IN FASHION'S REALM.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 20 October 1913, Page 2

IN FASHION'S REALM.

UP-TO-DATE NOTES ON WHAT TO WEAR. Hats and sunshades! You are bound to have a hat with a lightning conductor style of trimming. If this is high how are you going to hoist your parasol ? The rigidly erect and j tall arrangement of aigrettes or fea- ( thers, flowers or ribbon, must not be disturbed. Then what of a thunderstorm P^—think The "tall mount'' parasol is an novelty. Like most good things it is simple. It is'essentially for the high mount hat and would be absurd with L. . ' *he side takes a any otlie'l'.- lnu» •«-- • considerable Upward slope when . open, ftttd turves as though to "dome" in the orthodox way. However, the rib Ranges its mmd, and so | having curv<ts over to a fair dista_ e it turns ami forms a .supcr-rome; and it is this—small—that covers the upstanding aigrette with damaging it by contract. The whole thing is managed by a clever variation of the shaping and placing of the ribts. A note from the other side of the woild says: ''lnasmuch as there is a certain piquancy as well as convenience and protection in the new shape it is being acquired by any number of smart women, who make the' Sunshine their excuse to display their new possession and to proclaim their up-to-dateness. Also as if their shape were not enough to make them distinctive, some models are covered in a new material—new for this purpose—and so draped as to be reminiscent of the latest di'ess skirts." For an example of this, picture the pretty novelty with its sloped surface covered with passion liower purple crepe de cHiine, the soft fabric being eventually arranged in festoons, which hide, all the points of the ribs, being further finished off by a. dainty flat"rolled frill. This frilled fulness is drawn upward at intervals into a rosette-like knot, and then left to hang in a long hand-kerchief-shaped end. For the rest it' is all lined with ""chiffon a little paler in tone, and provided with a very long handle of snake wood, topped with ivory. Needless to say this is not the kind of parasol to use to protect your "lightning conductor" hat in a shower. It can only be hoisted with an inner prayer that line weather will continue. Apropos sunshades generally, a Paris note reads "While hats have changed the shape of some sunshades the fabric fashions in dresses have had just as potent and decorative an influence oil others. Thus for specially smart functions and frocks there are sunshades made in cloth or silver and gold with boldly and beautifully brocaded designs'in shimmering satin." Pearls are the jewels par excellence. One authority,. has it that they are the only kind that can be worn in the street. I should feel inclined to qualify this. All the same the distum is satisfactory if only for the reason that pearls are pearls whether made by our friends the oyster or not. Of course anything that is not actually real is imitation, but the counterfeit pearl is so good that it would defy anyone to detect the difference at a little distance.. The Chinese, by the way, make the pearl oyster work to order. They, make tiny images and somehow or other insert them in the shell which is put back in its watery bed. By degrees the oyster coats the object completely. Why not get it .to coat little balls in the same way, and get necklaces made to order, any aize desired conditionally that the oyster will Consent? After pearls, opals! London advises that the opal is coming into fashion again and next season will rule. There has always been a superstitious prejudice against opals, but the new fashion of long necklaces of uncut opals has proved t'oo much for the women to resist, and the jewellers of Bond-street and the Rue de la Paix. are hard put to it to get sufficient stock. Queen Victoria presented to each of her daughters on her marriage a magnificent set of opal ornaments, but these have seldom seen the light of day. Ihe Queen of Spain has always worn these stones, for her birthday is in October, the lucky month for opals. Probably the most valuable opals anywhere belong to Countess Beauchamp, wh® has a tiara, necklace, brooches and oar-rings, which were collected at much below their value by Lord. Beauchamp when he was Governor of - New South Wales. We must always look a bit ahead. This, then, for a summery material is one of the very prettiest styles. There is something peculiarly graceful .in the way the panel, which is even above the girdle, conies to a point at the knee, and then opens out to the full width again at foot. Somehow or other it suggests a hanging support from the neck for the

drapings of the skirt, and I expect that was in the mind of the designer. Everything is very clear—dress and

{•panel in contrast, slight; low ' sleeve at shoulder, half tucks in 'sleeve in series, and slanting cuff. 'Altogether a dainty dress with the hat to oomplexion the shades. | This Medici frill ha* proved the alternative to the ruff, but don't be too sure that the latter will not follow the summer. A modified ruff was launched the other side of the world for last winter,, but it was too sudden and fashion rejected it. The style was Elizabethan, but masculine—a small ruff, whereas the feminino was large. Why Medici? The name is of an illustrious family which flourished in the fifteenth century. Catherine's years were 1519-1589. I have a picture of her 'from a famous painting. She wore the frill which is now so popular, only it was a trifle less negligent. Nothing, yo usee, is new "that is under the sun. The "frill was with a square set-off, and with pearTs. With it the head-dress had a kind of flag which was brought over and fastened against the forehead, sprays of pearls rising therefrom In the shape of a fan. The fifteenth and sixteenth century has been fairly exploited for present modes. Hats and neckwear especially, emphasise the period, though there i are many etceteras in keeping.