
steps are then taken to the side, the gentle
man leading, of course, neither lady nor
gentleman raising the feet from the floor
until the fifth count, when the man raises
ilk
POSITION 5 The Slide "Step.
the left foot and the lady raises the right.
This figure can be reversed by taking an
ordinary two-step for three counts, and then
varying by changing to the opposite foot.
In taking the side steps, the lady and the
gentleman should be very careful to keep
their feet directly opposite each other every
time they slide.
Position 6 The Double Cortex.
This Is done to 1, 2, 3 count. The lady
gets into this position by taking a half turn,
immediately placing her right arm at waist
line and extending the left arm forward. The
gentleman clasps her bands as she place
them there. Both must start with the right
foot raised a short distance from the floor,
then immediately bringing right foot for
ward for three counts aud left foot back for
three counts, raising the right foot each
time that they come back.'
This step can be done either forward and
backward, or in a circle. This Utter gives a
most charming effect. At the finish of this
figure the lady makes a quick turn and com
pletes the dance by a single Cortez, such as
has been already described above In pic
ture No. 4.
This Cortez may end the dance, or; may
simply end the figure, after which any of
the other figures already mentioned can be
repeated as often as desired, and In almost
any order.
POSITION The Double Certex,'i