WHILE THE KETTLE BOILS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 30, 19 January 1940, Page 43

WHILE THE KETTLE BOILS

Dear Friends, I have just received a big bundle of English papers, containing all the fashion news of the moment, so let’s gather round for a gossip. In London the war shadow has strongly influenced the trend of fashion, and a more sober note is the prevailing mood of the moment, Slacks are being worn by increasing numbers of women and are even seen in the more well-known restaurants. The Women’s Service uniforms are a familiar part of London life, and it looks as though the feminine world has decided to put aside its conceits and its fancies to follow the masculine trend. But not quite-there will always be a section of women to whom Fashion is of paramount importance-and it is these devotees who give the celebrated English designing houses their continued affluence even in times of war. Amidst the sombre note of war-time fashions, the description of a recent London wedding comes like an old-time romance. We may scoff a little at the regulation orange blossom and veil, but a_ bride, moving amidst a drift of snowy tulle, with flowers in her arms and in her hair, still seems more romantic to most of us than her more casual sister who is content with an every-day frock for this most important day in her life. This particular English girl, golden-haired, and with the traditional peaches and cream complexion, chose a beautiful model frock of ice-blue wool lace. Its wide full skirt was stiffened over whalebone, and the bodice fashioned in a heart shape. Over the gown fell the bridal veil of misty blue tulle. A sheaf of pink shaded roses was carried, and a tight cluster of pink baby roses held the veil in place at the back of her head. The bridesmaids wore matching frocks of ice-blue tulle with shorter veils of the same shade. They carried Victorian posies of pink roses with long streamers of blue, silver-lined ribbon. The recent visit of the Queen to Canade has given a tremendous lift to English fashions, and American women are omitting their annual Paris call and making direct for the London Houses. Empire gowns are a feature of this season’s evening mode-though the style, alas, is created only for the slender. The picture is completed with old-time stoles of ermine, chiffon, or lace; long graceful affairs that slip over the shoulders and flutter to the ground. The bustle is still making a valiant fight, and all kinds of substitutes such as panniers, peplums, and large bows at the back of the corsage are utilised to create the desired effect. In grandma’s day the bustle was an institution. An interesting story is told of its extinction ‘in America. It happened during the office of President Cleveland. A group of young newspaper men attending the tail-end of the Congress session found themselves at a loss for any startling news for their papers. A round table conference was held, and someone suggested that a snappy society item might serve the purpose in the way of copy. " Why not say that Mrs. Cleveland has decided to discard the bustle?" Now the President’s lady was young and beautiful and the acknowledged leader of fashion. When she read this printed statement about herself she was merely amused, and decided that the most convenient way out was not to contradict it. So she startled the fashion world by appearing without a bustle. After their first stunned surprise, American society women followed Mrs. Cleveland’s example, and the bustle has remained extinct in America till this day, though fashion designers are now attempting to revive it, : Yours cordially,

Cynthia