Paris in the Mirror

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 7, 9 January 1932, Page 7

Paris in the Mirror

Written f«r "The Port" by GarmaJneV

PAEIS, 11th November. . Nothing will' induce Parisiennes to wear long skirts during the daytime. This is a decision that every woman las reached. "We nave looked at the oldfashioned pictures of women in long skirts, and we have been asked: "Is the practical woman of to-day going back to that?" This has caused us to

protest that we modern women are not slaves of fashion, and we refuse pointblank to be forced by the Paris dress designers into wearing long day skirts. We admit, however, that we are quite willing to wear long evening dresses. Now, let us face "this fashion problem sensibly for once. Why are we making all this1 fuss? Who has asked us to wear long skirts during tne day? At the Paris dress showings I have seen more than three thousand of the 1931 models, and I have already seen enough of the advance 1932 fashions to know what the general outlines are likely to be. And I have not seen one ilngle lotkg and trailing day dress. Day »Mrts, as a matter of fact, are slightly snorter than they were last season; this means that your skirt should reach to about seven or eight inches below your knees.

The new daytime, and. evening skirta M well, «n often gored, and have a }tf&gfee fltoa^ either from the hip-line

or a,tthe knees.; There arc also many narrow pencil line daytime skirts .worn with blouses or jackets that have full sleeves, cap-top straight sleeves, or dolman sleeves, to give tiulk at the shoulders. Waist-lilies arc-tightly fitted above such skirts, and hip-lines . are sometimes given flared poplums. CONCERNING PLEATS. Pleats this season seem, to be playing a more important 'role than ever, and are being treated in all kinds of ways. They appear not only in the.clothes for morning wear, but in tie lighter mater, ials, such as georgette and satin; they are. used for afternoon or evening models. In the first place, they usually take the form of inverted or box pleats starting from a, yoked movement or incrustation, while in the latter they are given- all sorts of .fancy; treatments. Very shallow inverted pleats may account for the fullness on the top of a straight frill, in the place of gathers. The pleats are tapered to nothing, leaving the edge plain. Or the pleats may be moimted with fine ganging, or, set at the top only, so that in their fall they, give the impression of. exceptionally evenly-set gatherings. • : THE VICTORIAN INFLUENCE. ... The Victorian influence seems to hang around during this season, no matter what the silhouette, is named. The small fur wrap one detail that is taking- hold, and this wrap will be capelet. little dolman, or jacket, made of the fur of grandma's day—curly astrakhan, sealskin, etc. These' small wraps are shown' with frocks made of quaint woollens, like' cashmere, wool surah, and tweed, or they are worn over tailored suits, that are slim, and fitted from shoulders to hem. Muffs to match such wraps are also shown. And these muffs can be in cloth also. For the Kiviera season, which will soon be beginning, the dressmakers are making tailored suits in black or coloured crepe' de chines with muffs to match. OTHER VICTORIAN DETAILS. A second Victorian detail which ia coming back with a big splash is the taffetas blouse, which is shown with tailored suits, and which is often trimmed with lace or. velvet ribbon, just like the old-fashioned blouses of the mauve and pre-mauve.,decade, but with the slim 1932 boneless line. Fitted waistcoat blouses that buttoii up the front are also in the picture, and these come from Early Victorian styles'. They are also made of brocade, just like their/ancestors. Lace trimmings from the modes of Victoria's day are shown by most Paris dressmakers. There are heavy satin dinner " and afternoon dresses, trimmed with lace, and there are heaps of velvet frocks with lace trimmings, ■ ... / . Buttons and pockets" are universal trimmings for clothes of quaint inspiration, and Paris couturieres are putting pockets in a good number of their evening frocks. They are not the oldfashioned placket pockets, but little patches or inset pockets on one hip. VICTORIAN COLOURS. Victorian colours appear on the horizon, and such colours as maTocn-red, cin-namon-brown, terracotta-red and pink, peppermint,. bottle-green, :cust-brown and rust-red, dove-grey, buff-beige, skyblue, magenta, and mauve—are all used by the Paris dressmakers. Satin and velvet in red p.hades appear after a long absence to make formal frocks. There will be many satin and velvet dresses worn this winter, if prophecy can be believed. STYLES FOR BRIDES. Al white weddings, with, bride and

bridesmaids alike outfitted in wedding satin, are 'the last word in Paris chic. You can tell the bride —she has a veil on—-but otherwiso the s dresses are cut on similar patterns, and veils this season are going in for variety. Many a fashionable bride has worn a veil that hung from a harness of pearls or orange blossoms, this harness covering the head and the veil, beginning somewhere around the ears. It ends, according to the bride's fancy, in trailing cascades of tulle, or lace, or somewhere about the knees, like the veil of a vestal virgin. Lace-trimmed, all-lace, and alltulle veils are the three chosen varieties.

There are-many gradations in white satin gowns—dead-white, plaster-white, oyster-white, ivory-white, and snowwhite. One bride last season abandoned white for ice-bliiei and another wore the 1 rose of hope. Bouquets are being carried as usual by our most particular brides. Eeal lilies, sometimes a big bouquet of them, and often just a stalk, are in the lead in bridal favour.

Orange blossoms are used for decorating veil and frock rather than for the bouquet. Some brides carry an ivory prayer book and omit flowers; others carry little muffs of purest white ermine, with veils banded with the same fur. A bride in the winter season wore a cloth of silver gown with a bouquet of artificial silver lilies having velvet stems and leaves.