PARIS IN THE LOOKINGGLASS

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 16, 19 January 1924, Page 15

PARIS IN THE LOOKINGGLASS

FACTS AND FANCIES.

(Written for "The1 Post" by "Germaine.")

:,;• ~ -PARIS, 21st 'November LATEST IN BONBONS.

.Satin anil; porcelain- metal and tulle are all- being used for the dainty caskets in which -Christmas bonbons -are to be presented.this, year. The.satin is in g:ay I tints, and hand-painted or etched in' artistic fashion; and lacquered boxes are alluring, but the first favourite seems , to^be* life, porcelain .figure, with spreading , skirts, exactly in .the modern note, which stands saucily on table or cabinet.. According to the saleswoman "of one' of;- the leading .connoisseurs of Paris, women like this form of box, because when the bonbons have vanished 'it ' makes' an elegant powder-box for (,'h'e ..dressing'-table. More fanciful' is the gaudy satin box on which is not the black and white head of a Pierrot, half tragic, • half comic, set in an immense Ml.of gaudy tulle, scarlet, or gold or-green, or in white tulle, and this being one of the newest devices, makes a very brave show on the tempting counters. As regard prices, with sugar, and almost every other article rising, if but slightly in price, how can,chocolates, or beringets, niarrons-glaccs, '.or ■ truffle's foufees bevcheaper? Not in <La Ville Lumiere, certainly not! • . For the kiddies one of the most breathless . surprises, perhaps, is the .baby motor-car propelled by a.real engine, luxuriously upholstered and fitted with four-speed gear,, brakes, electric lights, and horn complete.* Another novelty is j the wooden horse . that really -walks, land will make a .rocking horse, that nursery classic, ,green with envy. : -MYSTIC SHADES AND EVENING ■!. . FROCKS. ; • I Few-of us understand all the beauties ! and possibilities'of grey. Some of the best-dressed Parisiennes. make a cult of tins mystic shade; and wear it with the greatest. and . most consummate skill. The other evening, when having dinner at Claridge's, I noticed a symphony in gfey satin charmeuse and tulle, wbrn by a very beautiful and celebrated women who had very wonderful hair, some f few-years' ago. It is' still wonderful, but is ripw a most beautiful soft, snowy white;, as snow-white as the whitest pearl., The dress in question, as I have just remarked, Was.of grey satin charmeuse' and tulle. It was a cold, NorthSea sort of grey, a shade that was a wonderful background for her pretty i .hair, mystic eyes; .and->-a skin that could tape the,-world, tlnchallenged, such a d^ijl colouring,;, .top,- stood.ialotie in its [rare -beauty jamohg aihost'of-more ordinary pinks, blues, and yellows. '■'":' j. ..But don't let.me advise every woman •to ,adopt, such chaste, neutral tones. T:oUfli,;'jafter>a'Wrth-6ugh it rarely Iqpks. it best,in virginal white, can sometiiries' wear ..the most prude and brilliant of colours with" striking success. The sartorial laws to-day mercifully give us . a „wade,range of shades; to choose .from, arid youth has a.special.right to the.fullness of colour and 'life. Italian influences bring back old Roman colours and ribbons./ Early ...Victorian modes offer (bright;, pinks,: Vivid ■ greens'; ariid quaint 'violets; purples, '■ and the yellows of 1830. .< ■' . OF TAILOR-'IVIAipES, COLLARS, AND THE NEW LINE. _: .. The new line; is certainly a beautiful line. Long and supple it is,1 With the waist so low, (for, it appears evident

that we are not to have normal waists after' all) that it seems made specially to render the figure long and slender. , Collar? are high, 'so as to, protect from •the'first winter winds.''Sleeves are of all sorts, long and short, wide or narrow, slashed or in two pieces, slit open from shoulder to wrist, embroidered all over, made of a/conti'asting material to the dress, or vlace/ ' or" of silver tissue, broademngitowards the wrist in' graceful curves, ..undulating- with the .. slightest movement;v,.acconlpanying the slightest gesture. j/T'1 "*1 ' . . • - The tailor-mades are of two kinds, ihere are ,the tailor-mades -.with short coats, and those with long ones. The latter are so v distinguished-lookirig' Some are made- with small easy jackets like cassocks.^ ■.:.. :'. - VELVET IS' FASHION'S FAVOURITE Velvet" is the material; which will be most pushed in Paris ,this\ season, and hl£. f"r oyt^oor •:wear, it will be used chiefly, if hot exclusively, in hlack or the, darkest, brown, Indoor dresses will be of. the gayest', of Hues.:;: Velvet is in tho hands of the bootmakers for smart boots and walking shoes; of the . milliners, for smart, hats and toques ;of the 'tailors, aird mantle, / makers, and. •of course, oftho dressmakers. It is offered in many qualities, and it promises to become a. uniform:1 ■ Velvet ■in the ballroom will be in delicate, and a1«o deep' rose hues, in 'orchid, nattiw and violet,

and in combination with fine lace will iorm'the base of every toilette for great I occasions and galas this season/ I like the luxury of the velvet gown for evening. It has a sensuous softness, comforting to one's bare arms after the scratchy surfaces of jet or sequins. One ioals at peace in it—and for warmth : well if the winter come souls 'are popbesying materialises, we shall surely try to exist - permanently in velvet, or furor both ! \ The nicest velvet, frock I have seen for some time is made without an atom of .trimming,, The shape : of. it is as j .faultless as a flower, and the long-waist--1 ed cors:ige*-which- suddenly ceases to be a corsage at all and becomes a shrewdlyticd sash at the>back—has a weird power of suiting either stout or slim figures. ' PARISV MILLINERY. There seem to-be three types of toques —velvet, ribbon, and fur. The velvet toques are usually of the colourful kind and they are to be seen in all colours,' in amber, in rust; in ochre, in purple, in pearl grey, in a luminous blue-green —in every colour you like, except brown, %vhich is rarely.seen in millinery at the present moment. / Myrtle green ribbon is the basis of a pretty toque I saw yesterday. A band of feathers pastod flat to look almost like-ribbon, was the trimming- an immense knot on the side carried out the prevailing line. - , • '