BEST DRESSED WOMEN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 20, 24 January 1936, Page 11

BEST DRESSED WOMEN.

PARIS DRESSMAKERS' OPINION. The judgment of Paris has been declared —Europe's best-dressed woman is Lady Mendl, American wife of Sir Charles Mendl, Press Attache to the British Embassy in Paris.' Adds the judgment: One of the most chic women in Europe is Britain's Duchess of Kent. The decision was made by a ballot of leading .Paris dressmakers. Twenty best-dressed . women have been selected. Ten are American. Lady Mendl heads the list. Only one is Eng-lish-born, Diana Wynyard, now playing in •"Sweet Aloes" in London. Before her marriage Lady Mendl was stated by the "New York American" to have spent between £2000 and £3000 on clothes each year, and was quoted as saying: "I do not think the distinction 'best-dressed woman' belongs' to me. I think it belongs to Mrs. Reginald Fellowes (French wife of an Englishman), of Paris and London. I do not think I am an extravagant woman because I spend between £2000 and £3000 a year on clothes. I wear my clothes a long time." Paris begs tq disagree on the point of precedence, and points out that Lady Mendl wears what suits her, and sometimes colours her light hair pale green or blue to match her clothes.. Other names, in the list are: — Actresscs: Constance 1 Bennett, Ina Claire, Kay Francis. U.S. society women: Mrs. TV. K. Vanderbilt, Baroness Eugene de Rothschild, Mrs. Cole Porter, Mrs. John Marriott, Mm. Gilbert Miller. Frenchwomen- The Hon. Mrs. Reginald 1 Ailwyn Fellowes, Princess Jean Louis (Je Faneigny-Lncinge, Countess Charles de Noailles, Countess Bauchamp, and Countess Gerard de Moustiers. Also: Mrs. Maria Jose Sert, a Russian; Mrs. Martinez de Hoz, of Argentina; and the Marquise de Paris, a South American. Qualifications for inclusion in this list were: Personality, charm, a good figure, and the knack of dressing to their best advantage. Women who blindly followed fashion without studying their own personality were not included. v But these experts estimated that an expenditure of £2000 to £8000 a year on clothes would be necessary to ba ranked among the 20 best-dressed .