A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A LADY OF FASHION

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 57, Issue 236, 17 July 1937, Page 4

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A LADY OF FASHION

Coat and Skirt Season Predicted

SERIO-COMIC as the attitude of the models oh this page may appear to New Zealanders they nevertheless illustrate the latest styles being worn in London and Sydney. As such they are a fairly accurate forecast of what will be the vogue in the Dominion. Our first picture shows a Chinese blue knoppe-checked angora morning frock with white kid Peter Pan collar and ties. Note the smart pleating down the front, of the blouse and peplum.' . When she goes forth with the dog, our lady of fashion wears a smartly cut travelling or walking coat with cleverly built out and interesting revers in heavy knoppe angora tweed of soft rust colour, worn with a rust fur felt semi-bowler. The large shopping bag is in Soft brown Morocco with intriguing fittings. The golf suit is in knitted tweed, checked in a soft rosewood shade and worn with a polo-collared knitted jumper of the same shade. The sports hat is a Canadian model in brown fur felt. r At the luncheon table we find on the right a rust coloured basket weave cloth frock, with becomingly built-out sleeves and wide vandyked revers and worn with an emerald velvet sCarf, emerald fur felt and an imported pixie model hat. The sitting figure wears a navy cloth imported coat and skirt, handsomely trimmed with grey squirrel and worn with a laced navy halo tarn. At lower, left is a cocktail frock in copper tone crepe with a folded shirred bodice, a very full skirt, and emerald sequin trimmings round the collar and

cuffs and worn with an emerald cocktail halo. Lower right. A coral crepe evening gown with long panelled back,.studded / with diamante. The front is prettier folded and the whole is cut on graceful limple lines. ' ~ / The boy friend wears orthodox tails, white shirt, vest and tie. % ‘ / ,-V:y 7 ■ .... 1 Fashion Forecast. - Several , English salons have opened t ■■ {ately to sell blouses, and blouses only. A few years ago the blouse departments In most of the large stores took up but t 'little space, and selections were limited, more or less, to the type suitable for wear with tailored suits. Stocks were adequate. It was just that there was so little demand for blouses that a great many women did not possess even one. A light wool jumper answered the purpose for wear with a costume in winter. / In summer they wore frocks and twopiece ensembles. ; * v »: But the blouse has come into its own, and this season the manufacturers and dress artists feel that its triumph is complete. There have been special displays at smart mannequin parades, and workrooms have been opened by some dressmakersfor blouses alone. The secret lies in the fact that the tailored suit is the most popular feature of this season’s wardrobe. Everybody wears it, but the coat is discarded on occasion, which means that there must be a smart “top’ for the skirt. Some

The Latest Vogue Illustrated

of the blouse models are so beautiful that their wearers are likely to slip off their coats at the lightest possible excuse. Season’s Suits. The prediction made a little earlier in the season that coats and skirts would be popular wear all through the year is being fulfilled. They fall into three categories—for morning, for smart afternoon parties, and for evening. What are described as “little suits” are made of a hundred different materials, and in order to satisfy the demand for colour in this Coronation year some of the Paris designers have arranged with the manufacturers of materials to produce an entirely new fabric which looks like rough, knobbly tweed, but is really a cotton material. It has been cleverly designed,’ with foundation threads of beige, grey, dark brown, dark green, and so on—all the shades, in fact, which were used when tweeds were roughsurfaced materials intended for hard wear in the country. Into the foundation threads is‘ woven a selection' of “tweedy” colours, and here and there in the surface is a “knob” of bright rose, emerald green, blue, or a clear, sharp, red. The effect is smart and attractive, and the material is so supple that charming little coats and skirts can be made up from it, One dressmaker takes an . outstanding colour among the “knobs” and , matches it exactly with buttons, a soft suede belt,

or a little posy on the lapel of the coat. What are called jersey tweeds are equally popular for new costumes, and they are even less informal in appearance than the cotton tweeds. The skirt is usually quite plain, flaring slightly as it reaches the hem, and the coat is a little square box jacket which may fasten or not as the wearer feels inclined. With a great many jersey tweed suits the new belted jumpers are seen. They are usually made in a series of contrasting colours in a silk and wool jersey tweed, and the belt repeats the colour of the costume with which the jumper is worn. Belted jumpers are likely to be popular with “the odd skirt’’ for country wear. Quite plain in style, they fit comfortably, have long or. three-quarter sleeves, and are made trim about the waist with a fairly wide belt. The afternoon coat and skirt is charming, and sure to be adopted by women for wear “turn about’’ with hostess frocks. A model shown at a recent parade was of soft, loosely-woven pale grey crepe, the skirt reaching nearly to the ankles and having a rather full effect. The coat had wide sleeves, and the cuffs were bordered deeply with grey fox fur, while the blouse was of smoke grey chiffon, with lovely drapery and embroideries. The ensemble would he described as "dressy,” and yet there was a certain trimness about it. With it was worn a pale grey fine straw hat with a medium brim. &,J.\ i

Onions. After eating onions, eat a few leaves of parsley dipped in vinegar. This purifies the breath. Cleaning Teeth. A good cleanser and disinfectant is ft couple of drops of camphor on toothbrush. Birdcage. Hang from a hook fixed to the middle of an expanding curtain-rod that stretches from hooks in picture-rail. Cleaning Mackintosh. Dissolve two ounces of yellow soap by boiling; when cool stir in half an ounce of powdered magnesia and roll into ball. Wash white mackintosh with this soap. Rinse off dirty soap and dry with clean cloth. Pram Hood. It is not healthy for baby for the pram hood to be right up; a canopy should be provided for protection from the sun. Suede Gloves. Clean them by rubbing over a mixture of fuller’s earth and alum. Bookcase. Make one from an unwanted chest of drawers by removing drawers and replacing with pieces of plywood. Lampshades. Attractive lampshades can be obtained, or made by yourself if you have clever fingers, by sandwiching a piece of printed voile between two layers of mica, or “cellophane” paper. A small floral pattern on a very pale ground gives good effects when the light is shining through the shade.

Book “Jackets." Have you any favourite books with shabby covers that “let down” the look of your bookcase? If so, why not give them new jackets of linen or cretonne? Should you have no odd pieces by you, remnants are usually abundant in the shops about this time, while some manufacturers have bundles of varied pieces for sale.

The making is simple, for you simply lay the open book on the material, pencil a line round it and allow a further halfinch for turning in all round. Two strips make pockets for the cover to be slipped into, and a “window” of transparent paper can be pasted over a cut-out square in the back to show the title of the volume. Washing Chintz.

Cook a pound of rice in a gallon of water and pour the whole into tub and allow to become lukewarm. Put in chintz and rub with rice instead of soap. Rinse in cold rice water. Hang the chintz up to dry, pulling straight. Whitewashing. When the day’s work is finished, wash the lime from the bristles of the brush with cold water and scrub the part where the bristles are fixed into the wood. Collars and Cuffs. If collars, cuffs, pieces of lace, etc., are threaded op a piece of tape or string and tied on the clothes line the ends cf the cuffs and collars will not be pulled out of shape. Latest Bookcase. The newest arrangement books, by the way, is a narrow glass-protected bookcase that goes right round the room at eye-leveL This is for a room, of course, that follows the modem idea of keeping as many pieces of furniture away from the walls, and in groups about the floor space.

Your Odd Buttons. Something new in handicraft notions are little trees made with wire, crepe paper and small buttons. Most people possess a collection of odd buttons, saved from discarded garments and some of the more colourful ones make attractive “fruit” and “flowers” for these decorative plants, while the leaves are cut green crepe paper and glued to the wire that the stems. The Stairs. Printed crash for stair druggeting has revived the fashion for giving the stair carpet a summer covering. A very useful fashion, since it not only preserves Y ' the freshness of a new carpet, but conceals those faded, worn spots in an old one which the strong light in summer so often shows up. The druggeting is about 16 inches wide and the crash is in natural shade with fadeless designs in colour printed on it. Baby’s Shoes. If they have crepe rubber soles, baby will not slip when he begins to walk. > New Hair Style. Sleek heads are liked by the bestdressed women with the new hats that show so much of the head. A hairdressing style that is finding favour is that in which the hair is swathed off the forehead and swept away from the ears * upwards and backwards to end in a long rolled curl. Half fringes, light and slightly curled but lying flat on the forehead, are worn when the bare brow is too severe a style for the feature*.