Who's Laughing Now

Sir: As a subscriber to Women's Wear Daily I have been amused by the persistence of Mr. Fairchild to push the midi onto the American women [Sept. 14]. All year WWD has sung the praises of the Longuette and branded Xs over the knees of women, like Jackie O, who have been "caught short" in minis. Now WWD has the chutzpah to call their midi-clad favorites "fashion victims" because they "allow fashion to wear them rather than wearing the fashion that suits them." Is Women's Wear Daily laughing at its ability to turn women into trend-following sheep? You bet your BP.

(MRS.) CANDY WARSHAVER GLAZER Richmond

Sir: Gosh, all those folks at WWD sound as real and relevant as their product. Gee, how exciting and meaningful to wage "vendettas against designers" and fearlessly forecast skirt lengths. Wow, that kind of contribution to society must be ever so satisfying. Golly, when the world heals and we are free to abdicate our maturity, maybe we too can devote our second childhood to being cute, bitchy and frivolous.

ROBERT E. BURNS Glendale, N.Y.

Sir: The definitive balloting on Women's Lib will be conducted this fall. If the midi wins, back to Kinder, Kiiche, Kirche with the whole sorry lot of them!

MARVIN C. WACHS Lexington, Ky.

Sir: May that hateful dictator and the bleating industry which he leads around by the nose all lose their fur-lined shirts on this graceless, hideous, frumpish monstrosity! I, for one, refuse to start looking like my own grandmother at the whim of this tyrannical male chauvinist.

(MRS.) KATHY NEWMAN Milwaukee

Essence of Entertainment?

Sir: Elliott Gould—"Star for an Uptight Age" [Sept. 7]? No, not really. Elliott Gould is far more a "Star in an Uptight Age" who helps us to feel less uptight for hours by bringing back the true essence of entertainment and thereby according us pleasure in a world so often so serious and sad.

SHERYL J. NATHANS Philadelphia

Sir: Elliott Gould's complaints do run on. His parents are incompetent louses, the man who started him in show business is a Fagin, the bust-up of his marriage is all what's-her-name's fault, and all his directors are just jerks in the end. Only his young son seems to have been spared such compulsive poor-mouthing—so far. Gould's irresponsible childishness on and off the screen may give a vicarious thrill to many who share his petulant self-pity, but until he grows up, this moviegoer will continue to opt for the likes of Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson and Alan Arkin.

JOHN MOORE Washington, D.C.

Sir: You quote Gould's friend Bob Kaufman on Gould's changeable attitude (or gradual disenchantment) toward directors, ending with a disparaging comment about Mervyn Le Roy. I am sure Kaufman did not intend to be unkind or unfair, but it is hard to accept such disparagement of a man whose credits include I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, Random Harvest, Waterloo Bridge and the production of Wizard of Oz—and whose finest credit is that he is one of the gentlest, most civilized human beings around.

JEAN SEBERG Geneva, Switzerland

Concerning the Cuties

Sir: I want to thank you for your unbiased reporting of Women's Liberation [Aug. 31].