FASHION NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 71, 24 March 1928, Page 4 (Supplement)

FASHION NOTES.

WAISTLINE HIGHER. BEADED FROCKS WIDER. (By Aa Expert.) PARIS, December 21. Tlie Paris season is at its height. Visitors are flocking from all parts of the world to spend Christmas and New Year in the Gay City. There is an endless round of dinners in the fashionable private houses, the embassies, _ as well as the dinner* I given for Bereillon at the chic restaurants which are much patronised by all and sundry at this time of the year. And this means, of course, that every woman is preoccupied with the many changes in her wardrobe. In one of Count Launay's witty chron <clea of 1839, there was this statement: 1 To keep in fashion, it is necessary i f rankly to renounce the past, both in whole and 5n deitail." Men's fashions come and go, but women 6 fashiong go on for ever. Always i restless seeking for something new something beautiful, something exotic

But still, fashion is not exclusively modern. It has ruled the universe from time immemorial, but it has just be-, come more of a vocation with many more women. The present season establishes the fact that every line is conceived to embellish the grace and charm of women.' •Silhouettes are supple and follow the natural grace of womanly lines. A natural and clever simplicity. Dresses and Suit Almost Severe. Dresses and suits are almost severe, and while the lines are not straight, they give every appearance of being so. Women, for the most part, have accepted the higher waistline, without a murmur, and in some cases we even see the normal. The waistline, at its proper place, is, however, very trying, except to those women who possess a very slender figure. The low waistline owed its popularity to the fact that it accentuated 'slender lines and gave the appearance of a youthful figure, even when this was nonexistent. The other day I saw a "collection" of dresses, all of which were made with longer skirts—skirts come well below the knees and even longer. Whether ever again we shall see the ankle-length /(skirt, the future will decide. Day-time Clothes. Day-time clothes are beooming Increasingly important in the well-dressed woman s waTdrobe. She no longer wears a suit or a sports frock from morning until _ late afternoon. She now has a morning suit or sports frock, a smart lunch outfit, a tea frock and a dinnes frock. If she drives, golfs, walks, motors or dances—she must have something especially designed of the proper ™*terial, just the' right touch of individualism. For materials utilised during the day time, there is a wide range: kasha and all the materials in the kasha family, crepe de chine, crepe satin, georgette, in every colour it is possible to imagine, satins, velvets, botn heavy and light as chiffon and beautify . ."* 8 % n ®d, hand-woven, rare materials. Evemint Frocks. . Evening frocks are both graceful and simple. Many frocks are of and finest tulle, almost cobweb in texture. Colours, aa I have just remarked, are inclined toward the sombre. Even in evening dresses almost the only touch of colour and trimming is in either the flower or the jewels. To be sure, there are still many beaded frocks. And when

one sees them they are even more beaded and ornate than those of any other leason. The beaded frocks are no longer the slim, tube-ones of yesteryear. The new frock is full, almost circular, and weighs heavily with beads of every description. White pearls are particularly popular, and these are usually embroidered into the frocks as though they were a natural jewel. The ■ robe-de-style remains popular, especially with the younger woman with the slender one. Another fav- | ooiite evening dress has the skirt o' or taffeta lengthened with a wide hem of lace or tulle, through the transoarency of which silken hose gleam most alluringly. Indian and Other Handkerchiefs. Many dressmakers use these handker "hiefs in a variety of ways that do honour to the imagination. Tied care 'essly over the dress or slipped betweer f he blouse and the jacket of the tailor made sc as to show only very slightlv f hese handkerchiefs add a bright and lively touch to the darkest costume. j •n-eat many are to be seen in the Bois In *he morningr. Most of them are made if printed crepe or voile, and some are tainted in the Batik style. Cut-out Landscape In Pur. The fashion for trimming cloaks frocks with cut-out landscapes of fur I

is not exactly new—for we saw it [last season—and not exactly pretty, since the fur appears to be mutilated ■ instead of rendered merely decorative. I This is done in brown fur on black fabric, and with seal on white veQvet or satin. Our Sketch. Sports dress in string-colouTed crepe, the skirt prettily plissee, the waistline