FASHION NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 52, 1 March 1919, Page 20

FASHION NOTES.

! From all appearances Dame Fashion ! has decreed that the simple, smartly tailored suit will hold first place in the ; line of dress of the coming winter. Suits i of this order are shown in a wide and ! interesting variety, and one notes that | velonrs, and fabrics with a velours finish, ! feature largely in their make up. This i fabric, writes our Paris correspondent, ! is. I think, of English origin. Lighti weight devetyns and English o_fords I are also much in evidence. In colour I they are quiet and unassuming, and their J durability is unquestioned, and, in fact, , they meet every demand for a strictly tailored suit for hard wear. I noted several good-looking models of grey Oxford showing skirts cut on plain, straight • and rather narrow lines, sufficiently wide, however, to give perfect freedom of movement, worn with jackets of the Nor- , folk order. Blue serge has lost none of its popularity, and it is surprising how many smart one-piece fioe'ic and coat and skirt suits one sees of this fabric, . when you take into consideration the tremendous advance in price of fine allwool serge. The majority of those models are strictly tailored. Others are trimmed with braid, while still others are embellished with braiding of soutache , or motifs embroidered in wool. . | In skirts there is practically little new to report, tho models shown being so scant and short as to permit of the introduction of but little novelty in ideas. ; Nevertheless, I have seen an interesting ' j model made of two straight widths of material, seamed at the sides, with the | fullness from the kn°e to the top elimiuj ated by means of six gores. Each gore j of the skirt is finished at the knee by a , i smali silk ball. i j The most striking and general note in ,' skirt styles is their extreme shortness ■■' and their extreme narrowness. In the i: tailor skirt slender hips generally are 11 tho rule, with yoked and panel effects. ■■' v With regard to coats, the dominant note is for loose, straight, ample styles. Tlie newest line shows the coat hung straight from the neck, or from a deep I yoke, and unbelted. The armholes are l ,L;v. jthout exception deep, many reaching to the hips, and the sleeves are . ample. Pockets for service arc employed, '4 but pockets as an embellishment of the 1 1 garment have entirely disappeared. 1 Practically all coats are full length, and while showing great width through their upper half from the hips to the neck, taper decidedly towards the lower . • edge. A second distinguishing feature of , coats, in addition to their looseness and their straight line effect, is to be found in the great width of the collar and of the cuffs. Practically all the houses concur in the use of wide, straight collars, which are gathered to a loosefitting band, and which permit of being ,' worn folded, buttoned loosely around the 1 throat, or open, in which case they cover - the shoulders and form a wide collar . cape. ■ i In colours, hrown is hy all means the ! leading colour, this in all shades, from 1 light to dark, also in all tones of dead , tete de negre, as well as in the brilliant i, shimmering shades of light golden brown. Tan in grey tones as tinged with rose is

strong. Grey is excellent in dark cold tones of steel and slate. Red is in great demand in the soft shad;s known as old red, also in yellow reds, as copper. Terracotta is a note, and cerise and old rose still hold their own. Green is good in soft grey tones, in woo l fabrics for suiting, and in the bright clear shades of emerald for silk and trimmings. Blue when used, is chiefly in bright tones. AH black and combinations of black and white arc still a factor in colour schemes, and mixtures of black and white are still a factor; grey and black, and of colours with a grey effect, such as green or blue in grey frosted surface, are noticeable. OUR SKETCH. The smart simplicity of the present modes is depicted in our model on this i page, which shows a long coat developed in one of the most charming wool-stuffs

of the season—gabardine. ■ It is seal brown in colour, and is trimmed with bone buttons, the belt of gabardine passing under the panel in the front and fastening behind with bone buttons.