“L’APRES MIDI” FROCK RETURNS

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 172, 17 April 1937, Page 4 (Supplement)

“L’APRES MIDI” FROCK RETURNS

And Woollen Dresses Too Have Gone Up In The Scale Of Popularity

(By

Eleanor Gunn.)

Among the major interests of the new season is the afternoon dress, long neglected for the more casual type of dress of which the shirt-waist frock is the leading example. The French have a word for it, “I’apres Midi,” not of a fawn, but frock. Everything indicates that this dress-up type is being revived as a sort of surprise movement. It offers a new thrill to the young things who, having survived suits, sweaters and shirt-waist styles, are at last confronted with the sort of thing women wore before they banished petticoats for pants.

Reading from the left to right—A two-piece frock adopts a rounded jacket blouse with slight puff to the sleeve-tops. It is in a blue flecked mixture featuring hairy wool yarns with two different tones of the same colour, introducing a flower motif in spot effect all over the blouse. Below is a wool chenille two-piece in churchall green zvith lighter green for the buttons and openzvork stitches softening the classic style of the jacket. Fashioning gives design interest to the Two-piece rabbit’s hair frock zvith slight puff to the sleeve-tops. The tzvin-petal collar gives a nice youthful touch. A tzvo-piece frock in boucle zvith tzveed checks in skirt and collar is in brown and zvhit.e.

Back to petticoats aud back to the more formal dress types is now the rule, for it does seem as though the afternoon frock is on the brink of strong revival. It is no secret that the shirtwaist dress eclipsed the afternoon dress and practically every type in its powerful success of the past several seasons but now that is dimmed, the afternoon dress is definitely making a return visit.

As a type, the afternoon dress is usually thought of as a kind of dress to wear for the major engagements of the day

One of the extremely interesting changes that have come about during the absence of the traditional afternoon dress is that woollen dresses have come up in the scale of prestige, until now they are right on the top, sharing all the honours that the soft silk-type dress has always received. Now you see woollens, soft and drapy, in dress styles that have draped bodices, sleeves of much style interest, and in short, have all the characteristics of the silk dress of afternoon type. In the diagrams with this article t the versatility of the new woollens is fully illustrated.

In reviewing early collections of town fashions, it is interesting to see the attention shown gray, especially in woollens, in ensembles and in frocks, many of which are trimmed with gray furs, or worn with gray fur. Hairy woollens, also woollens that have a velvety finish, are approved. The furs, introduced in revers and hemline borders, include gray lamb. It is also remarked that squirrel! is approved as the medium for jackets and capes worn with gray frocks. Besides woollens, velveteens is approved in gray shades, in dresses and also in jacket ensembles.