NEW SYMBOLISM

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 October 1943, Page 4

NEW SYMBOLISM

4, BIZARRE PRO-BRITISH FASHIONS. HOW FRENCHMEN EXPRESS THEMSELVES. There is a new symbolism in masculine fashion in France. It is almost an art that has grown up through a desire to seek means to express in dress one's sympathy for Great Britain. It is a vague dandyism of a new kind among young men and women. A coat that is long enough to have two tiers of pockets, with almost a skirt, reaching right down to the knees, and trousers that are very narrow towards the ankle, with the turned up edge measuring some three inches, is a common attire. It bears no symbol on it, but its mere eccentricity is intended to convey that the wearer is interested in something afar, namely Great Britain. The “Zazou” and the “Tagada,” as these people are called, wear a shirt with stiffened collar attached to the shirt, turned up each side of the chin. The shirt was generally worn open to the waist last summer. These young men wear their hair quite long at the back, and give it a curl over in the front. Swing is a topic that comes often into their talk, because it is supposed to be a British passion. In Paris, when they talk, these young men affect an English accent. Beneath this whimsical, deceiving exterior they are patriots. These young men are not alone, for there are “Zazou” girls also. They carry umbrellas with long handles, which' they call Queen Mary umbrellas. Both young men and young women are the nearest yet, in a strange, modern, symbolic manner, to the eccentricly dressed dandies of the end of the French Revolution who were known as the “Incroyable” —the Unbelievables. Dancing is forbidden everywhere, so the young people sitting in the cafes sway their bodies to the rhythm of the music.

A fine gold chain, with a tiny Lorraine cross, the de Gaulle emblem, is worn round the neck but hidden away by both young men and young women.