FASHION NOTES FROM PARIS.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 116, 17 May 1924, Page 22

FASHION NOTES FROM PARIS.

(By AN EXPERT.) PARIS," January 26. The acuteness of the housing problem in Paris is vividly demonstrated by the revelation that considerably more than half of the population lives in hotels or furnished flats. There was a time when the family that lived in anything but a house or fiat furnished with their own effects was regarded with a more or less suspicious eyes by their neighbours. The non-possession of a muse full of furniture was often associated in their minJs with fly-by-night practices. Now there is no stigma attached to residents in furnished flats, rhere are lots of people with fat bank balances, but no "sticks" of their own. As for renting conditions, they are beyond words. Apartments arc literally not to be found; the few that are available rent at unspeakable prices, and where to go, how to acquire a roof above one's head, has becomo a burning question. When I consider this situation, I admire as they deserve these beautiful homes in which every article is a treasure in a perfect frame. What would they cost at the present time? It is unbelievable the price that is now asked for the simplest piece of antique furniture. Eight thousand, ten thousand francs is the price of an ordinary little table such as, before the war, we would have considered dear at a thousand or fifteen hundred francs. Sometimes I have asked some of these dealers whether he sold many pieces in a day at such a price, and the reply, piven with more than a touch of scorn, is: "ThcGC tables are not difficult to sell, madame. It is only when you come to the pieces at a hundred or a hundred and fifty thousand francs that there is any difficulty!" I asked no

more at that point; safety lies in flight. I returned to my taxi lost in ' thought, considering the many marriages which are taking place at present, wondering how the new homes are ever furnished. Many newly-married couples have to live now in hotels. They see no wisdom in buying a "home" when there is such a slender prospect of finding a house to put it in. I Almost weekly surprises seem to arrive from Paris headquarters in connection with the fancy little coats and i skirts. Only the other day we were discussing the Parisian uniform of I crinkled velvet, and here, right on top | comes another, direct from the same I centre, comprising a flat pleated skirt '■ of dull black satin, worn with a short belted jacket of embroidered cloth or satin suede. The high-class couturiere this season is using smooth-faced materials for the coat frocks which Parisiennes love so dearly—such as kasha and perllaine, and, for the more dressy examples, heavy-weight maroj cain and dull satin. In style the majority appear to be slim and rather fitted to the figure, while in lieu of the usual narrow belt or metal girdle a long waistline is defined by closely grouped gorgings or thick pipings. At the back thej' may perhaps pouch just a trifle, though that is not of necessity. Again, in lieu of the common-place squareshaped collar that can be worn up or down, there comes an exceedingly high band of the fabric cut with a subtle flare at the top, so as to set easily above the tip of the chin. i With the coming heavy fixtures for ' dances and balls for New Year festivities, a great deal of attention is naturally bestowed on dance dresses. Where these are concerned it requires a certain amount of courage to step away from the decree of closely swathed skirts and long, slim bodices. Not that there is not pleaiy of diversity brought to bear on such models. The more so now the "Bateau" decolletage is giving way before -the really more become v shaped and low round. A V bodice that is amusing and uncommon is draped in soft defining folds to the waist at tbe back. Another that might be, but seldom is, cut in one with the jupe, Princess-wise, crosses right ovei in front, to fasten on the opposite hip, where the skirt draperies take up th. story. In soft satin, the last named is a style that can positively do no wrong ! and with the exception of some handsome jewelled ornament on the hip there is never a vestige of extraneous decoration. At the same time, thi' severely classical type of gown is inclined to add a few years to a debu tante, and it is the jeune fille who woulc be well advised to take her courage ii her hand, and launch forth into rathei more fussy little dance frocks, the skirt! slightly hipped, if the material and gen eral character of the design permits surmounted by a normal waist anc close-fitting corsage. When a froel after this genre is achieved in gcor jgette it is a veritable triumph.