A DRESS CRUSADE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1247, 2 October 1911, Page 11

A DRESS CRUSADE.

What changes have tho autumn fashions ia store for tho western world? Tho question is already being asked in London and Paris, and, no doubt, in Melbourne. The general expectation is that tho full skirt will be popular once more. Menuwhilo a band of Parisian artists have inaugurated a revolution against, tho dresses which, as thc-y say, "no longer drape tho human body, but hold it up to ridicule." 'J hese artists have arranged a grcnt doll show, in which COO manikins, each half a yard high, will bo set up in rows. Each will be gar'oen in a newly-invented style, e\ery "creation" being invented by a painter, sculptor, or draughtsman. No professional dressmaker will he allowed to ooutribute to tho exhibition. Each costume, we are told, will be "artistic, natural, and in good taste." Certainly, the era of the hobble skirt and its sister barbarisms has already been too long. If a change docs not come soon wo may liavo tho powers that be interfering in the interests of propriciy aiid good taste. Tho Italian newspapers tell us that tho Catholic priest have just received one of their periodical instructions to institute a crusade against the exaggerations of feminino attire'. In the south of Italy the clergy have adopted a novel method for dealing with tho evil. They have recruited bands of small boys, who have been instructed to follow women appearing in the shoots in tight' gowns or transparent blouses, anij hiss them. Surely a novel method of securing feminine dress reforms.