FOLLY AND UGLINESS IN DRESS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 194, 16 August 1911, Page 8

FOLLY AND UGLINESS IN DRESS.

ARE OUR DESIGNERS AND ARTISTS ASLEEP? FREAKS OF FASHION IS" LONDON. (From Our Lady Correspondent.) LONDON, July 7. The artistic being who can lind anything admirable, or beautiful, or even sensible and comfortable in the fashions of the present time must be strangely toleraoit. Look where one will, in the West End, in the suburbs, in the streets and shops, the main feature that strikes the observer nra.-t surely be the lack of originality and cliarm displayed by to-day's fashion. Foulard is widely sported, a pretty graceful material of itself, but made sometimes in patterns that are wilfully hideous. Navy blue and brown, for instance, covered with open white rings, that constitute the wearer a sort of target smothered with innumerable bull's eyes, is worn by short round people, and all sorts of "'arty'' shades, with the same unimaginative designs, appear to find ready sale, judging from the numl>er< of inappropriate gowns one meets abroad. THE TUN 10 dies hard, and is now at its worst stage and far away from the long and graceful lines of its debut. For some reason or none, black spotted net over flowered foulard is held to be beautiful, and a lumpy curtain effect is the result. Black net, surely, is limited to a black or white foundation, or a one-colour underdress, and worn with figured lining of several colours, and in the daytime, it looks anything but artistic. HATS I must dispose of in a few moderate words, or my fellow New Zealanders will thinfc that it is my own appreciation of beauty that is out of joint! But —even speaking moderately—hats are reallv hideous in the main. The fashionable clown hat i~ undoubtedly piquant on a small and daintily featured girl. whose prettiness its brimless eccentrici'y throws into a sort of Puck-like prominence. But worn, as it is. every day and everywhere, by plump middleaged devotees of fashion, with collarless gowns beneath it. and with no back hair permitted to stray into view, it is vulgar, ugly, and stodgy in the extreme. CTRCI'S DESIGNS. The clown crown (called by some the 'Tatch Joey!" style from the injunction of the clowns in a c'.reus I seems to have us in its tyrant clutches for, even though some of us sport a brim, and a wide one. we appear determined to have, surmounting it. a cone shaped crown of trulv absurd dimensions, and for this, when made in Panama straw, of course, we are asked an cnormou* price. I'nderncath such an ungainlv erection the daintiest bit of femininity looks a pigmv. and her more robust sister a freak. WHY IS IT? On nearly even-one's lips at any big assembly is the same cry, "Did you ever see such a generous display of ugliness in gowns and hats?" and yet/day by dav. the same state of affair? is allowed to have thinjrs all its own way. It is as if some elf of ugliness had joined hands with a spirit of mischief and an imp of expense, and. lulling beauty and grace to sleep, had taken command of the millinery world. The sleep of stupidity will probably continue through Julv and August while sales hold sway of the land, and then, perhaps, there will be a revolution. Soon mav it come!

THE BUTTONHOLE WATCH is one of the newest conceits for men. A tinv little watch, circled with red enamel, is set in smooth gold, and this with small clips, is fixed into the buttonhole of the coat. Smaller than a thumbnail is the faee of the watch. For women there is a companion to this, a watch within a pendant. A fine silver chain holds a pear-shaped "drop"' of grey enamel, worked with tinv seed diamonds in a floral design. The bottom of the drop is cut off, and the face of a tiny watch shows. Indeed and indeed, surely we live in a silly age! SASHES play a very important part in the accessories of dress this season. They are worn in every conceivable wav. with large or small bows and no ends, with end* and no bows. and. in fact, any way that appeals to individual fancy. There i*. besides, no law as to where thev should be tied: the front, sides, or hack are all equally fashionable. A verv new sash arrangement that is decidedlv freakish is to have a broad flat sash ribbon starting from the waist at the back, and falling down perfectly straight to the edge of the skirt, whore it is then looped up and fastened under a fold or a frill of the dress. LARG-E RETTCULES that have deservedlv "been flubbed "ridScules" by the outsider are still to be met at all functions—exaggerated "trifles." smothered with rich embroiderv and valued at several pounds, that appear to dwarf the owner, whose attenuated skirts and weird hat seem to complete a trinity of follv as. the bag having entered a door, the lady follows. Nowadays these elaborate accessories are even to be met with in the mornings in shops, held by women in sensible serge. Some of the smaller sizes are v«rv dainty and pretty.