FASHION’S FAVOURITE FABRICS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 137, 31 August 1927, Page 5

FASHION’S FAVOURITE FABRICS

By PAULINE BOUCHIER. Among the delightful spring frocks are many simple styles made from the daintiest and most original of materials. A soft and fine taffetas is often used patterned with very tiny designs. Small black and cerise streaks and dashes on a lemon ground look gay, while a shepherd’s plaid of the brightest shades and the thinnest lines is very fashionable. Narrow threads of coloured silk are effectively worked into some of the new cotton marocains of the same colour. Spun silk makes many pretty, but nevertheless serviceable, frocks, and little speckles of varying colours are sufficient to give the impression of a design and to dazzle the eye. I have seen this speckled scheme carried out in shades of hyacinth pink, cherry and peach. When the spun silk is striped, it shows some really broad designs. CUBES OF COLOUR Cubes of colour on a neutral ground are other characteristic spun-silk patterns. Such decided designs seem to be reserved to this washing silk, while many of the new voiles and finer silks make a fetish of borders. For instance, on a heavy beige crepe, in a town shop, is a charming design of clusters of cocoa-coloured spots. On one side they are quite small, becoming gradually larger till they converge on the other side to form a thick brown border. One of the new patterns in flowered chiffon has white for its background, and on the left side is a four-inch margin from whence “grow” a row of sturdy tulips in varying heights, complete with rich green foliage. The complete simplicity of the design is most enchanting. Georgettes and Chiltons of plain colours are, at times, preferred to the patterned varieties, and then navy and black are popular. OLD FAVOURITES Linen and shantung, two old favourites, will be used for many of the more substantial frocks this year, the shantungs being patterned with the fashionable small posies of flowers in bright colours on pastel grounds. Perhaps it is because blouses are worn again that we see a large selection of white and ecru lace motifs and insertions in the shops. There are also deep, wide pyramids of silk lace in numerous “blonde” colours, to be inserted into the skirts of billowy dance frocks and the lingerie which accompanies them. The laces are ofter interwoven with metal threads, and sometimes with single diamente. A loosely-woven kind of blanket cloth is mixed with coloured and perforated suede to make chic tennis coats. The prettiest material of this description that I have yet seen is of blue and grey, with little loops of rose threads outlining the stripes of colour. It is really a most attractive design for such a durable and warmth-giving fabric.