Screenland (Sept 1922–Feb 1923)

Immodest? Matter of Tact Says Whitaker her whole jolly backbone with frightful audacity just when, drat her, it would have been so much more seemly to imply that she hadn't any backbone. . ,T No wonder the pulpits raged. JNo wonder civilization tottered. But, thank Heaven, dear old Paris rushed to the rescue in the nick of time. France has saved civilization a good many times, her most recent and notable achievement being at Verdun. But that service was as nothing to the noble triumph of her fashion designers who got together and banished the short skirt, shrouded female backs and generally issued the ultimatum to femininity, "Beyond this thou shalt not pass." HlTRRAH for Paris! Civilization may now feel as safe as she was under the succession of the Louis in France, under Charles in England, those jolly periods when ladies wore lots of clothing, bunches of petticoats, and of which Samuel Pepys and the Count de Grammont wrote so engagingly and ingeniously that we moderns are only permitted to read the expurgated editions. Oh, you can see for yourself — Modesty is exclusively a question of female covering. Of course, we have Du Maurier's word for it that "Trilby" was so innately modest that she could stand before an art class in Paris stark naked and so blissfully unconscious that she pervaded the whole atelier with a sense of super-modesty. A stunt, by the way, that Paris seems unable to repeat today, where the stage is inundated with a stream of "Trilbys" posing in the altogether — which isn't having the same effect at all. If only these modest nude charmers would keep to the ateliers now. . . All the same, drapery doesn't entirely meet the bill. For instance, if even the most modest of modern dames — the ones who still cling to long-sleeved nightgowns and blind embroidery by night and at least two petticoats by day — elected to appear in public in these wholly decorous garments, minus a shroud of «J In the realm of Art, the nude or scantily draped female figure is regarded as modest as the pictures to be found in every family album. Paramount photo. some sort with a more godly name— her reputation would be blasted forever. Or take that amply skirted full bathing suit, which is the furthermost pink of propriety at the beach, and let her wear it at even a Hollywood pai-ty — unless, of course, it was properly labeled a fancy-dress affair — what would you think of the lady's morals ? In fact, there is a natty little onepiece suit that Mrs. Grundy has endorsed for beach wear for some time now, that begins late and ends quite early and permits quite an amazing amount of female territory to be exposed. Swim in it and your modesty remains intact — stroll down Broadway in it and Modesty — in the guise of a shuddering policeman — will promptly rush to the rescue of civilization. I ONCE witnessed a ceremony in which the bride was attired solely in a bead veil across her eyes. And she was the daughter of a great chief whose modesty and standing had never been in question. But that was upcountry in South Africa. It was almost impossible to be immodest in that happy clime, because nobody but us wore any clothes. And when a stray civilized European wandered in with his nudges, his smirks, and his cultured conscience, he was regarded as a peculiarly nasty-minded, immodest person. On one occasion, my father was called upon to uphold civilization in that country. He had hired five hundred sumptuously naked Kaffirs and wished to transport them through the new little corrugated-iron town of Branford, Branford was holding civilization and demanded that these natives be clothed in trousers and shirts before entering the town. So they were halted at a decent distance while five hundred pairs of trousers and five hundred shirts were forthcoming from Capetown. They were duly doled out upon arrival — and those five hundred Kaffirs marched through Branford with the shirts arranged into handsome turbans and the trousers slung around their necks like shawls ! They were very thorough about PHP this question of modesty at my French convent. There, we girls had to take our bath in our chemises ; it was scandalous to even see ourselves undraped. Only the most immodest amongst us 23