PASSING NOTES BY JANE

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 104, 26 January 1935, Page 16

PASSING NOTES BY JANE

New Fabrics and New Fashions Wellington, January 25. Dear Mavis, — This letter, to be properly expressive, should be filled with the Oh's! and Ah’s! of admiration and envy. For I have been wading through the tissue paper and box-tops of an orgy of unpacking that is still going on in one of the big stores. But I will spare you. The month of January is a difficult one for women who are really inter ested in their clothes, for it lies between two extremes of fashion. The one ' with which we have become familiar, and of which we are rather tired, has to do with sunshine and warmth, the sea, the garden, and the motor road; the other lies in the future, and is difficult for the mental eye to focus while days are long and evenings light. And yet, if we hestita.te, we may miss that exactly right dress or coat—oh, life Is fraught with difficulties! The things I saw this morning are not only lovely, but are interesting both historically and geographically. Designs range in style from the Directoire to the Second Empire, with a touch of Tudor in pork pie hats and cowl effects. And there is a great deal that has occurred before in our own not so remote past. “Why, that’s an actual copy of a dress I bought in Dunedin when the Prince of Wales came out!” exclaimed a smart woman, examining with a touch of wistful recollection a dress she was being shown by a pretty little attendant, who thought it “the latest thing ever.” Geographically the interest lies in the fact that no place or people is inaccessible now, and new details of costume are sought not only in the galleries but in the countries of all the world, among all sorts of materials and an inexhaustible choice of ornaments. But I’d better get on. Tunics, of course. Innumerable variations are being played on the tunic theme that was Introduced last year, and we find tunic blouses, tunic jackets, tunics for morning, afternoon and evening dresses. There was one I saw of black wool material woven in imitation of fine stockinette, and hand-beaded in pin-spots with small black beads. It was perfectly plain, implying the straight narrowness of the new silhouette, and had a slashed black satin skirt —a wisp of a thing—to wear with it. The collar was given a dash of exhuberance by a large diamante brooch, but otherwise the keynote was severity and simplicity. A black taffetas dinner dress —or hostess gown, to use the new phrase—was, lam almost certain, a Worth model. The bodice was plain and tight, with puff sleeves; the skirt was gathered to the tight waist and came shooting out toward its voluminous hem, which touched the ground all round, and swept back from a pink silk petticoat showing from waist to hem in front. That happened before in the days of the Empress Eugenie’s youth, and here it is again, a replica, in every detail. There are adventures in sleeves this season. Beaded designs enliven bishop sleeves; the lower half of sleeves that begin without fullness billow out into a contrasting material—sometimes of another colour—from the elbow down, the fullness drawn into tight, narrow cuffs at the wrist. There is the diamante smartness of brooches, buttons, and clips; there is wool trimmed with matching satin and taffetas; belts may be of crochet done in a heavy silk to match the dress; chromium and gilt clips and buckles carry on the appearance of richness suggested by the metal threads woven into all sorts of fabrics; and gilt designs are printed on taffetas. Split skirts are a special touch in the fashions of to-day. Afternoon frocks are shorter and dinner dresses are of ankle length. Evening dresses are trained sometimes at one side. Big velvet and taffetas bows ornament many of the smartest gowns, but contrast is more in the material than in the colour. The navy to which we had become resigned has almost disappeared, and spindleberry is the new colour —the wlneberry of last year with a deeper, richer tone in it. I could tell you. a great deal more, but it must wait’till next week; for I. found sermons in stockings, too, and a thrill in everything.—With love, Yours, JANE.