The Fashion Pace Set at Ellerslie

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 158, 24 September 1927, Page 13

The Fashion Pace Set at Ellerslie

BLUES, GREENS AND VIVID CHEERY-REDS FAVOURITES IN THE COLOUR STAKES

THE opening of the Avondale Jockey Club’s spring meeting at Ellerslie to-day saw Dame Fashion coquetting in hesitant manner with the many new clothes she has promised us for more benignant springtime wear. The uncertainty of our fickle Auckland climate and the downpour of the morning made it a decidedly wise matter to wear tailleurs and protective raincoats, but in between the showers and in the shelter of the stands and lunch-room there wer a number of frocks and suits of braver persuasion to be seen.

Blue led the way easily in the colour race, both in its navy expression and in a wealth of lighter tones. Then came greens . . . such sparkling leaf and sedgeg reens that flaunted their gay tints in raincoats and wraps that defied Nature’s efforts to make them dill . . . rivalling the green that shone so beautifully, however wet it might be, from every shrub and bush and palm at ever-attractive Ellerslie. Cherry red, Chinese red, lacquer red, reds of the pillar-box hue, and all the bright brother and sister reds of the cherry family were present, sometimes in handbag form with a hat and boutonniere to keep them company, again in the trimming on a chic little suit of navy tricot ... in more audacious mood they came on the heels or toes of charmingly original shoes. New suits in a wonderful variety of tweeds, kashas and tricots presented all the innovations consistent with the severely simple lines t£> which we still pin our faith, and which these materials demand in their treatment, although quite a number of liberties were taken and some surprisingly clever things done to tailleurs that marked them as definitely “Spring, 1927.” In the millinery scheme of things wider brims appeared to be steadily growing in importance, though the entirely brimless helmet hat demonstrated its extreme smartness on anyone possessed of perfect enough features to combat its severity of line. Felt has dominated millinery modes for so long a time that there has been quite a revolt against its continued supremacy, and the prophecies to-day were for an unprecedented straw season.

Hat trimimngs included everything from feathers, buckles, diamante, grosgrain ribbon to flowers of silk, satin and suede, while bands of calfskin and

the hundreds of real and simulated reptile skins showed their versatility ,n many ways.

Furs were much too essential to the chilly ones among us to have been left at home, and many firm l’avruites were to be seen wrapped snugly over the lighter frocks. One particularly striking coat, worn by one of Auckland’s most charming brunette hostesses, showed an original maipulation of beaver, with vague stripes formed by the rich shading of the skins, intriguingly allied with baby lamb of almost clothlike pliability. The well-shod foot, so necessary to any kind of chic, was more universal than ever, for shoes, despite their more fantistic phases, seem to grow more charming daily. Shies of the tie variety held pride of place, but courts and strap models were popular. But everywhere—goloshes!

As for accessories—were they ever so numerous or so delightful before? Flowers of every rainproof texture from wool to suede, all seemingly in full bloom, appeared on every other suit and coat. Belts in materials as diverse as deerskin and metal were worn by many women. Bags were larger than ever, and the most attractive kind sponsored the pouch shape. Here and there appeared a charming novelty in the form of a cuddly little woolly • dog, that: nestled in lifelike manner under its owner’s amr, till, suddenly, one saw her rend it limb from limb . . . quite all right, though, for they were bags, too, and their cute little “innards” were but capacious receptacles for Madame’s wisp of handkerchief, powder puff and tote winnings!

'Among those present were: T\T^£ rS T=>' C - ona i£r.^f. cLe °d, Mrs. A. Farquhar, M £ rior Williams, Mrs. Geo. Hutchi*J rs * T E .- Reid, .M rs . j ack H ellaby, Miss M. Jackson, Miss V. Jackson, Mrs. J. .Paterson. Miss Tole. Miss Vaile, Mrs Thorne George, Miss D. Vaile, Mrs. Abbott, Miss Fairclough, Mrs. Tole, Miss Tole, Miss Duthle, Mrs. Rathbone, Mrs. Ernest Alison, Mrs. Rishworth, Cambridge, Mrs. Findlay, Mrs. Ashworth Mrs. C. Mcindoe, Mrs. Joyce, Mrs. Jackson, Mrs. Vaile, Mrs. E. Reilly, Wellington, Mrs. Wiseman, Christchurch, Mrs. Walker, Christchurch, Mrs. M. Scott, Mrs. W. fe. Spence, Mrs. D. Gorrie, Mrs. M. Wells, Cambridge, Mrs. Hannon, Cambridge, Mrs. Dacre, Mrs. Hunter, Mrs. Clerk, Mrs. Thorburn, Christchurch, Mrs. Farrell, Mrs. C. Jones.