Fashion Trend

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 22, 27 January 1937, Page 14 (Supplement)

Fashion Trend

The Evening Frock Pastel-coloured Tulle, pleated finely so that enormously wide skirts ripple round the feet and sway out as the owner of the feet steps forth, is a delightful choice in dance frocks if you are young and slender. Chiffon, flared from a fitting hip-line, and with bodice gauged or draped, may also answer that all-important question just now of what to choose for dancingtime. Heavy crepes, stiff moires, soft satin and supple velvets are other fabrics of the season, but whatever you select your frock must have something about it that gleams and glitters. A shining line of gold or silver thread may be interwoven in the material itself, or beads and sequins used for scintillating embroidery. Adding Height. Sashes or shoulder scarves, Cold-stitched or embroidered, may introduce the sparkling note, or a little cape or jacket' of gold or silver lame added to a dress to give the fashionable glitter. Direetoire frocks with their simple long lines are splendid for short women, for they lend more height and gracefulness to the wearer, especially if she wears high-heeled shoes as well. The severely plain dress is often the better choice if you are' plump in addition to being a little below average height. A skilfully-cut gown of Ottoman silk, with a full skirt fashioned from shaped panels had fine slimming possibilities. Designed on Princess lines, the skirt fell from a moulded bodice supported with broad shoulder-straps of the silk. A double-looped flat bow of gold lame ribbon in front of the bodice was the only ornamentation. If Tall. Almost as difficult to suit as the over-plump, is the too tall and thin woman, for her superfluous inches are often apt to make her self-conscious on the ball-room floor. Fortunately, this year, she may adopt lower heeled dancing shoes which will deduct a little from her height. Flat heels are a mistake as they draw attention t<S themselves and often encourage the tendency many tall women have to stride in ungraceful fashion. Then there are tunic dresses, which take several inches from apparent height, particularly if the tunic and skirt are in contiasting materials. For All Styles. Velvet and taffeta are a favourite alliance in all styles of frocks. The influence of the Empird period was expressed in a cyclamen and white striped taffeta skirt combined with a cyclamen velvet bodice with a sasli of the same velvet that had its broad ends arranged down the back in a manner that suggested the tailcoat of the Empire era. From Victorian times, modern designers have borrowed the frock that falls straight in front and has a very full panel at the back, pleated or gathered into a bunch below the waist to look like a bustle. This is the kind of thing you can wear with striking effect if your figure is good and you are tall enough to stand the slight shortening effect of the skirt viewed from the back. Skirts and Walking, Classical designs, in which skirts are long and fit snugly to the figure are attractive to look at, but are often not very comfortable garments in which to dance. A split in the skirt makes movement easier in these sheath-like dresses and if you like you may wear beneath it a petticoat of pleated net or chiffon to show where the skirt is cut up. Long tight skirts may be slit up the front or side, in pre-war style, as far as the knee. Older Women’s Wear. Sleeves and shoulder draperies are flattering items for the older woman’s evening frocks. Graceful wing draperies, achieved by outlining the neck across the front with a folded length of the fabric, and allowing the pointed ends to fall from the shoulders to below the elbows, like eapelets, were a feature of a metal-threaded silk crepe dress. Long cape sleeves in a transparent fabric, long enough t« come well down over the hands and fall away to the elbow wber the arm is raised, are softeninj in effect.