FASHION NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 84, 10 April 1937, Page 3 (Supplement)

FASHION NOTES.

THAT NEW HAT. SUITS AND TUNIC JACKETS. (By A PARIS EXPERT.) One adventure that never stales: Shopping for hats that give even the weariest soul a lift. It has been proved over and over again that buying and wearing a new hat completely changes the aspect of the universe, to say nothing of giving the individual a fresh burst of self-confidence. Anything can happen with a hat of the new vintage fitted to your skull-line. Although there is an amusing fantasy in all the new hats, a variety of choice that would make it unpardonable for any woman to wear a'.i unbecoming model, the general order is "Forward, march!" A tail wind was swept over the modistes' world and brims, crowns,

trimmings, a!! ehoot forward. The ■ annual battle for supremacy between : crown and brim has been won this season by the crown, and it has been i very cocky over its victory. Whether it is one tier, two tiers or three tiers, the crown is the focal point of every smart hat. Crowns which had grown taller and taller during the recent sky-scraper epidemic have gone down like so many pricked balloons. They are certainly i less noticeably high and the small, flat, unobtrusive ones are content to play the purely utilitarian role of holding one's hat on one's head, without benefit of elastic. To compensate the front emphasis, hats are practically non-existent in the back; they do a gradual disappearing as they move toward the nape of the neck, leaving the field clear for the piled-up 1 curls that are making the business of being a hairdresser so lucrative these days. The Alpine hat is now waning 1 and we hear of skull caps and the hat story tells of a wreath of flowers rising ; high above the skull cap, like an aura. The New Coiffure. Coiffures are being built up. Your hair, reader, will go up, not down and i then, you may be interested to know i that tse tipe will probably be gilded, so i that you will look like a rising sun. 1 You can also curl your fringe, and < have sweet little ringlets around your < neck. The smart thing of the moment is hair with a carved or sculptured look, i The sculptured effect is indeed preserved < at all hazards. You still, see a few 1 small chignoHs, and some women have i let their hair grow to such lengths that their chignon has assumed considerable J dimensions. t

The coiffeur's comb has found many ways in which to deceive the eyes. If the hair is( longer than a short boh, it is brushed neatly to one side, or in some way or another moulded to the head. All the short hair is trained up for several inches, combed in soft half-curls and lapped over itself in the middle. Some times the hair grows away from the back of one ear straight across to the back of the other. With such a set-up you hardly have to train a swirl. If the hair grows away from the centre back you might experiment brushing the hair toward the back of the ears. Suit-Dreases and Dress-Suits. We shall all this season be wearing either a dress-suit or a street-dress. Both are neat and workmanlike. The

dress-suit looks like a skirt and jacket: it is really made all in one piece with a tuck round the hips. Contrariwise, the euit-dresses look" like dresses, but are real suits, with separate jacket and skirt, and a peplum on the jacket. Dresses and capes will carry us along before we all burst into the spring foliage. Dresses in navy, black or brown jerseys, capes in Shephard'e plaid are seen, worn over spring suits. The smartest tweeds are grey and white, with black, red, green, or multi-coloured flecks. Clips are enormous, belts catch the eye. We must make way for sleeves! They blow their own trumpets right enough, and enter with a flourish. None of that quiet, modest behaviour we have been accustomed to in the past! The new sleeves are out for admiration and plenty of it. Notice the way they start. No conventional beginning at the shoulder level—these sleeves spring straight from the neckline, and the. way they have of encroaching on the bodice is one of the features of the season. Waists stay where they were and skirts remain slim. An Imminent Problem. As the January fashion shows loom up dressmakers are sending in invitations to their friends and clients. The new styles are coming up, and some of the brightest of them come with the o.k. of the late Paris-London social season stamped on them. Dresses that made good in a big way amongst the smartest women of the Continental world of society are invited to stay on and shine in the forthcoming fashions.

For one thing, the full-skirted evening gown made of ethereal stuff like lace and tulle will be with us again in the coming year. It guarantees a hundred per cent glamour to the appearance of most Women. It has been worn here in Paris by the Famous Forty and by such experts in sartorial charm 'as the Comtesse Jean de Polignac, Madame Bonnardel and the Princess Nicholas of Greece. The slim evening gown with a hjrii waistline and a strong snack of the Directoire about it is a second style to be carried through the social 1937

season. The tunic-dress, a darling of society highlights, is etill with us. The younger set in Paris created a last day vogue for the dancing dress of sheer stuff with high neckline and long sleeves. And this is something which is keeping right *on in styles.

With a Terrible Thud. Society killed off a few fashions this season by letting them drop with a terrible thud. The bulging shoulder line on both jackets and dresses died thia way, and the bolero suit lAeets its end at the same hands—or backs, shall I say ? The suit with a longer jacket is a smart little number to go into the new styles via the society route. Suits with tunic jackets that are about fingertip or knee-length are new entries. Suits with the same length of jacket but having a high waistline are also good. Other interesting things are the little short-coated suits and these are to be seen in very line wool-romaine and matelasse silks, all of which have little flower buttons—tiny white gardenias, open roses or red carnations in a kind of porcelain. A suit seen at a recent afternoon tea at the Ritz Hotel made a hit. Worn by a very dark brunette, it was of lime green wool with a deep coachman's collar and tiered sleeves, following the theme of the collar. A bright bow of yellow satin at the neck completed the details in this Directoire model.

Snapshots From Paris. Everything depends upon the shape of the eyebrows, "baby brows," those eternally raised, eternally surprised arches, half-way up to the hair, have disappeared. Intelligent shaping has taken their place. Lashes play their part. Film stars use artificial ones, of course; they photograph better and can be kept in good trim with a daily wash and a curl round an orange stick. The average woman is content with her own lashes. With mascara, she adds to Nature during daytime, with vaseline she encourages Nature at night. Details for afternoon and evening dresses: White flowers pinned on black dresses, a mother-o'-pearl flower, a broad varnished belt. Spangle embroideries. Large bows placed on drapings. Certain decolletees are draped, others open out to form revels; belts are draped. Mother-o'-pearl buttons, buckles and mhtifs. Waists as well as hips are giving designers a good deal of bother this season. The unanimity of last year has gone, and definite waistlines have made their bow to the public. The 18in waist is a threat of the hear future. White gloves are worn with practically all day models.