Spice of Variety

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 136, 25 June 1937, Page 18

Spice of Variety

Our Own Correspondent.)

Neu) Hand Wooen Materials

(From

London, June 12. No one can complain that dress shows Ihis season are dull. At every one there ls some unexpected development, some variation, to lend interest to the occasion. Exquisite hand-woven satins, damasks and brocades are features of the Reville ioUection of Coronation season models, md they are used for gowns/ clo^cs and coats made for the ceremonies that ivill crowd upon each other during the ne::t few months. The colour schemes of the materials are lovely . •_ * parchinent, silver and gold; antique ivory and gold; heliotrope and silver; mataflison pink and silver; old gold woven on a background of Coronation -red in designs based on the emblems of Great Britain. Apart from these, for Court and ord.inary evening gowns there are satins, failles, laces, lames, printed crepes ana silk nets. Models are hand embroidered with mother of pearl sequins on river foundations; others gitter with gold sequins, also embroidered by hand. For afternoon frocks there are printed silks in almost every imaginable colour scheme, the topical red, white end blue predominating. Purple, green and yel-„ low; black and gold; navy bue; Wedgwood blue and gr'een; lilac, rose and silver — some colour alliances sound a little startling, pierhaps, but actually they are "kind to the eye." Nottingham laces have a proud position in the collection, and are featured in evening models and in Ascot and garden party ensembles. Smart suits for town and country, developed in Scotch and- Cumberland tweeds, are shown, the highlights among the colours being moss green," purple, cornellan red and air force blue. Good Evening Notes, An attractive "line" li tiie eeries of fly-away evening coats in filmy chiffon. A' red one is worn over a black dress printed with vivid red flowers; black ones go on coloured frocks. Another, made of broad vertical strips of chiffon, in blue, purple, wine and cerise, floats airily over a dress of hand-woven brocade. More substantial is the black- evening wrap coat which has sleeves banded rojund with insets of hiack, silver and' White brocade, ' There is a charming dehutante dance dress in parchment faille, made - in a manner reminiscent of the mediaeval, \vith a full skirt gathered at the waist line, a tight little bodice buttoned in front and a stiffened berthe falling over Ihe corsage top. * » Another youthful looking model, which also has the merit of being unusual, is a deep blue crepe dress, the corsage cut square in front and in a deep V at the back. A kind of "bib" effect in white, edged with a kilted frill, square "in front and tapering with the line of the bodice at the back, is the distinctive feature, together with two little p6ckets, one "each side, on the skirt, thesq alsq edged with white. Boleros. Piquantly attractive, too, is the black evening ensemble, comprising a 'long skirt and a tiny fcolero' wlu|h finishes well above the waistj There are pleated white frills all round the bolero and the short sleeves, and it is worn over a frilly white blouse. I can imagine this turning out to be a most successful and useful ensemble for dinner, restaurant gatherings, cinema evenings and cocktail parties. v ' :v Flower garden effects are legion here, as in other salons. Some designs are huge, like the one in green, red and black on a parchment Satin background. Not content with so much horticultural display, there is a huge cluster of red silk flowers on one shoulder. A more or less simple little black model is lifted into brightness by. means of red flowers round the* hem of the skirt, and a bunch of them at the waist. Something that suggests the scintilla- . tion pf a fairy tale princess appears with another black frock— a bolero made entirely pf multi-coloured paillettes, the size of a shilling, with a quaint little pancake head-dress to match. Small flat head-dresses, by the way, are right in the evening picture, ancl scimetimes, most effectiyely, they are made pf flowers taking up, the colours iri the dress material or repeating those in the shoulder or waist posy. In the Morning. Slick lines are insisted upon for the morning dresses and suits, and the "swagger" effect comes in with the walking sticks in colours to match the ensembles. There is a blue suit, touched Up here and there with violets— and the stick comes too, a blue one ! An air force blue outflt, with red relief in the form of bindings, and a red jumper blouse, gains in dash and darrng when a blue cane is twirled in the hands. Colour again— a red dress^ ai navy blue military cloak, a navy forage cap tinged with red, and a red walking-stick. A brown cane with a brown and beige suit and a brown cape; a green one with a tweed suit showing flashes of green here and there. There must be a reason for the walking-sticks, and the reason is colour. And Afternoon. For Ascot there is a pink lace ensemble, adorned with tiny posies, worn with a large hat wreathed with similar flowers. 1 Also for the fashionable race meeting is a blue and white printed crepe dress, , with while crepe puff sleeves and a white crepe belt finished with a big bow. A large white hat completes tlie picture. For more norma! occasions are charming little dresses in printed crcpe, these assisting in tlie flower show, as it were. One is printed with horizontal rows of flowers, rfed and blue alternately on a [ white ground, and both skirt and bodicc are made up with the flowered strips s i running diagonally — very "slimming." 1 There are a great many colour effects ; on black grounds, the motifs stressing 1 gaiety. And, "by the way of a changc, . tliere is a demure little black frock but- - toncd from throat to hem in front, thc . meeting edges faced with white, tlie : matching coat having a cluster of white 5 violets in the buttonhole. 1 A recital of fashion points which goes , to show how varied are the ideas that I have been worked out, and how easy it I should be for any woman who has taken l the trouble to study her type to dress • well and becomingly this season. But 3 she must consider her own personality i in relation to the modc1s that have been launchcd en .1 -r-n'cved, and pay it the - compliment 'J' '> « ;|1C. right background for it.