LONDON FASHION NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2308, 26 May 1898, Page 44

LONDON FASHION NOTES.

London, April 7. Dear Emmelinb, — How is ie or why it should be bo I don't know,' but it always seema the most natural course to pursue whan writing about dress subjects to begin with headgear; perhaps because it is the top of the trae as, it were. At all events I cannot again help starting this article with a few novelties in hats and a few more-of their new details in trimming.

Moat o£ the newest shapes are decidedly flat in the crown, and in many cases the crown is round, reminding one of a man's cricketing hafc, and it is becoming more and more- usual for the shape to be tilted straight up frcrn the hair at the back. But while crowns 'are somewhat lower the trimming cannot be worn too higb. Many of the round crowns have, standing up all round from their base, a box-pleating or frilling of the eaine straw, which is nearly always of the satin or the eatin and plait, or the satin and chenille" mixture; but the plain satin straw takes first rank. When the hats themselves have co high encircling straw round the crown*, the trimming is often arranged in that form instead. And that is the style so often adopted when the shaded plisse silk forms the chief trimming, for then several rows, each one higher than the other, encircle the crown, the highest and uppermost being of the palest shade of the material, and the outer and lowest one of the darkest; and an upstanding plume of some kind and some flowers constitute til .else that is necessary. Aho, < this same variety of silk is largely used' in the formation <uf tam-o'-shanter and other fanciful crowns, set io a straw brim.

Already I Have mentioned the pieyaiUng fashion of steaded feathers. , Wall, now, in ostrioh, feathers thare are oue or two ixtl . developments. " In the variety which I- have formerly desciibed to you the feathera were all of thß earns colour, but ebs ding off into the various tones of it. Now there are edme which are a mixture of three or more colours, sue? they are not half so nice as the aforems&iionti'ti. For instance, a peculiar shade of peach colour formed the base of some ostrich tips, immediately next it came pale blue, and the ends were white. Another feature, common alike in the self-coloured acd shaded varietiep, is that the plain stem part is entirely hidden by btiiug " crowned * with shorter strancta of the feather. Thi* kind is rather nice, and the crowning seems to maktt them look doubly full. Bat there is a new variety still, and this class is perhaps nioe&t of all— barring the self-coloured feather, for, after all, that cannot; beaten. Ihe under part is of Borne bright colour, anu the outer, or "top," coat, is a single row of white stranda. For insSsnce, a feather of terquoise blua is toned down by this outer covering of white, and so is one of deep orange, or vioieb, etc. A pretty model hat was of tuiquoise blue satin straw, and it was trimmed with chiffon of the same fchade, but this was veiled with' white chiffon, and two large ostrich feathers of turquoias blue, having the white top, were arracged along either Bids of the crowa. The general effect of this kind of feather is good, and the colour underneath mixes with the white on the top, to that the" under part is not by any means hidden, though it is necessarily somewhat toned down. Ali oßtricu of the upstanding variety _curl over very much at the tip, otherwise there is pot much curl about them, the top part beicg generally qnite straight, though curling under at the edges. Bat they are se full and massive Ih&t even though the auiface 1b smooth their general effect is that of softness and flnffiness.

What next will people think of doing? 3f tuter^ay 1 saw a very pretty shape in light blue eatin straw, and it was trimmed entirely with ostiich' feathers and tips to match. The crown was encircled by two long feathers whoße edges naturally curled under very considerably, bnt they were arranged inside out — in other words, the plain pait of the featheig rested against the crowu and ko was hidden from vibw, while ths catly pt»rt was placed outwardly. Both feathers evidently atfeagly resented this method of treatment., which was " ag- last the grain," for the middle pare, or backbone, as it were, of each of them was badly cracked and bent at intervals. The curlinesa placed outwardly had much tha effect, at some little distance away, o£ a feather ruffle.

Floral faatu are gaining ground — that is to say, hats or tcquas, usually the latter t whose crowns, and tcm. times the brim aa well, are o^a rosss of flowers or folisge, cr both. On« little tcqne, which I do not pretend to hare a<3arired, was made entirely of small r*y, with a b.-Im of pale blue forget-me-not*, *nd

Its only other trimming was a' tall bow of pale blue mousseline de soie.

The blue periwinkle is a, flower which seemp to balikecS, and it ia nearly always used'oc a hatcf-the same shade of bine. One model, for instance, bad its crown quits bidden by a mass of periwinkles set in a bordering 1 of small garden ivy. Tbe brim of the hat was turned «p straight at the back and filled in with a large bow of periwiokleBhaded silk ribbon, Bnt this is rather a trying colour, and one only intended for faircomplezioned yonug people.

A flower wbioh is generally reserved for the autnroc is now well to the front. I refer to the wallflower, whioh ia wonderfully and realistically produced in its lovely shades of golden brown, and . satin straw sh&pes t are being turned out to keep .them company. This deep golden-orange shade is very, nice and becoming to the brunette, who, you see, ha 6 thus been specially provided for as well ao her fair sister. In these wallflower coloured and trimmed hats one invariably finds a touch of black or of dark green velvet, usually the former, for the shade is ralhar gay than otherwise, and it is generally conBid sred necessary that it should in some degree be toned down. ..

And -also for tha brunette there is the cfcrlse" shape,- whieh'iu, and I expect a} ways will be». more or. less in favour. One was trimmed-witb a new kind of :' foliag*- that' shaded fronj cerise. to a;dark'crimsoK, and 1 ' the crown w.aa all ,of cerise roses. .As a-con-trast—and this time for a fair pefson — there. '.was a tcque composed,.wholly of largo .silk poppiep, some df-wbich wera'dark and others light mauve: and it .was raished high afc one side, but, nothing was used in., the way of trimming in addition to the poppies.

Grey and orange is a favourite combination so far as millinery is concerned, bat a little of the latter colour goes a lorig way. Grey hats are often trimmed with, grey silk or chiffon,* grey plumes, aad a knot her#and; there of orange-coloured velvet. Much of"< the piece-silk when used for millinery pur- j poses is still wired. j But to return to flower?, ?.n which there are several new varieties, including lobelia, the rhododendron, the hydrangea, the nasturtium,' and sweetwilliam. Now whioh of these is the nicest 1 Weil, truth to tell, I don't think any' of- them are a great success. Please don't "mistake ma: they are excellently and faithfully copied from Nature, but at the same ,time they do not mnke pretty "enough flowers for good millinery effects. Perhaps the nasturtium is the best — if there be such a quality, and its tone is very similar to that of the wallflower, and, consequently, needs toning down with a little black. The rhododendron is much too weighty ia appearance, and on each occasion when I have seen it used it has been placed in 'wreath fora, in different - coloured ' bunches or -rosettes, round tho crown of a hat, and looks frightfully stiff and prim and dingy. The lobelia ia too insignificant and dark, and is used 'in: great masses, thus having a pitchy effect, '.and,, imoreover, it -is priccipally used • on, hats oFthe same ; shade as' itself; the dinginess being therefore largely increased. The swestwilliam .has mads little, if any,_headway. There is also the" auricnla, which is chiefly represented in its purple tones. - '

. I .wonder : ,if . any -of youbave. ever seen grasm hyacinths, turquoise blue ro»e»; ditto v poppies,- black - kingcups, black buttercup 3, black primroses, and black roses 2 I have, but only in the Londonshops. The black roses and primroses are bo novelty ; but the other flowers just mentioned are, I believe. In their natural tones the roses are simply perfection, and they are perhaps the most popular of all the flowers. A few yellow primroses are also used for millinery purposes, as being the flower of the present season. There are primulas, too, in " every oolouring — natural and otherwise.

, Amid such gay surroundings black bats sesm rather at a discount just now. But I saw one recently which it was impossible to do otherwise than admire. It was rather a large shape, in satin straw, with a fanciful crown perched high at one side. Round the crown were three rows of twisted ribboD, tha top being cream, the middle one gold, and the lowest a rich orange, and a huge bow made ©f these three different-coloured ribbons, all of which were glace silk, stood on the left side, and here and there it was held in place by small diamond-headed pins. From out of the midst of this bow there arose a handsome osprey of a delicate yellow; and on- ths.- crown, where it was : raised, there rested three' deep. yellow velvet: ' roses, r and- three mor« were placed on the , hair under the'brim of the hafci - ; " 1 : Already Ihave,'- in a previous article, men- " 'tio'ned that silk ribbonjshading- from a very "dark- colour at 'bne'edge to the palest possible tone at the -other was much to; the_ fore.--Well, new there is a further development in this' fabric, and ib'thia case each edge is very pale, and the shade gradually deepens until the middle is reached, at which point the tone is darkest. I don't like it.

And, as with some of the feathers, so with some kinds of ribbon — one colour is succeeded by another totally different, in rainbow fashion, It>is most'hideou9.

A few of the hats show a sharp peak in the j front of the brim, tnrning up from the face, j By the way, it must be mentioned that the hat whose brim at the back turns straight | np is greatly on the increase, and people wearing this kind of hat look very ngly from the baok view, for rapidly is the edict being enacted which decreed that the hair should once more be dressed on the top of the head. This is now carefully followed by fashionable people, and is horribly ngly when ft v hat whose back brim ia turned straight np is worn, particularly if the lady's head be big, broad, and flat. . The bair is taken up, but ie is not dragged tightly ; ou the contrary, it is generally left rather too loose and baggy about the neck, and it is one macs of little waves or crimpinga. And just at the top, where the dressing begins, a peculiar-shaped comb is always worn, which forms a (sort of re»t;f or the hat, which consequently ib occasionally perched very high at the baok, and has an alarming tendency- to. fall over the face. Perhaps ere these lines reach you, this latest style of hairdresaingwill be do rigeUer in your colony, For evening wear one has not so strong an objection to this reigniog style, for where the hair is dressed It ie generally very prettily arranged, | thought I would be snre to lorgeb something, and I have forgotten to make menUoa of some. hi^ouflbatiJß Ui6SßilOT)ibaijß«

whose brim is of bleached vegetable straw, arid whose crown is simply one hugecoloured rose made of Frerich cambiic, with all its petals separate — in fact, a peifeot lepresentation of a magnified rose." Ths crown is eaciroled with « tr.ass of roses foliage, arid standing en aigrette at oce side thove ia a bunch of roses and leaves'. Invsri&bly frtoe brims are white., bur. the crown may be red, pink, yellow, or any other colour of the rose. Happily, there are not a great many instances of tbis innovation, and let. us hops that there will be no more. It would tafre someone very daring to don one ol tbern for street wear. • Anothar miiJinery noveify is the M*ronry wicg. Now, this in a particularly nice r-ddi-tion fcothe already long lisir of iteme in Ihe matter of head trimming. Ife has been produced in all manner of colours, but I can hardly describe tn you what it i* like. Usually wiogs ar« stUl, and the base raeraiy coiisistfi of a piece of vfre, which rfqaSre? to be hidden by rihbo» or velvet or something elss. But with tbe new Mercury wi»g this must not be done, for ti ie thß base which is the faliest andtbe pretliast. part, la shape, these Mercury witga ara curious, especially the fullest and largest specimfics. Ssme ppread very save!.}, i'^e the wings of a bird when it is ilyicg, acfi others,, again, are mere like the wii'£P of a bird when ie is standicg with fcjiase. thrown back: ,Soiae saem to give "one i tbe idea of bßf,ng placed upside down, tblnogh I can't espjtain .why" this should be go. But J suppose. everyone knows the usual depiction of ths god Mercury, with tha winged fc&t.' If not, I cau ouly say loote at that picture and mark well tlie shape of the wings about his feer, and you will have the best idea which I can give of the new millinery addition which bears bi3 name. Bub I expect you will not have long to -wait before they put in an appearance at your side of the world. — Yours truly, Zealia.