LONG FROCKS DEMAND GRACENOT ACTION

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 980, 24 May 1930, Page 23

LONG FROCKS DEMAND GRACENOT ACTION

SLOW MOTION DANCE ERA HOP-AND-JUMP STEPS GO Fashion has set a new gait for woman, and, incidentally, a new pace for men. The vogue for long skirts has changed the modern tempo from presto to adagio with amazing abruptness. “Walk, do not run,” is an admonition that all smart women are heading—from necessity. And men. having no choice in the matter, are timing their pace accordingly. They like it! Ever since the flig leaf era. changing fashions in dress have brought certain changes in manners and cus- ; toms. And so, when Fashion declared i against freedom of the knees and j lowered the curtain on legs, the fast- ! stepping days became a matter of history. Giddy flappers became romantic I ladies of mystery. Since evening dresses are the longest of the long, it is in the ballroom j that the new feeling for dignity, 1 romanticism or what you will, is most clearly portrayed. Indeed, the. smart j ballroom scene is taking on the ap- j pearance of a slow motion picture. Old-time dances are returning to favour and many of the newer dances i have adopted steps that were in j vogue when grandmother was a girl. ‘Hot music” is giving way to the I lilting strains of the waltz and the j measured beat of the tango. OLD TUNES, TOO Jazz band leaders are searching through old music files for something “new.” The orchestras are crooning sentimental songs instead of playing them. “Not for the first time in social his- j tory do the authorities of fashion and i the authorities of dancing find themselves linked together with a resultant tremendous influence on social habits,” says one authority on dancing. “The way in which we dance is changing. Can you imagine—unless you are in the habit of wild dreams—a woman, stately in a long dress, doing the Charleston? Or the Black Bottom? Therefore, the dance music subtly adapts itself as do the dance steps that must be done in those skirts. "Those who listen to dance orchestras over their microphone know that the rhythm of dance music is today more sweeping, more graciously flowing than a year ago. "Very few remain of the jerky, hop-and-jump rhythms that used to make dance floors look like exhibits of escaped jacks-in-the-box. The women of this year are not minded to throw away the imposing effects of long gowns, close-fitting to ■ eyeal contours, by dancing wildly. "Look at dance floors now. From the orchestra come smooth measures. and on the floor the couples move gracefully about, conscious of •he effect they are making; the women anyway. EVERY GIRL A PRINCESS " The tango, as a result, gaius in Popularity. The foxtrot has, for the past year, been changing itself flex‘c • to give more smoothly rhythmical >-'veep, getting away from the' staccato movements of yesteryear. The waltz may, as a further result, rush back -ato. popularity. No matter how halting the dance i vait. however, women are intrigued ' dh the new-old idea of grace and ! U.guity, and consider the game well worth the candle. The new evening ; •rocks make every woman a princess utter sundown—so what more could tne _ w earers want ?” Evening gowns designed for spring • nd summer remain quite long. Gracemi flakes provide freedom of movement and express themselves in a aousand and one different ways. Decoiletes are low—in fact, very, very low The choice of fabrics is practically unlimited, running the gamut : rom the soft cotton nets to fragile •aces and supple silks. Chiffon —in >°tli plain and printed effects —is a tavourite. One thing is certain. The new evening gowns are of a picturesque type 'hat presages a “slow motion” era. -‘-ad the admonition “step lively” is no longer obeyed after dark. It just cannot be done.