SHORT SKIRT RIVALS TURKISH TROUSERS?

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 135, 29 August 1927, Page 5

SHORT SKIRT RIVALS TURKISH TROUSERS?

There is a new silhouette on the skyline, faintly seen, but unmistakable. The too short-skirted, too tightskirted feminine figure is fast moving toward oblivion. Two leading Paris designers have ceased to make the very short skirts. They have made dresses with skirts that fall well below the knees. Some are looped all round like the trousers of the Turkish women. Others are either gathered or pleated. For the former, soft, silken and muslin materals are used. For the latter, there may be more substance in the material.” In both cases the waist-line is set higher than formerly, but it is not stiffened. The supple grace of the figure is insisted on, and there is no sign of the return of the pinched waist. That such a harmful fashion should ever be accepted by the modern woman is unthinkable. She may be ready to bare her knees and wear the minimum of clothing to appear slim about the hips, but to tiglit-lace she will never agree. She has: too much respect for her freedom. These two new tendencies in fashion lio in quite different directions. It is not to be prophesised which will win or whether a third will not come in and over-rule both. The influence of the Turkish dress, with bolero and sash, or short coat showing a blouse with sloping shoulders and loose sleeves underneath, is clearly to be traced in many of the new dresses and ensembles which are being made this season. The other tendency reaches back to those years in the 19th century when checked and plaided cotton ginghams were the rage. They may be associated with the early days of Mrs. Kendal and the charming innocence of the heroines of romance in those times. Full hips had their charm then. Feminine bosoms rose and fell in soft emotion under kerchiefs and fichus. Bonnets were worn to go to church on Sunday; big-brimmed Leghorn hats hid the blushes which dyed the cheeks of girls just out of the schoolroom. The rival to these two tendencies, and not yet apparent, is the straight Directoire and Empire dress. That it should not return to popularity seems hardly possible. The high waist-line, the skirts falling straight to the ankles, the rounded neck, are so closely allied to the slim, straight figure which everyone has learned to like. For sport, the short, full kilted or pleated, skirt, with a straight jumper and a loose coat to go over it, remain untouched. Nothing can beat this ensemble. There are changes in colour, in material, in little harmless decorations, but the comfort of the whole thing may not be interfered with. For winter, long sleeves, for summer, short sleeves. For winter, high necks, for slimmer, low necks. There is also the new lightness in weight of materials used for summer clothes. What looks like a tweed or a warm kasha is, on close inspection, a thin crepe figured like a tweed, transparent as muslin, though with a jersey finish. The same good qualities are to be found in summer tailor-mades. It is now easy to look tailored and be cool. Women have shown their com-mon-sense in this. Their dresses may be fragile, but they are not too hot. Neither will they be too cold when the temperature changes. This is clear by v heir love of wearing fur and leather. All the year round they have these practical garments ready for use.