MILLINERY STYLES

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28930, 25 June 1959, Page 2

MILLINERY STYLES

Furry Felts In Demand

Women all over the world are becoming hat conscious again, according to Mr Alfons Musil, a representative from a Czechoslovakian firm" who is visiting Christchurch. Mr Musil’s company. with headquarters in Prague, exports unblocked millinery shapes called hoods and blocked shapes called caplins, to many different countries.

Last year was a bad year for producers of women's millinery in most parts of the world, he said, but the trade was gradually recovering from the hatless era. Soft, long-haired shapes made of a mixture of fur and wool were now in demand.

Showing samples of silky fur felts in a wonderful range of jewel colours, Mr Musil said that favourite colours asked for by hat manufacturers everywhere were wild rice, glowing pinks, moss greens and very dark reds. Whereas last season middle red was the favoured red toning, deep crimson would be seen next season, he said. Women’s hats in New Zealand appeared to be well up to date and he had noticed that New Zealand millinery had a style of its own, said Mr Musil. This he judged to be a combination of American and European fashions, modified by New Zealand ideas. He also praised the quality of the men’s hats he had seen in New Zealand. Mr Musil, who is on his first visit to New Zealand, said he was delighted with the beauty of the country and although his trip was rushed, he had been able to visit Rotorua. Mr Musil travels to South Africa and Australia for his firm and thinks that air travel had brought countries so close in time that there is not much fashion lag between fashion centres and other places.