Up in the Morning Down at Night

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 935, 31 March 1930, Page 5

Up in the Morning Down at Night

The New Song of the Skirt SIXTEEN— fifteen—twelve—five—zero! No, it is not an American football signal. It is tlie new song of the shirt. Sixteen inches from the ground is where a sport skirt should stop, fifteen inches a street dress, twelve a formal afternoon frock and tive a dancing frock, while the • formal evening gown comes all the way down to earth.

Knee-length frocks have gone back into the grave nature made for them, and hemlines have gone down far enough to allow us to sit down with some degree of grace and modesty. Evening gowns once more take up the spirit of music and rhythm and have mercifully released us from looking like bow-legged puppets in gingham aprons as we danced. The mode is humanised once more! ELIMINATE TAWDRY FRILLS Now in wearing these new clothes the only thing we have, to do is eliminate all those tawdry, foolish meaningless frills that have crept in along with the very charming new things. Good taste never did and never will abandon a simplicity of a sort. Women of taste will not riotously hang every new frill and flounce and fancy on to each one of their gowns. They will merely pick and choose—a this here and a that there—until their costume loses awkward severity and assumes a feminine charm. And there they will stop. You see, despite all the erroneous rumours abroad, the new mode is not fusißy. It. has added little capes and little boleros —little bows and soft flares—Collars and cuffs and jabot 3 and all sorts of seamings. But when

all is said and done, these new i things are meant to be used in mod- : eration—as a softening influence only to an otherwise modern use- \ fulness. Costumes are still slender and with- ! out bulk—or should be. They are still delightfully free for walking and thoroughly practical for sports. They still make unity and harmony their aim. Indeed, the successful and truly artistic creations of spring have a most disarming way of looking very simple until one analyses them. And it is quite safe to say that wherever the new costume looks frumpy and fussy or bulky—something is wrong with either the costume itself or the woman wearing it. NEW FASHIONS ADD TO FEMININITY OF DRESS What has truly happened is only a most natural evolution—a subtle progress in the developments of fashion. If we will but stop and look beneath the surface, we will see quite a similarity to the fashions so many are relinquishing with such reluctance. The new clothes are equally wearable —I think more so—they are equally suited to the modern’s need —they are practical—they merely are feminised and softened and lifted from the drab monotony of uniforms. Why, these modes of 1930 are only the mature and lovely results of those awkward, adolescent gropings of post-war days. These are glorious, glorious new fashions—and thank goodness, the hour of lovely women has returned!