WOOL IN FAVOUR

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume LXI, Issue 15, 23 February 1940, Page 4

WOOL IN FAVOUR

FASHION TRENDS IN

AMERICA

INCREASED DEMAND

ENCOURAGED

(From The Guardian's London

Correspondent)

LONDON, January 20

Back in London this week from America after an 18-days flight aboard aeroplane, which was held up by stormy seas off the Azores and floods in Portugal, is Dr. Clun-ies-Ross, the Australian expert in wool trade research. "My mission was to persuade wool-growers in Texas, Utah and Colorado to join a big drive to promote the use of wool," he said. "I think I have succeeded. This will mean more trade for Britain. America has just been told by the British Government that 75,000 bales of wool from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa will be available. That means 25 million pounds of raw wool. The price has gone up 50 per cent but the Americans say they are satisfied." "Smart American women are going in for wool in a big way," said Dr. Clu'nies-Ross. "In New York night clubs I saw wool dinner dre&ses by the dozen. A dodge of the moment is to have one decorative wool 'top' for a dress, with half-a-dozen skirts of varying cut and length to transform it into anything from a race-going kit to an evening dress."

Dr. Clunies-Ross praises American women for their poise, their charm, their manicures and their immense chic. "Even the telephonist at my New York hotel wore a different dress every day," he said. "I can't think how they do it. But he has one "but." American women's hats, he says, are hideous. "Just fur pill-boxes done up in string bags," is his verdict on the Fifth Avenue hat parade,