Feminine Interests

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 480, 9 October 1928, Page 5

Feminine Interests

Modes of Margaret Miss Bannerman Loves Femininity In Frocks for Stage and Street What She Saw in Paris

Miss Bannerman is receiving much reclame as the best-dressed woman of the English stage, as well as the loveliest and the most charming. Certainly she has a flair for clothes, unusual in anyone but a great designer, and the hundr«d* of gowns and ensembles which she possesses are eloquent proof of her clothes-sense and Jove of beautiful things. Quito apart from the glorious clothes sho wears on the stage, Miss Bannerman has a magnificent wardrobe of Lcnief models, and yesterday, with the gracious charm that is so essentially a part of her delightful personality, she came at our request and showed us some of the fascinating things she owns, and told us of the modes that France will send for summer wear.

Lenief, of the Rue St. Honore, Paris, is the designer of all of Miss Bannerman’s frocks, and when she knew that she was to come out to Australia and New Zealand, she went to Paris specially to select a lot of new clothes for the trip.

Chatting about the modes that she saw, and those that she brought with her, the lovely blue-eyed blonde actress said that they were for the most part summer ones, with all the delicate pastel shades predominating. Perhaps the most favoured colours were yellow, blue and green. Longer skirts appeared to reign supreme, but in reality it was just an illusion of length given by cleverly placed draperies, and the actual skirt length was little longer than last season. SHINING SPORTS MODES Talking of materials, she said that it is in them that most style differences of the season are to be seen. Last year we had kashas with tinsel woven in their fabric for sports wear, but this year they are more tinsel than kasha, with the result that many of the new sports clothes glitter as only evening frocks were once allowed to do. Lace was most popular and fashionable for both afternoon and evening wear, and it is one of the fabrics Miss Bannerman loves. She loves, too, all the flowered chiffons and georgettes that achieve so great a measure of fluttering femininity with the new softened silhouette and all the flares and godets that are the coming fashion. THE PEACOCK DROOP

The chief thing about the fashions of the summer months is the prevalence in every mode but that for sports wear of the hemline that dips to the back, achieving the peacock droop, as it is called.

Miss Bannerman showed us some of her own delightful clothes that feature this line. A green ensemble we had already seen on her, and a black one collared with lynx, carried out the same line. From her wardrobe she brought a wonderful evening coat of blue tissue patterned with sprays of roses. That coat has an intriguing little collar that stands upright at the back like that on a mandarin’s coat, while the skirt of it sweeps down in gracious lines that are the keynote of to-morrow’s modes. The sleeves, which are very full, show the same curved lines as does the coat itself, making of it an exquisite symphony of line and colour.

Even the simplest of Miss Bannerman’s afternoon frocks exemplify this line, for she is an enthusiastic admirer of the feminine trend of the mode, and adores draperies and flares of every sort. One of her frocks of black chiffon has tiny frills patterned in green and rust, to give it the dipping line at the back. A different effect is shown in a

charming trifle of ashes of roses georgette, in which the draping falls to just below the hemline and then is unexpectedly caught up and carried to the waistline at the back. Trains, which Miss Bannerman wears so much on the stage, were talked of, and Miss Bannerman showed us one of her own dainty frocks of apple green georgette, which has a train effect that is really but a lengthening at either side of deftly-arranged panels that may, when its wearer wishes to dance, be clipped up to appear just like ordinary side draperies that fall a little below the hemline at either side. “And what a relief,” said the beautiful star, “after the heavy, cumbersome trains of a few years ago!” THE HATS SHE WEARS Small hats frame the fair face of Margaret so charmingly that it is easy to understand her special penchant for them. Speaking of those she saw in Paris before coming out, she said that many of them had enormous brims and were very attractive for summer days, but the small hat still remains supreme, and the models, such as Miss Bannerman favours, with a slight curve over the left eyebrow, are most popular. “These are the latest, too.” She held up her foot for inspection. “These” were tiny sandels, the sole and heel of which were cut from a solid piece of wood and enamelled in a futuristic design of bright blue and silver, with slender straps of blue and silver kid across her slim ankle.

THOROUGHLY DOMESTICATED Miss Bannerman said that she had often thought of coming out to Australia and New Zealand long before she was approached by J. C. Williamson. Ltd. This was due to her purchase of a beautiful bungalow home from an Australian woman, Mrs. Aarons. The bungalow is at Bourne End, in Bucks, near Marlow, where Mr. and Mrs. Dion Boucicault (the latter Irene Vanbrugh) have their charming home. At present they have let it to Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Wallace. “It is really rather a lovely house,” said the fair Margaret, “with a typically colonial atmosphere.’” Miss Bannerman declares that she is thoroughly domesticated. She keeps fowls and ducks and has had quite a success with the breeding of Alsatian dogs. When it comes to cooking—well, all her friends, and they are legion, who have been entertained at meals prepared by her, are still quite well and happy. PLAIN OR PRETTY? Asked in the course of conversation if she thinks that a plain woman has to work harder for her place in the sun than a pretty one, Miss Bannerman said that that was a question she could not answer, for she had never yet met a plain woman. “Every face is an indication of character.” she said, “and all character is interesting. Character it is that counts and that is what gets its owner ‘there’ in the long run. “Life may be made easier for the pretty girl for a while, but if she has nothing at the back of her prettiness she will soon become a failure, and when that fatal hour comes discontent will spread its ugly veneer over even the most perfect features.” The English star’s advice to every girl is to start in young and cultivate her brains, for intelligence, she says, counts far more than any particular shape of nose and mouth can do. She admits that the pretty woman has a pull over her less perfect sister for the first half hour after meeting anyone, but declares emphatically that the vivacious woman will “put it all over her in 35 minutes, while the woman with charm, no matter if her features are as mixed as a Christmas pudding, is the finest stayer of all the daughters of Eve.”