Wednesday, March 13, 1963 University Daily Kansan
Page 5
Hems Hiked; Corset Era Loosens Up
By Jackie Helstrom
As woman has become more independent, her clothing has become more casual and comfortable.
Gone are the days of tightly-laced
corsets and long, cumbersome skirts.
BUT THE SKIRT HEMLINE has always been a major fashion problem. In the early 1900's, hemlines were worn about an inch from the floor.
WALKING BECAME EASIER when one fashion designer slit the skirts from the bottom of the skirt to about mid-calf.
Those years also added the problem of the more narrow, straight skirt. Women, after wearing bouffant skirts and layers of billowy peti-coats, latched on to the straight skirts and began walking with the hobbling gait of the geisha.
The world was shocked. Bills were introduced into state legislatures, calling for regulations on women's dress. Ministers denounced the imimorality of the new styles. In Richmond, Va., one young woman was arrested for wearing a slit skirt.
Styles which are included in almost every woman's wardrobe today are the suit and shirtwaist dress.
THE SUT SOARED to popularity in England when Queen Victoria first wore the fashion. The vogue spread to America about 1900. The shirtwaist dress, completely an American innovation, has been aplaued by women for its loose, comfortable lines.
In 1918, the skirt and sweater first made fashion headlines. The sleeveless dress was introduced as a tennis dress in 1925, but the style became so popular that it was being worn on the street two years later.
And in 1935, one designer revolutionized the fashion world: Schiaparelli first used the zipper.
Few Coeds Buy Real Hair Wigs
The real-hair wig seems to have hv-passed KU.
Beauty shop proprietors said only two or three wigs have been sold for the past season. One coed buyer was among the sales.
Some of the beauty shop proprietors think fashion wigs will be more popular next season. One beauty shop owner said she thought wigs would come into the foreground because bleaching and tinting has forced women into wearing them.
"IT IS MORE convenient to slip on a wig than to wash your hair. Some women do it just for kicks," she said.
Another shop owner said women are not interested in buying wigs because of their expense. Human hair wigs range from $175 to $600 in cost, depending on whether the wigs are hand-styled or machine-styled.
"I expect there will be more call for wigs this summer as women will want something to cover up wet and sun-dryed hair," one beautician commented.
Another beauty shop operator said she thought wigs would never catch on in Lawrence to the extent they have in Paris and New York. She said cost and the midwesterner's fear of dramatic change were reasons for her prediction.
The wigs Jacqueline Kennedy and her sister-in-law Ethel Kennedy are wearing are made of real-hair. Real hair wigs can be washed and styled just as any head of hair. Another variety of fashion wigs made out of synthetic fibers sell for as little as $5.95 in area department stores. These wigs cannot be dressed as real hair and the colors are difficult to match.
Swagger Purse Has Pockets
The theory behind the newest fad in handbags — the swagger purse with outside pockets — is that money can be reached faster when kept in an outside pocket.
NEW YORK (UPI) — Some coifures for spring and summer are going to the dogs.
Spring Coiffures Going to the Dogs
So reports Julius Caruso, New York hair stylist.
Caruso, whose customers range from Grosse Point, Mich., to Palm Beach, Fla., to Southampton, N.Y., said that man's best friend had his biggest influence on feminine hair styles with the advent of the short poodle cut of the 1940's. Mrs. Harry S. Truman was one of its early converts.
ONE CANINE CUT Caruso feels will catch on, especially in hot weather, is a pixie-like short coif closely fitting the head and dubbed the Dachsi, a steal from the smooth coat of the Dachshund.
Another is the Basset, meant for longer locks, arranged as hanging loops at the side, resembling the head of the long-eared hound.
The third dog-cared haired Caruso has created came from the sheep dog or the Yorkshire Terrier, both of which have a batch of natural bangs hanging over their eyes.
Arranged on women, these become what Caruso called "bold" bangs, cut to reach right to the eyebrows.
"Matter of fact, I'm even pulling hair over the eyes a bit in some coifs." Caruso said. "Cut properly, bangs call attention to the eyes, the loveliest feature of a woman's face."
CARUSO ALSO mentioned last year's artichoke — a short, many-layered cut — as resembling the head of the Welsh terrier more than the vegetable.
Caruso used to arrange Bess Tru-
man's poodle cut when she was First Lady, he said. The poodle was the first major hair style change after World War II — it eliminated the shoulder bob, the upsweep and the pompadour treatment around the face.
He speculated the poodle cut might come back for two reasons — the poodle as a dog is at a peak of popularity, and coiffures already have moved from the bouffant closer to the head and are cut again in lavers.