Frills, Fads and Foibles

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 702, 29 June 1929, Page 21

Frills, Fads and Foibles

Vogues and Vagaries (By MADAME JEANNE YARREZ)

One of the most comforting things about the modern mode is its gradualness, as it were. It spares us startling newnesses that would at once date our existing wardrobes and put them virtually out of action. This,, method of advance by easy stages on the part of the dressmakers is an eloquent commentary on the changed position. It is tLie buyer of dresses, not the maker, who is the ultimate fashion dictator. The greatest dress artists can no longer force their creations on an unwilling feminine public. Aud so, on viewing numerous new collections, it is found that there is nothing “sensational” to record. There are new gowns, new materials, new hats and new shoes: but there are no really revolutionary departures to startle us. The lengthened skirt, the normal waistline, have been talked about so much and have arrived so gradually—preceded by semi-fitting bodices, floating panels, and uneven hems —that their ultimate materialisation is not in the least unexpected. The natural waistline vogue is increasingly sponsored by the Paris houses. It is defined with belts on tweed coats and tailor-made suits.

i The full skirts of dressy little frocks ! j fall in slim folds from the normal I waist, while the bodices maintain the j slim fitting line. Lengthened skirts j 1 | characterise afternoon and evening j ! gowns alike. i j Charming afternoon dresses of the - fashionable printed materials are 1 I made to match the linings of the plain , la inage or marocain coats which ac- ! | company them. Others, without the i coat ( omplemeuts, are fashioned with . kilted frills in plain colours, the plain . I colours being used also for collars that are placed across the back, • sailor-wise, from shoulder to shoul ; der. Nearly every house has its own » special collar treatment, and neck- ■ lines include a seemingly endless > range, from the high upstanding military type -to the frilly jabot. A quaint : corsage note is the old world “tucker” [ of brussels net that is finding favour > with the designers of afternoon ; frocks. i * * * Blouses have come right back again . and are frequently worn with quite high collars and the old-fashioned ■ belts. \ i * * * i The skirt of a sports suit is generally knife or box-pleated; but some-

times it is fashioned with an inserted godet falling below the hem at the centre back in the case of a plain model. Some of the prettiest colours the new season offers are buttercup yellow (very attractive and very newallied with black), a lovely shade of burnt orange, a rich capucine “nasturtium,” and a peculiarly unusual but attractive salmon pink. There is a sort of solidity about even the i palest of the last-word hues. With the exception of such materials as moire, which are a law unto themselves in the matter of old-fashioned ! tones, colours are in a totally different category from last year’s. Most of this year’s silks show fine stripes, checks or broken lines. Small patterns are notably popular among the featherweight woollen materials, some of which show almost a trisea weave, and are often embroidered with small dots or tiny geometrical designs. Still more bonnets aud caps are being made to show' the hair; and the diminutive veil, which just covens the eyes and is gathered in front, i: back again. Feather plumes are seen again; so are coq-quills, and flat flowers of silk and velvet ribbons adorn some of the new hats. Quiltings of silk and leather are used both on hats and sports suits. Fashion’s leading jewel is the diamond. though opals and rubies are agaiu very much the mode. Mother->f-pearl is used effectively as a bugle and flat sequin trimming. "NAZOL”—the correct remedy for : coughs and colds. Brings instant relief. 60 aoses for Is 6d. 1