In the wake of the new mode of fashion, there were a few objections.

It eliminated the home dressmaker whose humble skill could not be expected to cope with the suave, intricate draperies in demand.

It made some sort of corsetry almost inevitable. The dressmaker objection stands. The corsetry objection has been overcome by the elimination of whalebone and other uncomfortable elements from the corset.

But the new mode was bound to please more then it offended. Only one sort of women objects to it - she whose boyish figure is naturally straight-line, who has no hips, no waist, no bosom. And she is in a decided minority.

On the other hand, the shapely women is now in her element. The knock-kneed, bow-legged, or fat-legged women applauds the mid-calf daytime skirts and evening gowns which just clear the floor.

And short-legged women can obtain a semblance of limb length with long skirts and waist lines which may be placed as one wishes.

Fashion's bugaboo, the fat lady, is certainly less appalling in a costume which constrains her opulence then in the loose drapes which used to magnify it.

Coats will be fitted, either bloused or caped, and as long as the dresses beneath them. Only in sporting coats will the three-quarter length be tolerated.

Suits and blouses will be very important, the latter delicately hand-worked, often suggesting the celebrated peek-a-boo manifestation of a decade ago. As every women knows, a blouse tucked inside a skirt is apt to be bunchy underneath the skirt top.

Some smoothing influence is needed between blouse and skirt. This there is a bold faction among the stylists which advocates the return of the petticoat.

Clothes are often indicative of states of mind. Many speculative persons believe that a return to dignity and formalism in attire presages an accompanying return to statelier morals and manners.

But anyone who has watched the modern women adapt to a long skirt to modern convenience finds it easy to predict that she will do likewise with her behavior.

(The pictures on these pages are of mannequins designed to accommodate the modern mode which, for the first time since the war, emphasizes the natural figure. Those illustrated are German; similar mannequins will be increasing observed in Europe and America.)