European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 6, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The year of the hemlines two sides of a Short evening Aresi by French to jetliner Jean tour scheme. Erma Bombeck by Melissa sone5 United press International Ere Are two versions of she 1987 Hemline theory. Tie Long of in at legs ugly Knees being of a certain age As Bill Blass says working Al Morgan Stanley or on a construction site Wing someplace where fashion in t in. The Short of Ilok to Greal legs decent Knees or the savvy to buy the right deep dark pantyhose an age where 2 inches above the knee in t laughable a Job like buyer or Art director i he presence not to mind the men in your office talking about you. 1987 was the year hemlines went up or at least tried to. It was the year newspapers asked How far up and then printed the inches n was the year papers pondered do the women of America have to do this like they had to do it years ago before they were liberated it was the year inc press printed pictures of Gloria Steinem Diane Sawyer and Liz Smith saying yes no. No in that order As if their Gams have anything to Dowil yours or mine. And it was the year Many women Irmund themselves counting Long and Short on the Street and then saying to their friends i Don t know Annie. I still see lots of  so what was up in 87? Well first what was t up was a plot by clothing manufacturers id make your wardrobe a bad joke and then make millions. Ii they thought Long Waund sell you d see Long. No it s not a plot to save Money by using loss fabric. The simple truth is Hal fashion since the dark Ages has gone in live to seven year cycles. It has also tended to take its inspiration from the Street and or from major designers. On she Street Tho hip types have worn Short Skirls for a Long time and on tha runways around the world Short in t exactly Brand new either. Same designers did Short so Long ago Hal Many at them when you ask what s up or next year can hardly remember. What s probably up is the tag time Between when designers the Sheet and then the companies that Knock them off or copy them come up with something and when the mainstream accepts it. For instance Azzedine Alaia came up with skin tight clothes in dark colors like Black or Brown made of stretch fabric years ago. Now Tho streets of Many Dies Are filled with people wearing outfits that in one Way or another come irom that idea and Alaia is no longer doing tight clothes what will probably happen is that eventually much More slowly than manufacturers and designers thought hems will Rise. They win not Rise to miniskirt level. They will Risa to the Middle or Tho top of the knee and look perfectly acceptable on most people. Where that Reaves the question of women a fashion dictates is hard to say. But in leaves la Tom with the option to keep wearing Long skirts even though All of the 1968 Spring fashion shows in october showed Short with almost no exception. What seemed most absent in 1987 were stylish clothes for working women. Never mind Short or Long give them something decent to buy in the first place. Another Imp Orlan question women asked this year was. Why Are clothes so expensive Why is a Blouse that in t even special Selling for $160? manufacturers say thai prices Rose All along lha fashion Chain from textile manufacturers on up that the Dollar drop raised lab Teand european clothing prices probably a Correct enough explanation bul women need Strong fashion incentive maybe More than jus a Hemline which after All they can take up on something old to spend top Dollar. The other 1997 fashion news can be summed up in the name Christian  the much hyped French designer who does pout dresses in bizarre color combinations left his Roost at Jean Palou a Luddy Duddy French design House and went Inlo hipper business or himself hoping one Day to become As successful As Ralph Lauren the Luss Over Lacroix is explained Best in terms of fashion although it has sociological meaning Loo. Fashion editors adored his clothes when they saw them in Paris in 1986 up dose they took a lot More like theater costumes than apparel which explains Why Mikhail Baryshnikov asked Lacrox to design costumes Lor the american Ballet theatre. Fashion Wise la Crox is credited with helping to re awaken the couture or the Mada to order Branch of fashion where Iho world s Weall Hiesl women Fry to Paris and spend upwards of $20.000 for a single dress. That influence trickled Down in the form of dressier sexier More Pul together clothes a definite trend Tor Spring and less interest in sportswear which in t doing writ now. It s something like the 1940s and 1950s when couture was influential also. Sociologically. Lacroix has become a Symbol of the enormous amounts of Morion certain people had to Burn right before lha Stock Market crash what belter example of Hal wretched excess than an ostentatious 120.000 Christian Lacroix couture dress. As 1938 began people in the fashion Industry were wailing to see the final figures for the Christmas Selling season and then ultimately How the new Spring clothes sell to see whether they be hit in right. I dont want to hear Hal by 1990, More than Hall of the cities in the United Stales win have no place to Bury men trash. The Good lord knows i m Doiny Trio Best i can to keep iof use out of inc landfills and in he Home where n belongs i be got closets bulging  boxes of newspaper clippings and clothes thai Don i fit anyone drawers overflowing Wilh Spray Potter chips and warranties thai cover appliances that air gone. There Are shelves of Candle stubs plastic Butler containers and desk drawers Ormed with pictures of babies Hal no one recognizes i m within five items of declaring the House a Barge and putting in on inc Colorado fiver to find a country that will Lake it. I think most americans Tec Gomze the problem and try to Recycle trash look Al garage sales. Throughout the cais i be bought Back most of in stuff three or Paga 16 the stars and stripes four times including the 3d by 36-Inch picture of the last supper Ingoll leaps. And lot s hear in out there for bazaars. Those creative dedicated women who fashion Art and crash Don t waste a thing i have ornaments out of prescription vials and Birdseed necklaces out of Bent solely pins and petrified potato peeling and jewelry betes fashioned from broken eggshells and Macaroni chant auctions have also joined in the Light against trash glut i heard of Ono group that recycles the same Hundred paintings each year. They re bought and then contributed to the Section the Enol car. Everyone gels i no tax deductions and the Charity benefits. Thanks to my Molher not one single cardboard Box has Ever found its Way Back Inlo society. It is snatched from the hand of the give the moment the Gilt is removed knocked Down and saved for the next occasion. We receive gilts in boxes where the store has wednesday january 6,1988 been out of business for 20 years. My kids say they understand he problem bul Hoy Don t. Their idea of recycling their trash is to drop it of at our House to store nepotism notwithstanding. 1 remind them of the High Cost of disposing of waste these Days. In Minneapolis Lor example the Cost of burying a ten of refuse was 15 in 19bt. Today it is �30. Philadelphia is paying 90 a ton to dispose of its Irish As far away As Southern Virginia and is weighing a trash Export agreement Wilh Iho Riand of Curacao in Iho Netherlands Antilles. My kids reaction to his was. Where is the Netherlands Antilles and How soon win it be before dad plans a vacation there to take advantage of the sewage Rales i know this Iii Ever go Public with my trash Brace yourself Lor garbage gridlock pc 19u. Pm  so Ricau