War Styles

The U.S woman, Autumn 1942 model, will be a smooth number. She will be stripped of all the floating extras and superflous swing that fashion designers can decently take away.

This became apparent last week in Manhattan, whither had swarmed retail-clothes buyers from 48 States to see the first collection of fashions wholly controlled by war needs. WPB, fashion's new dictator, had shaken clothes makers with restrictions on materials, dyes, slide fasteners. Pure wools and silk are disappearing fast and rayon supplies are not inexhaustible--manufacturers have had to piece them out with reprocessed fibers, re-used wools, the new cloth made of milk (aralac), mohair, rabbit fur, and with cotton gabardine, corduroy, velveteen featured for winter.

This fall U.S. women will start wearing:

> Peg-topped dresses with skirts cleverly draped to relieve their skimpy cut.

> Coats that are peg-topped or spool-shaped.

> Suits with shorter jackets, with slash instead of patch pockets, kick-pleat instead of box-pleat skirts.

Pursuit Grey. For years fashion dictators switched colors for fashion-enslaved U.S. women at least twice a year. Now WPB has frozen stocks of ten basic vat dyes necessary for Army and Navy uniforms. Gone will be the frozen colors, all the brilliant shades, clear white. Black is also unfeatured on the ground that it is depressingly unpatriotic for all but widows.

Shades with patriotic names are shown: Russian, Australian and Pacific greens; British rose; Iceland, Gallant, Commando, Salute, Alaska, Independence and Overseas blues; American wine; Valor and Freedom reds; Atlantic sand; Gunpowder, Air, Bomber and Pursuit greys; Hawaiian lime; Canadian violet, Panama aqua, Chinese earth, India copper, Pan-American red and Coral Sea.

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