FRENCH DOLLS

Press, Volume C, Issue 29672, 16 November 1961, Page 2

FRENCH DOLLS

Exhibition In Shop

Doll* in the gaily-coloured costumes of French provinces were exhibited in the window of a Christchurch shop yesterday. They were brought in for the French court of the international trade fair held recently in Wellington, and are on loan to the store.

Many of the dresses were highly decorated with gilded lace and braid and the coiffure* were elaborate affairs of lace and muslin. The backswept pleated coiffe from Boulogne contrasted with the tall, slim bonnets of Champagne. From Pont-Aven came a highly-ornate dress with a wide collar, set off by a high horned head-dress. Alsace was represented by a quaint doll in a bright red skirt and a black embroidered apron. One miniature model from Nice had a wide-brimmed straw sun-hat with a gay candy-striped skirt. The straw bonnet of another was tied under her chin with a wide ribbon.

Some, like the doil from Normandie, had a laced velvet bodice over a fulSaleeved blouse. Others had threecornered shawls over their shoulders. And from Paris came high fashion of a former day—elegant women in long sweeping skirts, leg-of-mutton sleeves, and enormous feathered hats.