COME AT LAST!

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1085, 25 March 1911, Page 11

COME AT LAST!

THE ADVENT OF THE HAREM - SKIRT. To think that such an innocent tiling as a skirt should have caused all the crowding and commotion that took place 'in front of the D.I.C. yesterday aftei> noon! A boxing match in tho open, or a second-ballot Parliamentary candidate, could hardly have attracted a greater crowd of men —all eager to soc what this new and so-much-talkcd-of invasion of their sacred rights could bo like. Some timo before three, peoplo began to gather in the street, and special spots were chosen with a careful eyo to the advantages given by height in the way of doorsteps, window ledges, and windows. Rounding a corner a few minutes before three, tivo men passed, walking along the street, when suddenly one began to run. "What's up, Bill?" "Why, the harem skirt, of course.

And then the other man began to run, without losing a moment, such was thoir anxiety to see the famous garment. , Nor were they the only ones running. By three tho greatest part of Panama Street was crowded, and, when the. screens in the window were drawn aside, the scramble to get anywhere near tho window in which the model was to be seen was like a football scrimmage, or getting into a theatro when a very popular piece is being performed —reaily one and the same kind of thing when all is said and done. Of course, such a crowd could not be without its gua^tira'ii ,f ''plife?m'an;' equally, tho latter had to be where it was thickest, to watch over its safety and behaviour—within, the vicinity of the window. Where duty calls the man in blue responds gallantly, eagerly, to the summons, and even the most imperturbable dignity is not proof against the fame of tho harem skirt. It was really astonishing to think that a vagary of fashion should have been Tcsponsiole for tho gathering together of so large a number of people. From office, shop, the street, and the liomo they all turned out, and, strange to say, men (vero in the majority. The small boy, of course, was everywhere, swarming up verandah posts, window-ledges, and anything that offered height. . It was quite possible, however, that the most interested spectators present were four or hv6 China-noil, who managed to get somewhere up to the front, and whose faces, for once, had lost thenlook of stolidity. Probably they thought that these white people were getting madder than ever and wondered why j they were so anxiou? "to follow after the Eastern fashions—without their grace j fciid beauty. . I So much had been heard of tins costume lhat all kinds of things were exacted, and, in the end, what met the eyes was a verv very simple vision. A model appeared in the windo.v wearing a tunic dress of dove grey cloth, the kimino sleeves, and tne i of the tunic, pointed bflck unci front, being bordered with blue and cold Oriental insertion, and finished with lassels. A cape came over tho shoulders, and ended in a point at the waist, while the skirt reached to within sixer even inches of tho ground, revealing a most modest glimpse o very full trousers caught in at the ankle, and a liair of high-heeled patent leather shoes —a very'important adjunct of tho costU"viieii standing still no olio would have known that it was otherwise than the ordinary skirt, and, even when walking, there. was nothing to stand . aghast at.-■ So. much., for the harem skirt-modesty itself compared to some of the creations that have been boldlj parading the streets of the city loi the past- few month jl