Spring Fashions Made In N.Z. Reviewed

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28981, 24 August 1959, Page 2

Spring Fashions Made In N.Z. Reviewed

What makes a coat or a suit look like spring 1959? Most women will be thinking about a new season’s shopping expedition very soon and being naturally interested in fashion they will want to know what is going to make the suit or coat they choose fashionable according’ to 1959 standards.

If you look for fashion you can find it, at every price level. It is in the line; in the colour; in the weave. It is in the design of the buttons; the placing of the pockets; the set of a sleeve; the angle of the collar.

Probably the most important trend in the spring into summer suits and coats Is their pared-down simplicity and ability to flatter the wearer, says a fashion writer of the New Zealand Textile and Garment Manufacturers* Federation. New Zealand manufacturers report that never has a season had so much fashion which makes good sense to everybody. Coate Are Lightweight The big thing about the spring coats is their lightness. Weighing only a few ounces, light-weight wools mainly with a surface interest in the weave, are the ideal answer to capricious spring weather. The long-haired mohairs are still very good and featherlight. These are coats that can be worn on a cool summer evening and late summer into* autumn. Plain facecloth-type materials are also very good and herald a return of the smoother look. Cottons, sometimes with a look of wool crepe or tweed, are used in summer coats as well as rayons, failles, ottomans and linens. Styling: The line tends to be wider at the shoulders, narrowing down to a tapered hemline. This effect is obtained by dropped shoulders. deep-set raglan sleeves widish collars, back yokes off-set by a narrow skirt bottom with low buttoning. Quite often the last button is near the hem.

There is some back interest, mainly with soft pleats coming from a yoke or a deep inverted pleat accented by a large button or a flat bow. There is still a hi-line influence and this usually comes from a wide self-belt emerging from the side seams and tying softly under the bust. Often the hi-!ine effect is obtained by self stitching or a flat bcw. There will be some cardigan collars which promise to come in more strongly next autumn. Out: Quite off the fashion market is the topper coat, replaced now by the, three-quarter length car coat or the blazer—often in suede.

Colours: In coats the colours tend to be pale or luminous. Especially good are the sherbert tones of spring pastels. A pale tender green, soft maize, and creamy fudge will be popular and very strong is white frost In the deeper tonings are the sea shell colours from pale shrimp to deeper eoral. Green in the softer shadings of almond will be very strong and has taken over from the deep tonings of the last winter. Rock crystal a lovely beige with undertones of pink, will be a new shade; silver birch (pale grey), luminous blue and flamingo rose are all new and all wonderfully wearable colours. (

Suite Bloused or Boxy The .return of the really lightweight suit has been a big success overseas and it is an ideal fashion for the New Zealand climate.

Styling: Jackets can be either straight and boxy (sometimes semi-fitted) jpst touching the hip bone. Alternatively, they feature bloused backs gathered into a basque which fits the waist or falls in a straight line to the hip and is then banded. That is the trend; there are, of course, variations.

Collars tend to stand away from the neckline and are often quite big, although generally flat. An alternative is the cardigan-necked suit which is a fashion point for now and next autumn. Sleeves can be three-quarter, elbow length or short Skirts are usually straight and simple but with a straight little jacket, pleats are used becomingly. Materials: For the summer suit the biggest news is the use of pure silk. A material that imparts a casual elegance to any garment, in these new summer suite it promises to be an immediate success. Cotton, either looking like cotton or silk, is very good and fits

happily into the new suit scheme. One Auckland manufacturer is using an American fabric of rayon mixed with raw silk which gives a most becoming slub effect. If linen is used it is crease resisting Spring suits aie mainly in featherweight wools.

Colours: Good news for many women—navy and white has made a great come-back. Very flattering are the sea shell tonings from the tint of pale shrimp to deep coral. Emerging from the deep tonings of wild duck and the darker greens of the past winter, have come a whole new family of almond greens. Very good too, are the greeny-blues in smudgy prints Some people may quibble about calling white a colour but nobody will be able to say (at the end of the season) that it hasn’t been a success. It promises to be a most ompirtant colour.

Hems: New Zealand manufacturers seem to have settled for about 2 to 2$ inches below the knee.