New Sleeves For Evening Dresses

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 57, Issue 248, 31 July 1937, Page 4

New Sleeves For Evening Dresses

Short Trains In Vogue

"PROCKS and coats which can be worn with the feeling that they are really correct are being shown in the best salons now. The sensational traits that Paris tried to introduce into the new season’s designs have been modified, or eliminated altogether, and the result is an array of extremely attractive garments, not vastly different from those of last year, but with a number of cleverly thought out touches to distinguish the new from the old season. From the point of view of the smart woman the most gratifying innovation is the short skirt. Although but a few inches have been taken from its length, and we are assured by the leading coutouriers that it will never again sail up to the knees, the alteration has made all the difference between chic and the dowdy effect. Already there are a certain number of women who have taken from the recognised length another inch or two, but this should be done with caution because the entire “hang” of a skirt can be ruined if it is too short. At every fashionable gathering just now there are trim black skirts finishing halfway between knee and ankle, and sunburn stockings. Trains for Evening. Skirts of evening dresses have been shortened, too, but in a somewhat different way. There is no longer any fear of tripping over the two' inches or so which were allowed to lie on the floor of a dance frock. The skirt now clears the ground from side seam to side seam in front, but practically every gown, except those specially made for young girls, has a short and graceful train. There is no doubt that it adds beauty to the ensemble, but it can be a little trying for the wearer. Even with a loop in the proper place to lift it from the floor, it gets in the way. It hampers the dancer, if it is allowed to drop for only a moment it is trodden upon, while if it trails across a dance floor it picks up an unbelievable amount of dust. And yet, especially for the middleaged woman with a full figure, the difference the short train makes must be seen to be believed. For home parties, or the small intime gathering in a private house, the difficulties of coping with it are not quite so pronounced, so perhaps a skirt , that clears the floor all round might be suggested for public functions and the short train for home wear. New Sleeves. The attractive thing about many of the latest evening dresses is the new sleeve fashion. Last year there were complementary coatees of lace and chiffon for frocks made of these materials, and little velvet jackets with threequarter length sleeves for wear with satin, georgette and marocain. But this year the evening gown is much more “built up” at the back, and there are few models with a backless, or nearly backless corsage. This means that the protection & a coatee is not necessary, and also, that the built-up back allows of the fitting in of tiny sleeves. Not that all the sleeves are tiny. In brocade gowns they are sometimes of elbow length, with shirrings standing out from them and little buttoned bands hold them tightly to the arms. One pretty dress with small sleeves, shown recently, was of black satin charmeuse with a three-quarter length tunic of metal lame. This was woven with

orchid mauve colourings, threads of silver running through to give a kind of “Jack Frost” effect. The back was cut straight across from the underarm line, and wide straps—quite three inches across—fitted closely over the shoulders. In front there was the same straight line, giving the effect of a square-cut decolletage. When it was first shown, the gown had no sleeves, but a second model, made for a slightly older woman, showed how easily they could he inserted. Georgette of .the deepest mauve appearing in the lame had been gathered into a fan shape, and down the centre of each sleeve was stitched an inch-wide strip of the lame. The sleeve just covered that part of the arm which is so often heavy and reddened, adding a flattering touch to the corsage. A lace model in a pale lilac colour, shown with the lame and satin ones, had quite long sleeves. The original length covered the elbows and then hung in a doubled square some four inches above the wrists. On the inside of the arm, however, the lace was gathered up as far as the elbow and worked with silk thread so that a kind of medallion effect was formed with the fullness falling away all round. Old-World Charm. Some of the Paris houses, and quite a number of the London ones, are making a feature of brocade evening coats. They are the quaintest old-world models imaginable, but most picturesque over a simple dark frock. Women who wear them to the theatre or a restaurant frequently keep them on, buttoned up to the neck as they are, in order to give the full benefit of the picturesque effect. Some of them look as though they might

have been made from old curtains taken from Georgian and Regency windows, for the softly faded appearance of old brocade has been retained in the weaving , of the material, and there are tiny posies of flowers and sprigs of leaves on the old gold, grey and mellow green foundations. They resemble in design the fashionable long velvet evening cloaks of last season. A closely-fitting top is caught in at the waist, and from there the skirt flows out in regulated, crinoline-like fullness to the hem. There is a stitched waist belt, and below it can be seen the - scores of tiny gathering stitches which have been put into the top of the “skirt.” | Old-fashioned smoked pearl buttons ap- g pear down the front where they tone c in with the material, otherwise moulds f are covered with a brocade itself and c peep out of beautifully worked buttonholes. T Sophistication? J Among the more sophisticated models I prepared for a general show to take place t shortly, there were, of course, rich and a glittering gowns made for Court and s other ceremonial occasions, with trains, f and jewels, and fans, and tiaras. The s true Coronation colours made wonderful e backgrounds, as it were, for the less s striking shades, like “Lilac Time,” an t exquisite pale tone of the flower colour; r “Iris blue,” a pastel reminiscent of the i: paler inner petals of the Spanish iris; “Liqueur 'green,” like chartreuse; “Briar t rose,” true to its name; “Chalk blue,” a r paler pastel than the iris; “Popcorn,” s also true to part of its name, being the 1 shade of cornstalks; and “Sea Haze” and h “Sunmist,” the former greenish-blue, the a latter misty pink-beige. . t Day and evening dresses in all these r colours were shown, some of them mixed, h the deeper ones relieved by the paler, h and vice versa. r l