LoNdon Fashion Notes

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 116, 12 November 1938, Page 19

LoNdon Fashion Notes

Speedily Written for MTh« Post."

LONDON, October 14.

The beauty of another age has been the inspiration of many fashion designers this year, both in dress and furnishing.-

Quaint conceits of the Victorian period are given a new life, and we are shown as novelties crochet covers for cushions and tea cosies, with crochet lace edging afternoon tea cloths and table mats! It seems only the other day that sort of thing was being discarded as dowdy.

Tapestry cushion covers and screens in .the same stitches as those used for Victorian samplers are being shownfor the clever needlewoman who is making her own Christmas presents, arid I have mentioned previously the popularity of quilting (in lines and circles rather than diamonds), both for furnishing and fashion • garments.

Clever embroideries,are being used to "adorn frocks, blouses, coats, and evening wraps. Quite unique is the way necklaces are being embroidered on attractively simple dresses with a high neckline. Sometimes the necklace consists of a gold cord stitched to the round neckline, with two or three rows of. beads stitched to the frock just under it and finished off with drop beads which are allowed to dangle loosely.

This idea is often extended into a circular yoke, and a good deal of in-

genuity is being used to give these, embroidered "necklaces" an individual touch. Gold and silver and copper-coloured braids are also used: incidentally, copper and bronze are very new. A black dress with a copper belt and matching clips at the neckline is amongst the smartest fashions of the moment. Other Victorian modes include mantillas and shawls of the finest lace, usually "carried" over the arms and draped over the back of the dress from below the shoulders. The finishing touch to a black town suit is given by a heavy gold chain encircling the neck, to which a big old-fashioned gold watch is attached, to be slipped into an outer breast pocket. The cameo brooch, which I have mentioned before, is being worn as an ornament for the neckline, waistline, or lapel of the coat, but don't overdo thip sort of thing, as I saw at a recent dress show,'when a woman had four cameo brooches on the front of her dress and it looked altogether as though she had rifled the museum. .' ■ MITTEN SLEEVES. Very lovely are the newest mittens, or mitten sleeves, made of the same material as the dress, and particularly attractive with the bodices that have no visible means of support. Some of the gowns inspired by thef

romantic period are exquisite, but not very practical for modern means of transportation. Hooped petticoats willj find difficulty in tucking themselves away into the low-built car so popular j with youth. On the other hand, the full skirt which spreads into many yards round the hem below a small picturesque bodice is having an enormous vogue. The model sketched is a lovely example of this mode, and the heavy lace fichu above the black velvet makes the most of shoulder beauty. The mitten sleeves are detachable, being kept up under the lace by an elastic run in the top, while the bow of velvet in the hair gives a modern "snap" to the oldworld gown. , The muff has become a favourite of fashion, made in all sizes and materials. The evening muff of flowers is a lovely idea that fits in with summer styles as well. These are tiny and conceal a vanity, and made of mauve or white violets, tiny pompom dahlias, forget-me-nots and many-coloured primulas. It is a pretty fancy that can be made to fit any dress scheme and can be linked up to match the very popular flower posy head-dress. WEATHERPROOF WRAPS. Early gales and rainstorms have made wet weather garments of first imi portance. Spring or autumn, it is im-

possible to do without a macintosh in this country, but each year the manufacturers contrive to give them fresh attraction, so that they look smart on a fine day as well. Knowing how women react to colour and original materials, the newest macintoshes are a triumph. Looking like a smart raglan coat in suede, in a rich royal purple, one model in the new "suedette" proofed fabric completely deceived me. Xt fastened high in the throat and had all the dash of this year's swagger coats, complete with a small turban of the same material. Lovely tartans in blues and greens, greens and reds, black, white, and red, blue, white, and rust, etc., made another mackintosh model, cut on the same smart swinging lines. Perhaps the most original was a material that masqueraded as ocelot fur. It was in velveteen, with baby leopard markings, and cut with all the style of a seven-eighth-length swagger fur coat, fastened at the throat with a turnover collar and large roomy pockets, and shoulders padded to give the right importance. So, when buying the very necessary wet-weather wrap, don't be put off with a drab-looking garment that makes you feel shabby when the sun suddenly breaks through. \ E. RUTH SIBLEY.

them, and must be so long as the present system goes on.

The \vriter would prefer-to find that group of people with common interests such as physicians, artisans, or others should be numbered politically and then have the right to select some man who understands their needs and is at one with them in as many directions as possible. In this way they would have an intelligent person educated in. their own affairs to represent them in the Parliament of the nation. He distrusts the man -who can move among his fellows of mixed kinds, glib of tongue, genial of hand, easy at all problems and master of none. The possible effect of commoninterest grouping, as set forth, appears quite reasonable and beneficial to the general public, far more so than the present system where a man may represent people with whom he has almost absolutely nothing in common. The writer feels that this kind of person is "the incarnation of that conceptual monstrosity, the 'average citizen,' who fills our legislative halls with eloquence and incompetence. There is apparently no hope for our politics till we are able to rid ourselves of him." It is suggested that obviously we shall accomplish the removal only as we alter the basis of our political selection so that it enables us to choose not a "hail-fellow" from a mass, but a real representative from a functional group.

Another possible advantage is noted by the author. Grouping by occupation would, in large measure, solve the vexed problem of sex discrimination in political participation. Adult persons—irrespective of their sex— would have their political identity in terms of the functional interests they serve." It is untrue, for example, to suppose that a lawyer knows as much about the interests of housekeeping as the housewives do themselves. Housewifery ' is' an interest fundamental to civilised society. It should therefore have its competent representatives in the chambers of social legislation. But

note that in the new type of grouping the housewife will assume her political functions, not as one who, is competent to judge on all matters of public import, but as one who brings to political life her peculiar and expert contribution.

This is only part of the arguments advanced. The book throughout is on the subject that the world is "moving in, new directions." It seems. quite a common-sense idea that representation in Parliament should be not as at present, with a member who has to endeavour to speak and think for all sorts and conditions of people, about whom he has no special knowledge, or maybe, no knowledge at all. The ideal of the writer should be a fact in the future. For Parliamentary representatives to be placed in the House because they understand the business and conditions of the people they represent is surely an ideal worth working and hoping for.