VANITAS VANITATUM

Ladies' Mirror, Volume 3, Issue 5, 1 November 1924, Page 10

VANITAS VANITATUM

What to Wear and Why:

SUMMER SUNS AND SUMMER FASHIONS BRIGHTEN THE WORLD AND GLADDEN OUR DAYS

(From our Special Correspondent)

Chere Amie, — According- to the calendar, we should be able to exclaim with some show of reason, “Summer is here,” but the weather is a jade, and does not know her own mind for long-. All the same, we in Paris are not allowing- ourselves to be discouraged by one gleam of sunshine and a hailstorm every five minutes, but are most earnestly turning* our attention to the all-absorbing subject of our summer toilettes. ’Course, this is the time when we can really “spread ourselves” and exercise our ingenuity and indulge our fancies in the matter of frocks. Tailleurs and tailored frocks are not so prominent, and except for a few general principles, summer fashions are in our own hands. Little light frocks of voile and linen and crepe are so easy to make and so dainty to wear, that everyone can be well-dressed in the summer. ’Course, ma chere, I am not forgetting that there are occasions even in summer-time when something more than a cotton frock is required, but then you can array yourself in georgette, pleated or beaded; in crepe de chine, or any other of the silk crepe family, which provides us with an “emharras de choix.” The models do not vary in any essentials from those worn in the spring, but the season is marked by the hats that complete the toilette. Mostly these are fine erin straws, with the brim wide in the front and sides and tapering to the back. The trimming is mostly of wide ribbons, gathered into a large knot or bow, with streaming ends. Ostrich trimmings have a great vogue now, too, and have rather ousted the gay wreaths of fruit and flowers that adorned our heads last summer. For everyday wear, cherie, you can’t do better than a large, supple straw, natural or coloured, and trimmed as your fancy dictates. After all, provided you give the impression of dainty coolness in the summer, the eccentricities of Fashion need not be greatly considered! Linens and voiles are the most important materials this season. Sponge cloth, after having played its part during* several seasons, is now in temporary retirement. Dainty voiles, patterned or plain, have appeared in bewildering profusion, and the models are nearly all hemstitched, or trimmed with Valenciennes. Some have long lines of fine pleats from shoulder to hem, giving a slender “line” to the frock—and to the wearer. The summer sports models are all delightful for simplicity, service and charm. The tennis frocks are all sleeveless, or nearly so, and either one-piece, or jumper

and skirt. home have skirts closely pleated, others have them split, and buttoned to the knee, or right to the waist. One model I have seen was in white linen, sleeveless, with round neck, and fastened at the side with large bone buttons from

under the arm to the hem of the skirt. The waistline was just defined at the sides with a row of gauging, and initials embroidered in a circle just above the waistline on the right. Another in butcher blue linen, finished in white, was similar, save that the buttons came from shoulder to hem in the Russian tunic style. Here’s another novelty for the approach of summer. You make a perfectly simple, straight magyar frock of, say, dove-grey shantung, and then you embroider it, Japanese fashion, all over with cherry blossom design, bind the neck and sleeves with the predominant colour of your embroidery, belt it with a narrow ribbon of the same colour, and you have a charming frock for afternoon wear. ’Course you are going to exclaim in horror at the idea of embroidering a whole frock, but if you think of it, you will realise that it isn’t half as bad as it sounds. First of all, choose a spray something like this (see foot of previous column), and work it in the same loose stitch. Second, don’t crowd your sprays too close together, but set them at various angles on the material. The result will surprise and delight you, cherie, 1 know. Didn’t you love the hats and scarves to match that 1 told you of in my last letter? I’m sending you some illustrations of them this time. They are absolutely the last word in chic in Paris. Ma mie, do you know what is absolutely dernier cri over here? You wear a long scarf, in which is carried out the design of your hat. 1 am sending you an illustration of one. The hat is of black taffetas, with a wide band closely embroidered in red and green. The scarf is of the same material, lined with shot red-green taffetas, and finished at the ends with the same embroidery as makes the band on the hat. Another one was of white moire, lined under the tiny brim with black, with a large pleated rosette of mingled black and white in front. The scarf was of black moire, widened towards the. ends, with alternate closely pleated bands of black and white. Well, cherie, 1 suppose you will start your season with a lovely summer wardrobe, and if you think anything of the few hints I have given you, you will find yourself not only well and smartly dressed, but becomingly so. Don’t you wish you were with me to see the Paris boulevards this season? Good-bye, then, till next month. Yours fashionably, Femina.