Their Views on the New Women's Fashion

The readers of "The Woman's Voice" learned, from the article it published in the last issue, of the uproar raging in women's circles the world over around the new women's fashion. "The Woman's Voice" decided to send its correspondent to sound out the views of a select company of our ladies and men known for refined taste; and the result was this delightful reportage, which we publish below:

Evelyne Bustros

I had the honor of calling on Mrs. Evelyne Bustros in hopes of a talk with her about the new fashion and the stir it has caused — only to find her closeted with the dressmaker! So I sat in the reception room talking with Mr. Georges Kfoury and his wife, Mrs. Najla, our subject being the very matter I had come about. Mrs. Kfoury declared that she has no wish to go along with this fashion; and Mr. Kfoury said: "Fashions, however they may evolve, must always come back to the simple and comfortable. And this new mode, so long as it is uncomfortable for the ladies — with its binding and pressing at the waist — is bound to be temporary; it will soon change into something simpler and more comfortable."

Here Mrs. Evelyne joined us in the discussion, and when I asked her about her new dress she was kind enough to say that it will be a few centimeters longer than last year's dresses, but that its hips will keep their natural shape — without padding! And I observed that Mrs. Bustros receives the fashion, when it renews itself, without disapproval, and does not go to extremes in following it, but takes it naturally, without affectation.

When I asked her opinion of the long, full dresses that Paris is showing, she answered that she wore this fashion just before the First World War, and after her experience of it she considers that, with the length and fullness of its skirts, it is an invitation to dirtiness and the carrying of much filth. And once a woman has tried a certain dress and found it unsuitable, it is not easy for her to choose it a second time.

The talk turned to the revolt now raging in America in protest against this fashion, and the negative methods being used against it. Mrs. Evelyne smiled and said: "I marvel at the American woman — how she spends so much of her energy and time on trifling matters like these. Let a woman wear what she pleases and follow whatever fashions she finds comfortable — and let her spend her time and energy solving problems more important than these!"

Mr. Kfoury kindly favored us with an amusing story. He said:

"A juggler once came in to Harun al-Rashid, and the Caliph asked him what he wanted. He answered that he could throw a needle so that it stood fixed on its head, then throw a second so that its head entered the eye of the first, and so on, until he had formed of these needles a single line... And in fact he performed the feat with the utmost precision. Whereupon Harun al-Rashid ordered that he be given a hundred dinars — and be dealt a hundred lashes. They said: 'But why do we strike him, O Commander of the Faithful?'

"He answered: 'Because he spent great efforts and long time on a trifling thing of no use!'"

And Mr. Kfoury commented: "So it is with the ladies in America: they are absorbed in quarreling over this fashion, and it is a trifling matter that does not deserve all this effort from them!" We all laughed at Mr. Kfoury's wit, and I took my leave and departed.

Then I made for the house of Mr. Habib Abou Chahla, hoping I might be allowed to talk with him for a few minutes before his house grew crowded with the callers whose problems can be solved only at the Ustad's hand. The first thing that struck my eye as I entered was seven motorcars crouched around the house, and I nearly turned back, so sure was I of the value of the Ustad's time, and so afraid that he would make light of my question, that my pains would go for nothing, and that I would be rebuffed in the first interview I ever took from a man.

But my self-confidence drove me to knock at the door... In the waiting room I found myself among some of the callers, and their talk was of the Ustad's energy. Among the things they said: "He works twenty-four hours a day without tiring!" I could not reasonably take their talk at face value, but I made no comment, and sat awaiting my turn. Before long Mr. Abou Chahla appeared in the doorway with his beaming face — though the cigar was not in his hand this time, as I had grown used to seeing his picture in the papers! I made haste to speak, so as not to take too much of his precious time. I said:

"My question, Ustad, is not about the Tapline, nor about governmental or judicial matters. I am the correspondent of a women's magazine, and my question may seem trifling in your eyes — but the readers of 'The Woman's Voice' insist on hearing your opinion of this new fashion over which such an uproar has risen in the world."

He showed none of the surprise I had imagined, and said, attempting a smile: "You mean these long dresses?" So he is informed, and understands!! I said: Yes. He said: "Personally, I do not like the long; but let every lady wear what suits her and agrees with her figure. A lady must not cling to the fashion merely because it is the fashion, regardless of whether it suits her or not!" And the Ustad smiled playfully and said: "But this long fashion suits the ladies with stout legs — those ought to follow it without hesitation, to ward off unwelcome sights!" And he charged me not to omit this observation, for in his view it is very important!

I asked him whether he preferred the dress with padded shoulders or without, and he said that he does not like the high padded shoulders which give a woman a military look and rob her of much of her femininity; and a woman must take care to choose what brings out in her the meanings of beauty, without artifice!

And I went out, bidding the Ustad farewell, admiring his courtesy and his suppleness. He was slow to give me his photograph, yielding only after insistence, and it became clear to me that the Ustad is bashful when it comes to presenting his picture to thousands of ladies!!

She is the daughter of Mr. Jamal al-Husseini, and a graduate of the American College in Beirut — a dark young woman, elegant, lately returned from America, where she was in the company of her husband, Dr. Shahid, who went to the United States to visit the hospitals and to specialize.

I asked her personal opinion of this new fashion and she said: "I was in America and witnessed the uproar the women raised there over this subject. What the American woman protests against most is the long dress, which Paris is imposing; and this, in my opinion, will not spread in America, because it is not comfortable during work. But personally I favor this new fashion as it is now current in America — that is, reaching to mid-calf. I bought a number of the long dresses over there, and it is not my intention to shorten them. I believe that long dress suits us — we Arab women — because most of us are of middling height, and the length of the dresses gives the figure a willowy look. I saw these dresses displayed in the great fashion houses in America, and they caught my eye and pleased me."

I said: "And what is your view of removing the shoulder padding?" She said: "Last year woman went to such extremes in enlarging this padding that the look of women's shoulders became ugly. That has now passed, and woman has returned to moderation, lightening this padding so that it merely completes the roundness of the shoulders — especially if the woman is thin, with prominent bones!"

And when I asked her opinion of hip padding she said: "The dresses and 'tailleurs' with padded hips did not sell when they were shown in the fashion windows in America, and so they were moved down to the ground floors, where they are sold at trifling prices — the fate of any goods for which the demand is small. This is proof that woman did not approve of hip padding, and I do not imagine she will change her mind."

Charles Corm

The car set me down before the hermitage of Mr. Charles Corm — nay, before his palace, built in the old Phoenician style. I was shown first into an Oriental salon, and from the first glance it was plain to me that the master of the house is an artist who takes pains over the furnishing of his home. Before long Mr. Charles came in, apologizing for his lateness. I told him briefly the purpose of my visit, and at first he tried to slip away, excusing himself from giving an opinion on a subject outside his specialty! — so he is exceedingly modest! — And persuading him was no easy matter for me, but in the end I succeeded in bringing him to speak on the subject — and behold, he was expert and learned!... He soared off in his talk into an artistic, philosophic atmosphere, until I nearly forgot myself, or forgot the purpose of my errand. And since my time did not permit me to stray from the subject, I asked him:

"And do you like the long dresses on the ladies, Ustad?"

He answered me with dash and artistic fervor. He said:

"What is woman's dress but a veil over her natural body? And the simpler that veil is, the better it fulfills this end. Personally I prefer the long dress, because it lends a woman grace, particularly at home and in the evening hours. The sight of a woman in this dress suggests lofty meanings to the poet, and the sight of no short dress can rival it in that. The complete shape of the leg beneath the dress gives the poet room for imagination and hope! And the short dress, which cuts the leg at its middle, divides that beauty, disfigures its completeness, and robs it of much of its magic!

"I do not deny that the short dress is more suitable for girls during their work, and from the economic standpoint; but I am an artist and a poet, and I have confined my point of view to these two atmospheres."

I asked him whether he liked the padded, swelling hips and the slender, tight-bound waists, and he answered:

"Any dress that departs from nature is unsound; the most beautiful state of a woman's body is when it keeps its natural shape. Every padding of this sort is therefore counted false and unlovely, and I do not believe any sensible woman will follow it. Beyond this, woman was created to fulfill a sacred mission — namely, the preservation of the race — and this binding and pressing at the waist impedes it, and often prevents childbearing and leaves the offspring far from moral and physical soundness. Therefore I counsel woman to keep away from it."

And when I asked for his picture he refused to give it to me, and the argument between us grew so hot it nearly became a quarrel! He begged me, in a tone of entreaty, not even to mention his name, and to content myself with noting that he is an artist secluded in his hermitage, shunning mankind... But I protested, saying:

"The readers of 'The Woman's Voice' want to see your picture — and I myself, before I had the honor of visiting you, used to imagine Charles Corm as a man with a long white beard and flowing hair... like Tagore! And behold, he is a young man!" He laughed; yet despite this compliment he still was not persuaded, and I left the house pondering some stratagem that would secure me his picture — I left under the spell of his courtesy and his eagerness to render any service or request I might impose upon him — except, of course, the giving of the picture! —

And he ended his talk by imploring me a second time not to mention his name outright in the article! But I did not promise him that; I left it betwixt and between — as all journalists do!! As for his picture, published above this article, I obtained it by a journalistic favor from his affectionate friend Mr. Albert Rihani. (A. J. Sh.)