Life — October 12, 1911 — page 16: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

_-LIFE: Are You Autumning This Year? Octobering and Novembering are Rapidly Going Out—In the Meantime, Life's Fashion Reform League Offers Some New Eloping Styles, and Also Some Modes for Touring Grandmothers—A Critic Answered Sick we began to originate the fashions in this coun- some remarkable changes have taken place. Being no longer subservient to Europe, we are at last beginning to feel the freedom which comes from a sense of one's own power. Spies from Paris continue to invest our head- comms ID\L VEIL FOR ELOPING INGEN quarters, picking up ideas here and there, but most of our employees and customers remain loyal. Here is a letter which is hardly worth answering: Dear Mapam: I notice your claim that you are trying to reorganize fashions of this country and your absurd talk about “America for the Americans,” but I fail to see any evi- dence of it in my daily strolls along some of our principal avenues. Young girls who ought to be home washing dishes are still roaming at large with made-up faces. Other girls somewhat older are trying to make themselves look degenerate as possible—and these two classes, mind you, ¢ the daughters of respectable people, who pride them- selves on being the bulwark of the nation, Better show us evidence that you are doing something to raise our standards of art and beauty, instead of blowing your own horn so much. Yours disdainfully, Our correspondent utterly fails to grasp the fundamental idea about all fashions. A new era has dawned and‘he mis- takes it for degeneracy. He does not understand that in order to attract the men anything is allowable. Besides, we do everything on a scientific basis. Our making-up parlors for young girls of sixteen are, for example, wonderful emporiums where the art of making up is reduced to a veritable scier We unhesitatingly and proudly state that we are the sole originators of the being-bored style, which is now coming in. Of this, flopping, as we have shown, is the first stage. Are you truly bored? Do you show it in your manner? Do you know how to flop in a heap? Are your shoulders sufficiently rounded? Are you willowy enough? We guar- antee to make you tired of all the world and to show it in your manner in a week's time. But fashion is nothing if not erratic, and we have, therefore, as a sharp contrast to this, introduced a dis- tinctly new feature into many of our designs. This is the bouncing innocent love-me-quick girl idea, a sort of mix- ture of shady lanes and downcast eye efiect. For all young ladies affecting this style we can provide some admirable creations. Most of our patrons now wear fringe. Later this will be extended to small awnings. One of our latest eloping costumes for Newporte: a waterproof kimona of watered green silk, with livery buttons and chauffeur edging, metal trousers with train of reporter's velvet, and slippers of Pullman car plush, orna- mented with Cupid's wings hand painted on an azure back- ground. Poke bonnet trimmed with rice leaves, and a gold memorandum book with detachable leaves, from which the bride can ¢ full account of how she left Newport in the dead of night. These costumes are very popular and we cannot keep them in stock; in ordering please send the cash in advance, as our experience has been that it is hard to collect afterwards. Price only eleven thousand dollars. Our fall styles are now practically completed and will be announced from time to time. Meanwhile we call at- tention to the fact that it is not necessary for anyone to visit New York in order to be in the latest mode. We have branches in all of the principal cities and local chap- ters in cvery hamlet. From our immense buildings in Lire Park (formerly Central) we practically command the whole country, One of our latest designs is a grandmother's automo- bile costume prepared for ladies of over eighty who are now engaged in touring the country. This costume is one thousand dollars and we can recommend it as the sportiest thing East of the Rocky Mountains. It is composed of pink suéde, with harem skirts of pea green, gold slippers, gun metal goggles and a fluted night cap made of Irish lace and passamenterie, with willow plumes. No matter how old you are, we can take ten years off your looks at any hour of the day and night. A visit to our buildings or any of our branches in the principal cities will reveal some hitherto unsuspected possibilities. We raise our own ostriches and other birds, and can, therefore, defy the law; besides, we are able practically to control the Legislature, so that all women who are our regular patrons need have no fear of being put into jail just because of what they wear. Any lady who has any trouble with the police has only to show her badge. These will be furnished at the ridicu- lously low figure of one hundred dollars. With these badges you can wear anything Life's Fashion Reform League. comicbooks -com