FASHIONS FROM PARIS

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 303, 20 December 1913, Page 18

FASHIONS FROM PARIS

(BY A PARISIAN EXPERT.)

PARIS, October 10. BEAUTIFUL WAX LADIES.

With tlie races and the -launching of new styles and the new decorative window scheme at all the important dress 6tores. one's eyes can't be kept long in one place. Womenkind seem more beautifully dressed than ever. In the shops, exquisitely dressed wax ladies give tea to interesting groups of friends in a charming boudoir. Le .1 invites are got up in all sorts of attire; there are men in lounge suite, in frock coats, in mourning coats; there are women in tailor-made suits, evening dresses, and Tiding habits. Wax children play about under everybody's feet. ' Another window represents the Bois. Dead leaves flutter down, or are suspended in mid-air. Beautiful wax ladies in gorgeous fur. look scornfully at still more gorgeous ladies with more gorgeous fur. All the ladies are talking to men. But the wax men don't please mc so much, they are doubtful-looking persons! Oh! do please excuse vulgarity of expression! There is no other way of putting it! 'Tis a pity the French can't make men's clothes! I wonder why? AT THE RACES. Now I am beginning to think a thing which is, of course, entirely wrong, and it is, that I should enjoy a race-meeting quite as much—well, nearly as much — if there wasn't any race. It only lasts such a -little while, you see, and all the rest of the time is spent in talking to people you know, and deciding whose clothes.you would rather have than your own; and you can do that anywhere, can't yiou? At Longehamps the people are looking funnier than ever, but there's something so fearfully attractive in their weird scrappy clothes, that after you have looked at them for a while you want to rush home, and give away every rag you've got, because they're so uninteresting. I'm sure two out of every three people you -meet have come simply and solely to see the other people, and don't care a hard-boiled egg about the racing. I get absolutely fascinated by some of them; their hats are put on in such clever ways: everybody seems to be acting up to their clothes'so -beautifully too. OUR SKETCH. The pretty- wrap which will be found on this page, illustrates one of fashion's latest dictates. Carried out in elephant grey velours chiffon, and so soft and pliable that it could easily pass through the proverbial ring, it is just the thing to wear on a cool summer's night, and will perhaps on that account be acceptable to my readers on the other side of the globe. The. wrap is finished in a delightfully original manner by a graceful sash in Liberty silk of a matching colour, drawn through a passementerie buckle.

VA ET VIEXT. Some of the new dresses are charming. Scrupulous attention to line is still the order of the day. Once upon a time, and that is not so very long ago, the smart woman sought for the straight line which would add to her height, and to the slenderness of her silhouette. Just now, when it is an indisputable fact that every mondaine is tall and slim, she does not hesitate to cut the line of the skirt by two or three horizontal lines, and so the tunic came into being. For dresses of a dark, or even of a black material, a white lace tunic may be used with great effect. Or else a deep cream tulle, edged with a flounce of tulle embroidered in the same tones. Thi3 is the smartest note of the moment, and a number of models built on these lines were noted at the recent Tace meetings. One notices, moreover, the bizarre effect that if the concession is made of enlarging the silhouette below the hips. It is then gathered in at the ankle, so as to preserve the hobble look at the bottom. It cannot be said that is very -becoming —at all events, not for women—yet these lines and draperies will be worn by the best-dressed people. They are not ungraceful when they are in harmony with the silhouette of the wearer, and in any case it is difficult to criticise a fashion which is leadng us gently in the direction of the becoming modes of frills and flounces. The manufacturers have created exquisite laces, which are very filmy, and seem to lie a compromise between Malines and Burauo. They are web-like tulles of new designs, and are carried out in threads of dull gold and silver. They make very charming and elaborate afternoon and evening dresses. ATTEMPT TO REVIVE PATCHES. We are told that patches, a "pimentde la beaute." as they were called in the eighteenth century, are to be revived this winter. The patch is a pretty nothing that one may wear for a caprice. Have we not already worn it often on our veils? It seemed to mc amusing to search for the origin of this mode. It may be traced back to the fact that at the end of the sixteenth century the remedy used for toothache was a tiny plaster spread on bits of taffetas or black velvet. Some woman of fashion doubtless remarked that this showed off the whiteness of her skin. In the reign of Henri IV. all tne women wore patches.

Every position had its meaning. Placed near the eye it was called tlie "la passionnee"; nt the corner of the mouth, "la coquette'": on the nose, "l'effrontee": on the forehead, "la majesfcueuse"; in the middle of the cheek, "la galante"; under the lower i lip, "la discrete"} ou a spot, "la voleufie."