FASHIONS FOR WINTER.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 734, 5 February 1910, Page 11

FASHIONS FOR WINTER.

THE NEW HATS. The warehouses stock their new seasou's goods, weeks bsfona the retail shops are cleared of the present season's stock, and by mutual agreement nil the houses belonging to the Warehouses' Association, burst into bloom on a given day. The first of February was the' date appointed for the disclosing of winter's secrets, and .on Tuesday the warehouses were visited by retailers from all over the district-

It is altogether-too soon to feel interested in hot winter dress materials, when cotton frocks, are still the only wear, but hats are always interesting, and the hats shown oh Tuesday .were quite worth a visit. In one of the leading warehouses the well-lighted end of a huge room was devoted to rows and rows of hats, forecasting the; new styles,'. which were'the objects of interest to many visitors.' The first thing one noticed was the size of the crowns, huge affairs that'reached upwards further than anything seen for years, and also extended quite far enough north, south, .east, and • west. The hats wer.e. of straw, and they were also of silk, and : velvet," Ottoman.'silk, taffetas, moire, louisine, and charmeuse, and velvet plain, panne, or moire. Several of these would be used on one hat, and one model ;.was.: of ■ charmeuse with - a- puffed crown,of taffetas silk, of the same shade, the crown encircled, with a, wide band of moire velvet, • and bound with it. Most of the crowns were gathered .into a button shape at the top or puffed, mostly perhaps puffed,,,and .one .foresees. that this

year, the amateur milliner is;going ,tb have a great,; time, remodelling Tier last winter's, shapes, and.,.by means' of . a crown of ,sill:! puffed and. dimpled,' and a, widened brim.of, velvet, or t .satin, she . will change them but of all knowledge. The ] great' difficulty,;as one milliner .pointed out, will .be .to. secure" the shade she will want 1 in . the ■ various niatcria|s,', for the imported hat is often made of material in shades, that .will never by any'chance, reach the counters of' New Zealand slops. . The. new . shades, the. .newest, of the new, are aeroplane,. which is. bluish green 1 or V greenish blue, according to the beholder's discriminative faculty,' and a terrible shade known as, rhubarb, sulphur green, or pea-soup (whatever the Trench of that-;may! be) ,' Turbans this yera nre'replhcing the neat '!modest toque, turbans",with,. wide,, .huge puffed crowns, and feathers' that are not .yet too large,'though one can see that it ■is only, a matter of time before we have the huge turban'of early .Victorian days, ;and perhaps ■ even the. turban and whole bird ; of paradise that figures' in Vanity Fair. Some of those shown now are very smart and pretty; and the smallest, were the prettiest,; v •/ :'■". Then there.are the mushroom shapes, also with huge crowns, and brims about three-inches wide, 'and' 1 the three-cornered hat is to be much: in favour. It is a gallant shape, arid it is worn with the peak in front, though many faces are best suited with the ■ broad side foremost. Some : few of the ■ hats.. are ~ turned !up sharply at one : side, but so far there is no evidence,-that the style is likely to become, popular this season.. It is. a stylo smart, • rather , than becoming, v ! ~ One very pretty three-cornered shape was made of pale amethyst Ottoman sift:, lined with dark purple velvet, and from the peaked front extended backwards two largo wings, which were finished in front with a wreath of .bright magenta roses. Another three-cornered!. £afc was of olive : green silk, bound with velvet of. tie same! shade, the crown made of folds of silk and velvet—a popular • fashion—finished with ospreys and a wing. A-veiy smart hat was of rhubarb silk, the- brim- bound with moire velvet of the same shade, and a velvet band ■ encircling the crown. A charming three-cornered toque was of dead rose silk, covered with fine black net, two large grey wings extending from tho peaked, front to tho-back, and these finished -with wheels of vieux rose silk in two shades. A smart itoquo of tan velvet was-trimmed/with black drenched! feathers, and ft band of jetted trimming; and a particularly smart, hat was made of black velvet'with the top. covered .with irridescont moire in petrol blue and black, and .this had a cluster of black tips on the side that did not turn up. -