SOME NEW NOTIONS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 84, 6 October 1938, Page 19

SOME NEW NOTIONS

Just when one thinks the social season is nearly through, a fresh crop of exciting invitations arrives for even more balls and parties. Some are going to be important and new frocks are indicated. To call the 'latest in ball gowns "a frock" is putting it mildly, for they are magnificent creations and utterly different from any preconceived ideas one may already have. At the end of the season, as now, it is rather a hazard to pick the gown that will stage a spectacular success right at the present without being too "outre" and yet will appear at the first social frivolities next year and not be outdated. So let us look into the future and see what is foretold. There is no doubt that one and all of us must look a picture by night! Shades of great-grandmama's huge cumbersome cupboards will not be so comical when one discovers that, the summer through, the modern wardrobe is almost filled to overflowing with the voluminous frills and flounces of a most precious formal evening gown, j For they are fabulously frothy affairs, usually outrageously full as to skirt and miniscule of bodice. | A wealth of interesting. detail is apparent in the amount of hand embroideries, "lace insertions, arid even hand-painted motifs on the most youthful and delightful models. FASHION'S HOOP-LA! These are the. real debutante styles. Twenty yards of material goes nowhere for such a dress. Forty would be more to the point for the crinoline I skirts, even the most modified, need an amazing amount of stuff. j

Even if the thought of a hoop beneath your skirt prompts you to say "It's lovely, but not for me," the fullness in the skirt is still sufficient on its own to swing out blithely without the exaggerated line of the hoop to distend it. Still, since Queen Elizabeth has favoured this crinoline idea it has taken on added significance in stimulating an extraordinary wave of popularity with smart women overseas. THE NAKED TRUTH. \. It is now old history that bare shoulder decolletes have been widely accepted, so much so that corsetieres have had to devise new types of strapless brassieres, that waists are invariably boned, and that skirts, as I have just mentioned, are crinolined, or otherwise stiffened., The latter type are often bordered by ribbon or embroidered with bands of stiff silk to hold the hem out. A more general note in decoration on the lower part of the skirt are encrustations of flowers, sprays of embroidery (usually leaves in gilt soutache), bowknots and ruches, and particularly hemline flounces and ruffles.

Some very recent additions to corsage designs show irregular bodice treatment with perhaps a strap over the shoulder on one side only. The old-fashioned camisole line also provides fresh novelty for the young girl with lovely shoulders. In, this case the frock may, or may not, be strapless, but in effect it is a band of ribbon threaded straight around the chest and under the armpits that keeps the gown in place, . Halter necklines find renewed versatility and antique lockets and necklaces circle the neck and fasten to the frock in front to support it on a few advanced models.

In fabrics an emphasised tendency towards sheers, tulles, laces, chiffon, and organza, with fine jersey still in the running for slender models, and then the heavier satins, taffetas, and

"YOU WILL LOOK A PICTURE BY NIGHT"

brocades for the isomantic period confections, have been noticed. WHITE IS RIGHT. Fine linens and lawns combined with j narrow net laces of the Valenciennes type are a high summer notion for chic 'gaiety. Almost like lingerie in the delicacy of designing in contrast to the whiteness of the linen the lace is sometimes ; black or navy. This is a trend that is due for warm weather promotion .with smart young things for the light-and-airy suggestion of the style and stuff is sure to appeal to the young girl because of its sophistication and commends itself to her'mother who insists jon simplicity. - v j

For the older woman frocks remain regal and slender in lines with elaborate decoration of trimming still in evidence althbugh clever and ingenious design in the actual cutting is a most prominent feature. Trains are seen on these slim styles and sleek materials such as satin, jersey and fine silks, lames and pliable brocades, and laces are the most outstandingly satisfactory. Fringe in various - lengths and manipulated in varying ways, either composes or decorates many slendering and sophisticated interpretations of the evening mode. Colour runs ' riot throughout the evening picture. From sandals /to headdress and resplendent in unusual manifestations of contrasting and toning shades in the actual gown itself, the Eighteenth Century French pastels and subtle nuances of gray and beige vie with cerise and midnight blues, while always the debutante stands out among any company in her radiant white gown.—M.R. .. . J