SPRING FASHIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 216, 11 September 1940, Page 12

SPRING FASHIONS.

MADE IN NEW ZEALAND. ATTRACTIVE STYLES SHOWN. Surprise feature of the spring fashion parade which was opened at Milne and Choyee yesterday afternoon, was the fact that all the garments shown, with the exception of Hie gloves and jewellery. were made in Xew Zealand. In the originality of design and colour combines, the styles gave proof of this country's ability to maintain the fashion standard set overseas. 11l the first group, sports ensembles, suits and coats were presented. Outstanding features were the shorter skirt, which was sometimes flared, sometimes pencil .slim, and the importance of pockets. An attractive suit was of homespun tweed in a primrose and brown check, with a co-ordinated juniper and hat in primrose. Cardigans and skirts worn with dashing felt hats with fringe trim were smartly casual for golf, and were seen in such combines as mirage blue and grape wine, fairway i green and Catalina grey, and tropic aqua and tail. Coats cut on princess lines were very popular, one particularly smart model being in mirage blue, with a rather wide sleeve piped in white. Swaggers were again to the fore, many of them being checked. In one, oyster and brown were combined in bold checks, and the coat was worn over a frock in khaki green. Checks were also seen in a fitted coat in amethyst and blue, featuring the new bloused sleeves and tie belt. Afternoon and Evening. Spring would not be spring without navy and white, or, for that matter, black and white, and the ensembles shown in these combines were among the most delightful in the parade. One lovely cocktail frock in black had white embroidery in a square yoke effect at the neckline, and it was worn with a tiny veiled hat and black accessories. Navy herringbone stripes distinguished another frock in white, made with a full skirt, buttoned down the front, and novel pockets. It was completed by a straight sailor. The popularity of Catalina grey was also noticed, it being well represented in a 'tween size ensemble in which a prairie rose frock was topped by a bolero in Catalina grey with lattice pockets of prairie rose. Jackets and boleros were worn with many of the frocks, and they looked well with the popular turban. A novel feature of the parade was a scene showing "what the well dressed woman should wear," the unsuitable accessories worn by the mannequins being replaced by accessories in the right shade and of the correct type. The evening frocks stressed the fresh, bouffant effect so suitable for summer. Stiff floral organzas, cottons, and marquisettes were among the fabrics starred, nearly all the frocks being made with full skirts. Deep hyacinth was the shade of one lovely frock in marquisette with net ruffles on the hem. Another featured a ballerina skirt in scarlet, with a white swathed waist and a blue .spotted top. A more formal effect was obtained in a grey and cerise frock with gathered bodice and flowing skirt. The parade closed with a wedding tableau, in which three separate bridal groups, representing the army, the navy and the air force, were presented. In the first, the bride wore an an°t)ra suit in powder blue, in the second, a printed frock and furs, and the third bride wore a quaint frock in, white organdie with an old English bonnet.