"DON'T-DRESS-TO-NIGHT" VOGUE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 150, 26 June 1937, Page 27 (Supplement)

"DON'T-DRESS-TO-NIGHT" VOGUE.

Paris Leads the Way to Bright Informal Gowns.

(By A PARIS EXPERT.) THE "don't-dress-to-night" command is gathering new followers every season, and this coming spring the number of day-evening ensembles shown by Paris reaches a new height for all time. Styles in the "don't-dress" class have more and more of the glamour of full evening fashions, though they may be as short and tailored as the street suit one wears on a fine morning. Embroideries done with sparkling beads and jewels, with spangles and gold and silver threads, put glory-touches on dresses and suits made for informal wear. Organdies and organzas and chiffons and satins compete with shining gold and silver metallic cloths to make gorgeous raiment of the ensembles you will be wearing this season for dressy occasions. Paris circles the slender waistline of satin and organdie dresses for informal evening, with belts and girdles encrusted with heavy jewelled embroidery. And Paris embroiders black crepe cocktail suits with gold spangled palm trees or bands them gold or silver leather ribbon, tinted with bright coloured shading. Paris covers entire corsages with brilliant beading, or with heavy pearls in day length cocktail clothes. Paris also makes charming, simple dresses and coats, tailored and short, of tissues in gold and silver, and copper combined with brilliant colours. So there you are! You can be gorgeous, you may t>e one of the "stared ats" instead of the "starers" this season, if you like. And at small cost.

The Tale of the Hat. The hats that will be worn with informal evening and cocktail clothes tend to be high, though there is no law about it. They will be trimmed with feathers, hung with veils, and will go in for colour in a big way. Wide-brimmed hats with feather garlands will be new. While black will continue to b6 the peerless favourite of many elegant women for cocktail and informal evening clothes, there will be much colour worn, and dark red grape, amethyst, fuchsia, royal blue and violet -will be just as chic as black.

Miss Fashion for the spring, 1937, will step out looking something like a "Don't Dress" model, designed by any one of the greatest Paris dressmakers. I would like to report that the new hats will be of the type which will stay on the head without a good deal of preparation, but most of the hats shown have the kind of shallow crown which needs elastic and plenty of hair to keep them in place.

But they are attractive, beautiful and very gay. Some of them are shaped like plates, others have straight brims, and a few small ones usually have flowers or ribbons jauntily trimming the front. For the "under twenties" there are pique fezes worn on the very back of the head. Some of the new models have nearly as much trimming as had tha Victorian bo.*;net. One flat beret hat, worn primly straight on the head, supported a tiny bird perched with an air of surprise in a posy of flowers, with a veil thrown over it all.

Many of the new narrow-brimmed hats are built up in front with masses of owl or pheasants' feathers.

Day-time Clothes for Girls. Day-time clothes for the young girl are this season always made short. She is, by divine right of youth, the one feminine creature who can get away with a skirt that comes only an inch or two below the knees. Evening dresses for her have skirts that are almost, if not quite, as long as her mother's, and they give her an irresistible appeal of childish masquerade. She, better than any of the people who fallow fashions, can wear the normal waistline exactly where Nature puts it. No need of tricks or compromise. For her the short, puffed sleeves that are so new and fashionable, are made to order. She must have been the inspiration of the new low-heeled modern Greek sandals, although, alas, older feet have often strayed into them. The short, velveteen jackets, with no sleeves, and a short cape around the shoulders, are for her. And the bolero jacket takes a lot of wearing by any woman over 20, or heavier than the life insurance weight for that age.

Two of the predominating trends in Paris hats are surely leading to the young girl; one of the these is the halfsized beret and cap that allows most of the hair to show, and the other is the wide-brimmed hat that is trimmed simply with a velvet ribbon band. Draped toques and hats with tortured and twisted brims are only for faces that show experience and need flattering, and the jeune fille isn't in this

class. Paris Fashion Hints. It is whispered that waistlines are to be raised immediately below the bust or some similar fantastic arrangement. Some of the new long afternoon dresses for smart occasions have slanting, uneven hemlines that touch the floor. The new bell skirts are not becoming to everybody. Paris adores emerald green and vivid violets. All the crepes rustle this season. The new tunic dresses offer many possibilities for promotional ideas. Large paillettes and clanking sequins are used either in colour, or in silver or gold for short flared jackets, and sometimes for smart afternoon occasions and dressy pullovers. A method of stiffening the tiers or ruffles of a gown with a lining of horsehair lace is still in vogue. Fastenings keep fanciful. There are some new leather hook and ring closings. And leather slave chains and lazy coro-nation-crown buttons that lie on their sides. Gloves still bright, sound notes of contrasting colour. There are some black gloves with red laque finger-nails, and blue-blooded vein patterns. (This sounds awful, and I must say, I don't think we women wil] cater to it very much.) There are bright chenille gloves, and there are gloves in rich fabrics laced up the back of the hand.

Women will be glad to hear that if they insist on it they need have no ridiculous sleeves, very few impossible hats, and not one awkward line to contend with next season.

In Paris the Parisienne doesn't dres« to look pretty. She always looks smart. which suits her type, and sels her apart from many of the women around her. who still have a weakness for lookinsr pretty rf and when possible, even with scant help from nature.

Colour is important, and if need for economy necessitates, the choice of a sombre colour, there's no reason why gay details should not be chosen.