London Fashion Notes Specially Written for "The Post."

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 86, 8 October 1938, Page 19

London Fashion Notes Specially Written for "The Post."

(By Air Mail, from "The Post's" London Representative.) LONDON, September 10. London has always been the centre of the fur trade, but whereas it used to be famous chiefly for sales of the fur pelts, it now sets the fur fashions as well—a preview of which is being held this week. About seven years sgo designers in this country began to create new styles in furs distinct from Continental fashions to suit the English woman's figure, colouring, and taste. There have been great changes "recently in furs, which today are closely related to actual dress fashions, being worked and fitted with the same precision as fabric. All this reminds me that furs have been worn all through the spring, summer, and now autumn seasons. The short fur coat, the bolero, and the re-cently-revived fur stole being the favourite modes, with skunk, blue fox, stone marten, sable, and squirrel the popular furs. My sketch shows how they have been allied to straw sailor hats, floral toques, with silk frocks and suits, as well as lightweight woollen dresses. THE SILK SUIT. This is a fashion that has found favour in London; Paris, and New York. Usually made Off grosgrain ?r

faille silk, but I have seen taffeta used as.well, especially successful when the skirt was knife-pleated. . A dark silk suit is a valuable garment for town wear in summer. Cool on hot days, yet it does not look too summery when the sun refuses to shine. .Worn with a plain tailored blouse, it is 'suitable for shopping dr informal wear. On the other hand, < a silk suit with a lace or frilled chiffon blouse will take you through any smart function with complete success, whether it be a luncheon or a cocktail party. Blouses occupy an important place in present-day fashions and range from the sporting type in flannel, jersey, linen, or pique, to exotic affairs of chiffon, lame, or sequins. THE BLOUSED LINE. Then there is a newness about the bloused silhouette which has made a great appeal. With corsets making women small-waist minded, the bloused fullness over the deep belt in onecoloured dresses emphasise this slimness. For the fuller figure there is a spirit of compromise in fashion which blouses t: back of the dress, coat, or jacket, only keeping the front ftat and figurerevealing, thus serving the purposes of new fashions and new figures at the same time. Another compromise is the full and fitted coat over the straight and nar-

row dress. The full-length coat is flared as full as fashion allows, with the dress beneath very plain and cut tc pencil-slim lines. The contrast is enhanced by having the coat in a light or boldly-patterned fabric with the dress plain and dark. Again, this is a style useful for woollen or silk materials, and in plain and printed silk crepe makes a most attractive summer ensemble. EMBROIDERED FASHIONS. As I mentioned earlier in the year there is a great deal of embroidery used in current fashions. One large spray of conventional flowers over the front of a bodice worked in silks and metal threads is a favourite method. On one model I found one large sunflower on the bodice and another on the right hip. Detached motifs at the neck, the waist line, on pockets, and wrists are carried out in metal threads, glass beads, sequins, etc. Necklet effects in imitation jewel crystals, small squares of coloured mirror glass, metal discs, etc., give individuality to simple Woollen frocks to wear with furs between seasons. Embroidered materials are fashion's favourite, A contracting spot or clover leaf, a. tiny bird or star embroidered in silks, on woollen materials." These "usually have a plain

fabric in the same colour to be used with them. Fine woollens with ?• dusting of sequins, sewn on separately j make the most effective little frocks for smart occasions. VICTORIAN REVIVALS. Victorian jewellery is becoming the rage. Pendants are worn again. Search for one that ha been put away ! in your jewel case for. years, and ii it is heart-shaped, so much the better. Necklaces of iridescent shells fit closely to the neck, and a replica of a Staffordshire china dog is offered as a brooch to fasten a scarf. Gold and black enamel lockets are swinging from fine chains or thin black cords, and the wide bracelets of chasea or moulded metal in gold or silver are being worn snapped over a long dress sleeve. Revivals of other days greet us on all sides, and two essentially Edwardian accessories have been brought back to fashion by the new hairdressing and tip-tilted hats. The ornamental hatpin and the black hair slide to hold the up-swept curls in position have taken on a new air in the modern versions. Hat pins in glass, gilt, and mother of pearl and sometimes a touch of coral to give a decorative touch to a plain dark hat. The hair slides are thin and made of "tortoiseshell" on the grip principle, being shaped to the head and studded with brilliants. —E. Puth Sibley.

thoughtful women live is the depriva tion of the right of married women to earn. These women are being edgea out in all directions, and forbidden here and there in a way that is creating a very bitter sex feeling which is lamentable It also raises the question las has been done for some years in Great Britain) that some women are availing themselves of the opportunities offered them of living irregular lives in order to retain their maiden names and status. It also'raises another serious question, and that is in regard to the declining birth-rate. When a couple marry on small means they find that it is quite a mistake to imagine that what was enough to keep one will keep two. If the wife could earn enough to help keep up a good stand ard of living, or if there were children of an age to be at school and further advantages obtained for them, she might '.jy her contributions to the home make a sensible difference to comfort and general advantages. It certainly discourages the birth-rate when people have to wait till the income of the husband is sufficient to provide for children, education, and a good standard of living for all, for time soon passes, and if the home is not made when people are fairly young, it is apt not to be made at all, and a great deal of happiness and advantage to the nation is lost. It seems that the London County Council, the British 8.8.C., and a number of the large town corporations have announced that they will not have married women on their staffs. Even the woman organiser for the physical education of children in London must be unmarried, though it might appear obvious that married women with children of their own would be more understanding and quick to note the necessary things which should be looked at. It is felt by the "Open Door" people that the dismissal of married women from paid employments and the limitation of the rights of women to engage in any kind of paid work, or the subjection of women to any other conditions other than those upon which men are employed in the same work, should be eliminated. The council calls upon those engageS in studying the population problem to realise that one of the fundamental principles for securing and maintaining a healthy and moral population is that women, whether married or single, shall be accorded, in law and custom, the same respect as is due to the personality and rights of men, and that it is immoral and anti-social to treat a woman as a means to an end, and not as an end in herself. This concludes the manifesto of the "Open Door" Council. There will probably be many who will think that there is a great deal in what they have put forward to their respective Govjernments.