News Of What The Smart Woman Is Wearing In Paris.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 361, 16 February 1937, Page 2

News Of What The Smart Woman Is Wearing In Paris.

Black clothes must have individuality to compete with more intense colours, and materials which assert themselves and lints which are attractive are essential. Lucien Lelong has exploited this necessity to the full. He wo*ks with mathematical precision. No woman looks untidy in a ,'Letang dress., becafise the proportions are invariably right. Take a model, for instance, in dull black silk ertpe, with the skirt double and something of the tunic about it. The character comes in the way the over-skirt is lifted at the back and turned back with revets. The bodice has. all its fuss in front to keep the balance true. The tops of the sleeves are full, the draped bow at the high neckline has the ends drawn down to the back. Gilt buckles give a bright highlight to this very quilt but not timid drfess.

Less Restraint.

There is nothing so guarded about the clothes made by Marcel Rochas. He flaunts the brightness of spring in winter and calls youth to meet life with a cheer. A purple-blue woolfen suit, with fine tucking and bows at the neck and on the pockets, is an example. A jade green scarf and gloves lift the whole thing to a spring-time thought. The dark blue felt hat from Maria Guy has a touch of green across the front to relate it to the scarf and gloves. Of course you do have to be careful not to let colour run away with you, but to avoid it altogether is cowardly. Often the Englishwoman is accused of Puritanism in dress when really she it merely timid. She would like to flaunt scarf or a gay feather, but self-consciousness prevents her. And, again, when she does let herself go she runs the risk of going too far. It is always the question of just how far to go in being courageous With line and colour.

Smart and Puritan.

Just a touch of puritanical grace does not come amiss in a frock from Rochas. Peter Pan collar and cuffs with a border of astrakhan look right on the flared silk tunic in brown, tan, and black stripes over a black skirt of cloth. You see the same touch of conscious simplicity on the tartan dresses that are now so much in fashion for morning. A bright green and black tartan dress may have a little white turned-back collar and cuffs. A very sober little brown or black woollen dress is treated differently this winter from last, It is not made to look more demure by a trim lingerie collar, but it shaken out of its.' timidity Uy rows of pearls or coloured beads, bright buckles, and buttons, a flaring scarf, or something vivid in gloves and belt.

The Frenchwoman is essentially courageous in adopting new fashions immediately. She takes them in the green and drops them in the tere and yellow leaf. She does not wait until someone has shown her the way. She is quite ready to lead herself or to be the exception if she finds a new thing suits her. Therein lies her courage and more, since courage in dress should mean knowledge as well and a cultivated taste.