Nation: Midis Verboten

There is, after all, a place where American women might escape the oncoming tyranny of midi fashions, though it seems an extreme solution. Despite the normally puritanical attitude of most Communist regimes, East Germany's state fashion institute has pronounced its anathema on the midi. "Such creations do not agree with our active style of life," said a spokesman for the Deutsches Mode-Institut, which dictates styles to East German couturiers. "The main characteristics of our fashion are: young, optimistic and purposeful."

East Germany suffers no fabric shortage, but a conversion to the midi would...

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