The Newest Vagaries of the Mode

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 706, 4 July 1929, Page 10 (Supplement)

The Newest Vagaries of the Mode

Evening Gowns Hold Pride of Place in Paris Collections

PELLOW - COUNTRYWOMEN! "*■ There is a conspiracy against your sartorial liberty. They want to get you into tight bodices and long skirts, and even to send you back to the tyranny of hairpins. What are you going to do about it?

At the moment, the cloud Is no bigger than a man’s hand, but let us be prepared: a return to uncomfortable clothing is in the air. “A man’s hand” is a particularly apt simile, because the houses directed by women are not nearly so stringent in their proposed reforms. Many of those, directed by men, however, are determined to force us into what they call femininity at all costs. SPORTS CLOTHES UNCHANGED

There is an offensive even against our favourite sports clothes, for there

are far fewer modes of this type in the collections than there have been for many seasons. Not that there will be any falling off in the number bought and worn. There is a more plausible explanation of their absence from the collections of the great houses. Sports clothes have become so definitely crystalised into a recognised formula, that there is no longer much chance for invention and imagination in them.

SKIRT LENGTHS ARE INTERESTING

The most interesting point at the moment is the length of skirts. Of course, this is not a point at all in most cases, but a series of them, for in the majority of evening frocks panels and uneven points continue to add length to the back and sides of skirts. This season skirt fronts will be worn long as well; in some models they even touch the ground. Patou, that famous coutourier, has long all-the-way-round evening gowns. The trained evening gown has been introduced, but this is a style that few women will adopt. The most popular skirts are those of several lengths, touching the ground in places and falling to just below the knee in others.

The waistline has reverted to its normal position in evening gowns and bodices will be worn closer fitting.

The very essence of this silhouette is flexibility, the uncorsetted appearance of the natural figure. If you do not possess it naturally, go to a dressmaker who will allow you straight lineq, vague, perhaps slightly bloused bodices, with a tight flat look to the hips which can be adequately controlled by the modern corset. ROUNDED SLENDERNESS The era of exaggerated slimness is now considered over. Emaciation is a thing of the past; rounded slenderness is the ideal figure. Very interesting are the dinner gowns of short, even length. Not only the simple little dinner gown of more or less informal materials, but important looking models, sometimes entirely beaded, spangled, or jewelled, are of this short, even-hemmed

variety. Skirts are sometimes tiered, and several have that peplum tunic which must be noted among the season’s silhouettes. Oddly endugh, older women find this line more youthful in effect than the long skirt. It seems a paradoxical sort of seasoning that allots long skirts to youth, but women who study themselves have found that there is something in the idea. OUR CROWNING GLORIES As to hair-dressing, many authorities ■ want to induce us to make something ■ of our “crowning glory.” That is a masculine expression. Most , women refer to long hair as a crowning nuisance. Nevertheless, it is to r be feared that the general vogue of ; hair short in the back will soon be . over. Already it is worn longer, with curls and twists, and even tiny 5 chignons. The small head is still * desirable, but if waists shorten and l skirts lengthen we shall be able to

stand larger heads without looking shorter. Hats, of course, will grow larger to correspond; a good many of them are more important in size already.. The dipping brim in the back, the new “sou’ wester” line is conspicuous in the designs for spring -wear.