FASHION NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 33, 8 February 1930, Page 4 (Supplement)

FASHION NOTES.

SPECIAL TALENT IN DRESS.

WAISTLINE RETURNS TO NORMAL.

(By A PARISIAN EXPERT.)

It is next to impossible for women to be badly dressed to-day. What a difference to a woman's whole outlook on life has been caused by the abolition of hooks and eye?, boned garments, high stiff collars and tapes and strings, and yet these monstrosities were still m existence during the war. Perhaps all women do not realise:what aforuniu.u ape they live in sartorially. At what other period of history were skirts- so comfortable, shoes that are at once serviceable, and extremely elegant. There were many beautiful dresses 111 the past, but it is doubtful if they were as comfortable as ours, and many of the gorgeous robes of the Middle Age?, and all the -charming creations of the eighteenth century that look so effective on the stage or in a picture, must have been misery to wear. The weight and confinements or iewelled headdresses, towering wigs and immense feather hats, the cramping of the waist and feet, the dragging of yard* of velvet from the shoulder, the walking in dresses that trailed on the ground both in front and behind, must have involved perpetual wretchedness. Now science has joined with art to create clothes that are beautiful, _ hygienic and com fort able, and not Venice in all her anfcient glory can beat us for brocades, tinsels, satins, silks that are now ready to our hands, for the exquisite range of colours, for the splendour of the materials. Never has it been easier for a moderately pretty woman to look delightful, and not only a moderately pretty one, but also one with a very moderate pocket. The woman who looks dowdy or frumpish, over-dressed or vulgar in 1929 must have a positive genius for the wrong thing in the wrong place.

The Careless Touch in. Smart Dressing.

The special talent some women possess of attaching a scarf around their necks at the exact angle that achieves' smartness is an invaluable help to its lucky owners. Scarves are an essential part of costumes. Every frock has its particular soarf, but the .. .scarf must never be chosen to match the rest of the toilette. It must be of a different colour, but harmonising, in demonstration of its wearer's good taste. Some scarves are tied in an irregular way round the neck—the more careless, the more becoming the effect. Others are twisted once round the neck and hang down each fiide; Each is cut to be worn in whatever way the wearer desires. A triangular scarf of chiffon may hang down the back in a point on the decolletage of an evenifig gown, the other two ends are knotted and arranged on each shoulder.

Scarves for sports wear must be triangular and vivid. Add a small pockethandkerchief to match in the right cuff of jumper or Jacket, and you have two good. ingredients of fashion. Sonic scarves are long and narrow. These are arranged round the neck of a frock at the right, and form the collar at the back, pass through a large buttonhole, and then fall down the left side in a cascade past- the waist.

Scarf habits are not easy to acquire. Women will want the conjurer's magic and a handful of his coloured handkerchiefs ■ before they are proficient. Practice will make perfect, however; perfect, too, will be the finish given by the properly tied scarf. The . Normal Waistline. It is one of the ! features of winter fashions to show ample and longer skirts, and this, although only a detail, is of great importance. Infinitely prettier is it in the ballroom, or even in tin street, to see the graceful movements permitted by the full skirt, instead of the hesitating, nervous step to which we have become accustomed. Every woman will adopt this fashion with' relief. . Longer skirts will also meet with success. As the waistline will be marked at its normal place, we shall return to a more rational silhouette, and slowly the eye will forget the beloved narrow line of past seasons. Fashion does not love revolutions. Changes are made slcwly, step by step, a lesson from Nature over which one might well ponder. Fabrics that Make the Fashions. The fabrics seen in the shops to-day offer delightful possibilities to the welldressed woman. There are, first of all, the jerseys, soft, becoming, and with just that amount of warmth necessary for winter wear. This material is shown in every tone of colour. It is, however, beige that is never dull, for it is merged with lovely tones of scarlet, crimson, or rose reds, jade greens, a variety of blues, from navy to the lighter powder blues, orange, brown, or Wack. Our Sketch. This very smart model emanates from the atelier of one of the foremost dressmakers in Paris. It has been carried out in heavy satin crepe in the season's smart red brown colouring. The collar is of mastic satin, and is buttoned over in one square-shaped section, which is very original. There is a single pointed pocket, and the skirt terminates in a ■sharp dip at the side.