FASHION NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 306, 30 August 1924, Page 22

FASHION NOTES.

• iltf AN EXPERT.) PARIS, May 7. Oh! Bother the rain? Every day and every way Us gutting witter and wetter! Lest-a-ui.e, at the time of writing. Perhaps when this article j readies you the days may be sunny and warm once mure, tue real -May morn" of the poet, and we shall be 'able to don our spring clothes, although, even in wet weather, tii l'arisienne manages to look chic. .Rainproof clothes »re rather delightful nowadays. Apparently, almost every kind of material— crepe-de-chine, satin, glace silk-can be made "waterproof." These are made up into the most charming creation.-* Whether they are really very practical or very "proof" remains to be •proved," but they mc excessively ciiic to look at, and, after all, they are only designed lor rain showers in the Avenue, dv Bois, or the rue de la Paix. not for tramping in the country, or for any sort, of serious undertaking. So becoming was a little eire crepe suit of bronze colour that 1 met in the Hois this morning, worn by a very pretty 1 arisienne, with hair and siloes to mutch. I'esl-a-dire, the .shoos Were russet colour, ami 60 was her coiffure, Which was topped, by the way, by a little hat of russet leather. The" ensemble was certainly very attractive. Transparent oil-skins do not seem to mc to be very comfortable for rain wear. They are ugly, do not cling, never seem to lit: they keep the rain out certainly, but they keep the heat in, and one gets so soddenly warm in them. That, well one feels as wet inside as they look outside. Umbrellas, too, seem to be rather out ,of it, and who -uses" , an umbrella ? Isn't it merely an elegant piece of furniture that one tucks under ones arm, or hangs on one's wrist, just for the pleasure of allowing a very smart or grotesque handle, as the case may be? There is something very friendly, though, about an umbrella. " It must be. to some women, what pockets are to a man Wild splashes of colour are the expression of Fashion's mood in Paris. Stripes, ten inches wide, and in a brilI liant colour on a dark background, arc I not considered startling, the shops being so full of this kind of goods, and of coats and frocks of which they are fashioned. In sports clothes, and for out-of-doors service, the brazen patterns and tub silks are gay and pretty, and will grow in popularity as the season advances. The embroidered cottons which the fabric makers have produced this season have never been so beautiful in design, and they are so wonderfully well made that the dressmakers arc encouraged to increase their number of real summer models, a feature in which they have always been lacking. There is nothing so pretty for summer than a cotton frock daintily embroidered. Later on we -shall see the feature, as always, emphasised at the Deauville racecourse, where the green lawns offer such a beautiful setting for the Parisicnne in her best summer frock. Women are inclined to hold up their hands in horror at the mere sound of the word "'embroidery." At one time is meant so much handwork and eyesight strain that it naturally made {lie cost of a tub dress far out of the reach of the ordinary pocket, but the French manufacturers have made remarkable strides in producing a-machine embroidery which cannot be distinguished from handwork. This means that an embroidered frock nowadays costs a little more than a printed one. The days for paying a fancy price for a handembroidered lingerie dress arc over. Quill feathers arc nil the go and, with a tailored frock, it is essential to have at least one hat trimmed in this way. They always have an effect of dash and piquancy which, I admit, sets a certain limit to the age of their really successful wearers. You can indulge in ostrich feathers when you are in the "fifties," but quills are quite a different proposition and you simply must not —or at any rate must not 100k —a day more than, say, thirty, if you propose to wear one of these jaunty hats —a black straw one, for instance, bedecked with three long quills in various colours, which pursue their different ways far beyond the limits of the brims. A small brown hat has seven or eight quills of brown and red circled into a windmill-like shape, high in front of the crown, or still, again, a black straw makes up for its untrimmed severity in front, by having two big tangerine coloured quills brightened with silver paint, crossed against the upturned sweep of the brim at the back. These quills are treated in the newest way—or the oldest way (for fashion always repeats itself, and this fashion, by the way. is as old as the hills); this is dipped into solution and thickly covered with coloured powder, and splashed with gold or silver or copper metallic paint. Quite gorgeous, as you will see. There are so many women who, as regards their looks, never seem to get beyond thirty, that the quill-trimmed millinery can still be 1 assured of plenty of wearers. \ Our Sketch. i This charming little model in leaf- • green foulard, with a stamped pattern