FASHION NOTES FROM PARIS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 305, 21 December 1912, Page 18

FASHION NOTES FROM PARIS.

(By A PARISIAN EXPERT.) PARIS, October 18. ONE-PIECE TROTTING FKOCK MUCH IN FAVOUR. Trotting frocks of serge and other woollens are coming to the fore again, and with them models in dark toned silk, soft rich silk, serge of heavy diagonal weave, and tailored air wool black satin, the heavier crepes and taffetas, which have usually been regarded as a summer silk, but are aow striving ■hard for a winter recognition. The best looking silk one-piece frocks, unmistakably of autumn vintage, and not merely useful survivors of the .spring and summer, have been made in silk serge already mentioned, which lends itself admirably to semi-tailored effects. In black, in dark blue, and in grey on the taupe order, these silk serge frocks are very attractive, and there aro delightful things in clrarnieuae, with a little myrow fringe introduced in the trimming, and perhaps a dash of vivid contrastingl colour. A pretty black charmeuee model 1 had this touch of bright colour in a piping of brilliant hue, very sparingly useaj and in turn-down collar and cuffs of bright blue chiffon edged with narrow black fringe. Th-e narrow fringe iini-ied the bottom of the skirt too, filling mi lightly the scalloped edge. An addi-| tional note appeared on little buckles of! dull yellow suede, embroidered in dull! gold, and posed at the throat and neckj front. The scalloped edge on the skirt! was a late summer fancy, and hns heldj over into autumn modes, though it has! not been remarkably successful. The kimono sleeve of this black charmeu,-e model was another summer note, but ona finds t/his irrepressible sleove bobbing up .in many autumn models, instead of being: i altogether relegated to the limbo of past! ' fashions, lt survives, but it no longer reign 3, and even where one finds it, it has !i chastened air, due to a changed cut of the side, body and under-arm seam. KIMONO SLEEVE. While the elbow kimono sleeve has| not vanished, the very smartest of the' i new trotting frocks, and of the dressier ' models as well, show long sleeves. Some lOf the long sleeves are merely long and 1 close fitting, set in smoothly at the shouli der. Others combine an over-sleeve of I the modified kimono type with a long under-sleeve, and newer than either are| the long sleeves full at the elbow, and with a long tight wrinkling cuff coming down well over the hand, and often finished by a frill falling over the hand. An odd example of the latter sort of long sleeve, was furnished by one of the far y winter frocks. The entire upper part of the bodice, including tlm sleeve down to the elbow, was on an effective fancy lace net in cream. Over this was a bib-like bodice running up in points from back and front to meet on the shoulders. A cord of dark blue silk defined the line between the cream under-bodice. and the shallow plain net guimpc, with high collar, and there were tiny buttons of the silk on this guimpe. But the odd feature of this bodice was the sleeve whose cream upper section joined just above the elbow a lower section of dark blue chiffon. This wus full at the elbow,: but a little below the elbow tightened to fit the arm closely. The tight-fitting part was cut very much longer than the length to the hand, and the extra length wrinkled along the arm. There are numerous variations of this plain top, wrinkle bottom sleeve, but they are more often seen on the dressy models than on the tailored trotting frocks. A CHARMING POST SCRIPT. Just by way of postcript, I would draw your attention to the smart little afternoon frock sketched on this page. The trained skirt and the sleeves are composed of dull grey green drap couple, I soft and supple as silk muslin, while

the smart cut-away swallow tailed coat is of Liberty satin of the same colour, and adorned with a handsome mechelin lace collar. For warm New Zealand 1 Eummer days this little frock would be! equally pretty in lingerie, with an embroidered collar and revers. TRANSPARENT OVERSLIPS. We used to hear that no woman who lacked inches could possibly wear a light blouse with a dark skirt, as the divisions of the colours were sure to dwarf her. But this look is no longer the case, since those convenient little transparent overslips have come into fashion. They are generally made in quite a plain kimono! etyle of some thin material tinted to match the skirt. They can be worn over white or light 'blouses of almost any kind, without adding at all to the weight of, the costume, und they give the desirable 1 long line which it is .-o difficult to obtain with a contrasting shirt and skirt. The blouso of to-day cannot be too flat' on the front and shoulders. Any fulness that there may be alxuit the garment finds its place in the sleeve.

Colour schemes urc very daring, and the woman who can successfully com-

bine two utterly opposed shades may be sure of securing something that is ex-] tremely chic. One of the smartest' blouses I have seen this year consisted of Paisley patterned green and gold ninon, veiled with flame-coloured chiffon em-| broidered round the low neck and short sleeves with gold and green. Russian embroideries of scarlet, blue, green, and gold are being very much used, aa they look specially well when worked on to a background of fine lawn and lace.