Covered Knees Next Winter

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32361, 29 July 1970, Page 2

Covered Knees Next Winter

New Zealand’s fashion manufacturers are backing the midi-length for winter, 1971, according to Mrs Moira Smith, a publicity officer for the New Zealand Wool Board. Mrs Smith, who was in Christchurch yesterday, has been viewing collections for next winter, now being designed.

She has found knee-length to mid-calf the predominant length, with dresses a few inches shorter than coats. Covering the knee appears to be the new yardstick for length. “Very few minis will be available,” Mrs Smith said. Short-lived Resistance? Many women, she thinks, will resist the change, particularly young girls, who say they do not want to give up short skirts. But resistance is likely to be short lived. “The eye will come to accept the new length. And even if they don’t really want to wear them, there will be not much else available." For those who cannot make up their minds about the longer lengths, trousers will still be a good compromise. “Trousers with mid-thigh tunics are being designed still, and I think they are particularly suitable for the bigger, older woman. And it is a very nice look for evening, too,” said Mrs Smith. City and country pants are also being teamed with coats of any length, with wide,

' straight legs favoured with longer coats. A wool grower’s wife, Mrs ' Smith has a firm belief in ' the future of the fibre.

“Nothing will ever replace wool,” she said. “All other fibres are imitation. In Europe and North America, people now want to wear genuine things—they are tired of imitations and want real wool, real cotton, real silk “The young generation has grown up with synthetics, and now they want natural fibres. Now that we have machinewashable woollens there is no field in which synthetics can better wook” In the future even men's suits would be washable. Within a year a wide variety of school clothing and woollens which were machine washable would be on the market.

Before she married, Mrs Smith worked in retail advertising, and advertising agencies, as a copy writer. For a time she was copy writing tor D.1.C., Ltd, in Christchurch. She maintained her skills by writing free-lance on a variety of topics, particularly fashion, and after her three children grew up decided to go back to work. One of her main tasks is assembling the mass of fashion information received at Wool House in Wellington and sending it round New Zealand. Publicity for the Wool Board’s various projects, such as the new machine-washable wools, is also her responsibility. Compiling and editing the board’s quarterly magazine is another aspect of her work.