VOGUE FOR MANY COLOURS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 378, 12 June 1928, Page 5

VOGUE FOR MANY COLOURS

i SEARCHING THE SHOE SHOP By DORE CHARMON The choice of shoes has now become as knotty a problem as the choice |of a dress. They may no longer be i concidered separately from the wardi robe, but have, in some ~*ner, to ' be part of a suit, so far matching that one has the impression that no ! other pair in the world would have looked n’lite so well. As if to complicate matters, numbers and numbers of attractive designs have been fashioned for this season and are now put before our bewildered eyes. Patent leather is still the most popular for formal shoes. Blue kid and a beautiful shade of gunmetal glace are found in exclusive shops, but they are both expensive. The cheap lines of blue shoes on the market are really not worth buying, for a scratch—which is almost inevitable—shows white. Patent leather seems to ■wear much better than in the old days and really nothing looks smarter. Pumps are the most fashionable shape, and it is surprising the amount of decoration a designer can put into them. Short Shapes The long, thin shoe, by the way, has quite gone out of fashion, and in its place the French shape, with the short vamp and high cuban heel, is established. Insertions of a contrasting leather are the typical form of ornamentation. Snakeskin is, of course, the most desirable trimming. Narrow bindings of snake encircle the vamp shoes, gussets are let into the sides, applications are put on to form a design and contrasting toe-caps are among the foremost designs. The most fashionable woman has a handbag to match her shoes. Luxury designs consist of a handbag, a belt and shoes en suite. Exclusive shoemakers adorn their windows with one or two such sets, marked at a more than elaborate price. There is no confusing formality with walking The variety of these designs does credit to the shoemaker’s originality. The American type of shoe has caught hold of our imagination. An almost crazy combination of leathers is used. Diamonds of Gazelle Some of the designs are too attractive for words! I saw a delightful pair of beech-coloured kid shoes trimmed on either side with four inlet diamonds of gazelle. They laced over the instep with a double-eyed band of leather, which fastened with a leather bow. A pair of black glace shoes were decorated with scroll-like insertions of green dyed snakeskin. I could give many more examples of the same kind of thing, but it is sufficient to say that nothing is too extraordinary to be worn, and that the liking for the ballet dancer type of lacing no longer confines itself to the strictly country shoe, but appears, less conspicuously cut, on every other pair of walking shoes. Shoes for the country are no longer confined to brogues. Enterprising designers are showing golfing shoes, for instance, in gay colours to match the club bag. Reds, greens and blues appear, and many of them are snaketrimmed. White trimmed with tan is as popular as ever.

Without the publiety which usually attaches to the artistic endeavours of well-known people, Lady Patricia Ramsay, one of the most radiant women in London society, has gradually blossomed out as quite an accomplished artist. She will give an exhibition of her water colours during the forth - coming London season.