Bridal Fashions Are Brilliant

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 163, 28 July 1937, Page 11

Bridal Fashions Are Brilliant

Floral Theme In Hats

* (From Our London Correspondent.) rlS brilliant seaSon will probably go down in social history as the one in eldeh there were more smart weddings tnan in any for years.. Preparations are being made for one wedding retinue after another, and brides-to-be are continually in the news. A young English designer, who is responsible for the dresses in five theatrical successes now running in London, makes bridal ehsembles a speciality, and has worked out some really exquisite schemes. • One bride wore a gown of cream satin moire, made with a very full skirt and a train falling from the gathers at the back. The fitted bodice had a square neck-line and long, tight sleeves, and the " ead-dress was a tiara of gold, pearls

and diamonds with a .long tulle veil tinted exactly to inatch the dress. : The ' bridesmaids had turquoise moire dresses, : made on the same lines as the bride's. and their charming little skull caps! of turquoise het were trimmed with posies i of flowers and had small -veils floating down the back. . For another bridal ensemble, the designer went back to Tudor times for inspiration. The centre figure of the ceremony had a lovely gown of heavy cream satin which was rerniniscent of those worn by 16th century ladies. The train was cut in one with the skirt, and the sleeves had slight fullness at the tops, then were fitted tightly to the arms and finished in points over the" hands. The only trimming was some beautiful pearl embroidery taken from

the7 bride's- rpptjier's pwn-'^eddii}® gown. > A; pbmted- halo. head-dress, embroidered' with " pearls, was ,wqrn . with' ; a . . veil. Of : "needle-po'int .lape. Again, the brides-' maids. wo.re blue mbire— a'hyacihth tint— ; the 'frodks"cut"in "picture" style.'.ppening'in front over pfetticbats 'of pink Sun-, " ra'y "pleeited chiffon: The tbodices had: square. necks 'and • shdrt 'piiffed "sleeves, - and 'ihe girls' Tudor 'caps "of," blue and ' pink- chiffon ' looked sweet ! 'A' ttiird' most 'attractive "scheme com- . prised a' gown' of- pale' gold satin Duchessfe for' the bride, aild ieaf jgrefen georgette' 3 dresses for the aftendants. ' The. •bride's dress was made on Princess lines,; • With a' high draped neck; sleeves cut" full. at 4he tops, fitted below, and tapering. over .the hands. A girdle of - pearls outlined the waist, and the train, very; long and oval in shape,.was rnade'in one: with the skirt and edged with pearls. A - halo. beadf dress of ,P.ale. gold v net, embroidered with pearls, and a long. veil: of pale gqld tulle cpmpleted .a charming pictute. Six grown-iip attendants and one , baby ,-formed the retinue, ' their greeri georgette dresses " iucked ' at the' waist and the skirts spreading into fullness at the hems. All wore long pale gyeen- suede gloives and leaf-green ' tulle hats." ' ' ' , . * . ' • . ; Although ' white . and off- white ' tones1 have been : superseded- to • some * extent by silver and : gold lames, and: pastel' tinted satins and chiffOns, during the last . f ew seasons. . there is. a . definite in- • qlination.. to retarn to thb. traditional theme .so. iar :as; t^e - bride's .gown is concerned, «n3. to leave it to .the. retinue to. mtroduce the ^golour riote. One delicious scheme ' worked out by " a ' fdnlous ; dedi©ier Was to 'dress the' grown-up bridesmaids in blue fro'cks shaditigVfrom ' sapphire to ttirquoise, and' the -tiny girls in the. same molour.in pastel tints.: Thus .a shaded trgil.of "blue f or' happiribss" woqnd its way up. the .aisle behind the white'-clad bride, .whose only ornament was an exquisite pearl cross, atthe throat matching the girdle [ of pearls. at th^ waist. ' • More "Picture" Themes. From bridal gowns to 'dance dresses . . -the'. younger set— girls who. have niade • their debut -this season - and ' are . only 17 or -18—have fallen in love with bouffant skirts, tight little bodices,- off-the-shoulders corsages,' posies and floral .bracfelets. "And • very nice they. look ;in them. - • Since Ghiffon, •net- and tulle -.are regarde'd as the most -suitable materialis be no more attractive style in which to for young. folks'- party frocks, there could make' them..up. Although .the ; bodices are tight, they are not in' the least "skimpy," being . draped ;or • ,sliirr.ed tio .mould .slender figures into. graceful. lines. Tliere. is. sometiiing piquantly. Victorian about the models, and the best exponents of their charms are the demure girls,' who have sleek hair parted in the centre and drawn .intq a "bun" in the nape of the. neck.' One 'or.two of • them wear a little cluster of tight curls. higb in front, 'and look adorable. Some of the skirts are actually stifimed towards- the hems to make them tand out, orinoline fashion. They look veil with their soft swaying movements, ut are riot comfortabje to 'dance ift. Ithers are . made fipn enpiigh" ]to .• ffoii- ; •on. in the approyed mapner by fqcings f stifferied. qet at" the hems, or by i. numrous ro.ws of s close .stitching' which give certain substance to airy-fairy' fabfics. A dark girl— bla?k hair' parted in the entre— ^cauged SQmething of a sensatj;dn. ">*fc\v nights ago'by "appfearing ib > -black'

tulle frock,. the skirt bouffant and the bodice shirred -tightly across the figure, with a Huge cluster of scarlet velvet .geraniums at the waist and a small posy of them stuck behind one ear. Her lips and' finger nails exactly matched the .flowers, and she carried a fan in the Same bright colour.. Nice little dqy dresses of fine woollen materialg and the heavier silks are made in semi-bouffant sforle, "too. They are rather Qf Quaker inspiration, the' bodices buttoning from throat to - waist and the skirts gathered qn to them or.else falling in accordion • pleats'. A plain turn-over collar finishes a fr^ck like this, and nCat cuffs on the elbow-length sleeves. Usually, too, tHere is a small posy of bright floWers,' for the floral note still holds its own and shows little sign qf retiring •from populariiy. Flowers in Hats. Which brings me to the hats women are wearing now, There are a few models minus- flower, trimnqings, but the majority sport the . gardeners' emblems Ejven the rather stiff semi-boater shapes have little bunches of flowers, and onc or two moclfils have a singic line of

rtxixed blossoms ' all reund the brim. Floral toques, made of massed rosebuds, violets, gardenias, camelhas— ahnost any small flower you can Imagine — are worn at afternoon parties, and when the blooms do not appear on the hat itself they. often . outline' the stiff little . .veil which now descends well beloty the eyes. In this case, the , flowers are, of course, tiny and very light, but, in bright colours, . they rlqok pretty on the black or navy net background.