FUTURIST ART

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 360, 22 May 1928, Page 4

FUTURIST ART

In Parisian Fashions

Cubist art is touching women’s dress with a firm finger.

In stitchings, pipings, braiding, juxtaposition of colours, the pictures which are shown in the French salons may be seen —’kins: about the salons of the Rue de la Paix in modified form, and adapted as clothing to the human figure instead of being hung on walls in frames. There are cubist scarves, shawls, hats, and, recently, there have been made some cubist dresses. This sounds worse than it really is, since the dressmakers do not mix cubes with a dozen other things in a dress as Picasso and Matisse mix them in their pictures. A pretty girl dressed in cubist fashion has her charm, very modern, ra * alarming, but attractive to modern eyes. She has a navy blue Kasha dress stitched with yellow and red in slanting lines, shaped in small groups and large groups to form cubes. Vivid Contrast The whole thing looks as if an artist had taken a yellow' pencil and a red one. and had used them on the blue dress as he would were it a bit of canvas. Pleats and folds follow the same strong lines, and the hat is shaped in the same way. A long coat in blue lined with yellow is also sitched to match the dress. The shoes are blue and yellow. The gloves are yellow, the stockings are blue. All sorts of funny things can be done with stitchings, pleatings, braidings on plain materials, which, by the way, are the right ones to have for spring. Nothing is so popular.

Plain English cloth with a slightly rough surface is used to make the neatest of tailor-mades.

To complete her coat and skirt she will have a smart little blouse with a high collar and Lavalliere tie. The blouse may be in crepe of a bright colour, or cream with a touch of colour. It may be tucked into the belt of the skirt, or worn outside it. Both ways are right. Slim Lines Navy blue, grey, beige, brown, plain, finely-figured, vaguely striped, or minutely checked cloths are used to make the straight skirts, short coats with basques rounded at the corners. Collars are like those men wear on lounge suits. There is a breast pocket in which to pin a gold or silver fob, there are pockets in the skirt just big enough to take a little handkerchief. The skirts are straight, and folded deeply over. They are also short and slim. Such will be the spring uniform of the Parisienne. She loves tailor-mades. She delights in the neat trimness of them. There is nothing she likes better than to wear one in plain, neutral or dark-coloured cloth, with a flower in the buttonhole or a fob in the pocket, and a hat in felt or straw which either matches or makes a clear contrast. The cut of coat and skirt must be absolutely perfect. The Frenchwoman nevr economises on her tailor-mades. She knows that you must pay for good material, good workmanship, and she knows that good tailors are scarce. That is why she does not often choose fantastic models. She sticks to the classic coat and skirt, and lets the blouse and the hat give the note of novelty. Her shoes and gloves and bag are just as perfect as her coat and skirt.