LADIES' COLUMN. London. Fashion Notes.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 45, 22 February 1908, Page 11

LADIES ' COLUMN. London. Fashion Notes.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) 10th January, 1908. Among small novel notions for the week is that of wearing tucked into the breast pocket of out of door coats — whether of cloth or velvet or fur or satin — a little silk handkerchief of some brilliant colour, preferably winered, rose-red, rose-pink, bluepeacock, or a vivid orange. It is essential that tho material be silk, but it need not always be plain, for come of the silk squares are striped, spotted, or checked ; the plain, however, are liked best. A new French device fhis season is the binding of the coat of astrachan or sealskin with plain black silk braid, sewn on to the depth of about an inch ; at the edge it is turned over and carefully hemmed on the other eide. At first the stiff line of braid seems to spoil a new coat, but apparently one will grow accustomed to its presence, and one does not dispute the fact that an edging of braid is an inexpensive and easy way of renovating a coat which is shabby at tho edges. Although the Jong fur jacket is popular in Paris, the short coatee is preferred by women who do not like the weight of the long fur coats, therefore the short variety is being much more worn in Paris, and with it there is always worn a. high wide sash that is just beginning to be '"furrere." Made of soft velvet or satin, it is cut very high in the front, is drawn down at the back .where it is crossed, and the ends are then brought forward and tied together a little below tho waist-lino in front ; the edges of the sash are generally fringed with long soft fringe or edged with a dozen soft silk tassels that rise and fall gracefully with tho wearer's movement. It is fully expected that before long these sashes will be just as much _ the rage in London as they now are In Paris, for they will suit the tall slim figure of the Englishwoman very well indeed. According to a Paris correspondent, the whole "chic" of a, gown now resides in. its "lino," and "line" is determined chiefly, if not ontirely, by tho skirt of the gown. "'Lt ligne" is the cry of the hour, and at all prices a fashionable woman, bo she stout or slim, must have it. "For line," says this authority, "is even more important than cut, or design, or adornment, and to attain that desired and much-to-be-admired line the Parisienne is now resolved to go far. Hitherto dia has been a shivering cieatnre, always at the mercy of the slightest cold or chill or passing draught. Now she is heroically resigned to go any length to obtain 'de la ligne,' and £0 sha discards her petticoats, her 'pstit3 trieota' of wool or silk — even her beloved 'cache-corsets' if these bo not thin enough All her underclothing mu3t bo soft, supplo, and above all must take up not the slightest room beneath her gown, for 'a not 'la ligne' the very first of her aims? And, to attain this, the lines of her figure from the shoulders to the feet must be clearly defined. To allow the skirts of all robes to flow and to cling to her pretty figure, the Parisienne has discarded all linings. ( Not only arc her gowns madn of the very thinnest and supplest of material, but they are- quite limp and unlined. Beneath these skirts of crepo at chine, of snople velvet, of Liberty, or of fino cloth, sho wears black or white silk 'tights.' Some- coutuneres have even gon? so fiir as to drape their fair clients in long lengths of material that is not even cut into the 6hape of a skirt, and the two long ends of the unsewn cloth or silk fall on to the giound behind the wearer, forming a trailing train that is effective and sinuous in tho extreme.. . Of course, none of these long clinging skirts aro trimmed, for even trimming of the flattest descriptions would spoil the line that is so necessary. A narrow hem of fur alone is allowed, or a wider hem of some contrasting material, laid flat at the hem. All the trimming that is put on to a gowr> is set upon the bodice, and here incrustations, embroideries, laces, passementerie of all kinds are put on in profusion, so that often the over(iimmed corsage of a gown, by the various kinds of adornments that lie upon ife, appears to be of a different colour, aad of a totally different material from the skirt it accompanies. Gold and silver embroideries, passementeries, are specially popular even on day-gowns laid on to lace 'guimpes' and Japanese sleeves." At this season of tho year the only kind of skirt at all allowed by tho makers of the fashions is tho skirit tight at the top and flowing round the hem, and this rule is absolute whsther for evening wear, afternoon wear, or trotting skirts. In the way of trimmings, too, we are told of huge ornaments that look like "Turk's head" knots of exaggerated size which find a place on the front of elaborate corsages of the new cloth dresses for afternoon wear. These are worked out in plaited braid to match" the dress, or are designed in tarnished silver hung with long pear-shaped tassels, the decoration in question being introduced at the base of the yoke, which is made of tucked tulle, and just above tho deep swathed waistbelt which marks the high wuistline. In some cases tho double skirt is caught togtther with very large fringed ornaments of the same, description designed in silver tissue mingled with coarse wool, and reminiscent of the giano lnotifs, which wero seen on curtain bands in the early Victorian era. The craze for braid of all descriptions has advanced to such an extent that though many of the most beautiful vetements are quite shott, their weight is considerable. The braids that are used are absolutely encrusted upon the luxurious background of the material, and coarse as well as fin© makes are equally necessary to carrying out the present fashions. When actual soutache is not employed a substitute is made of cord covered with silk or velvet; and, again, handwork is brought prominently to the front by means of a, beautiful form of ornamentation carried out in cable silk. It is reported that short sleeves are shortly again to reign supreme for daytime wear, and that the accompanying gloves are to be longer than ever before. The tinted gloves are tolerated, though a great future is expected for this glove of black suede, but with black toilettes the correctly tinted glove wil 1 be silvery-grey. On the other hand, there is a tendency for sleeves of evening bodices to become longer, reaching to the elbow, but as they are often of flesh-coloured tulle or chiffon their presence is hardly noticeable, unless it be powdered with dewdrops and finished with little sparkling dangling bugles. The hats now in course of preparation and those which will be seen in London later show a mass of tiny roses arranged on tulle shapes, which are small and dip slightly at the back. Tho high-crowned hats have Cavalier brims, aud show tufts of plumes at the left side, which is well lifted. The sweeping curves of the not-too-wide brims aie far more becoming thaii the ponderous-looking cloche of a year ago. Appaiently no colour is considered too gaudy for Riviera, wear, and tho presence oi bright shades of apple-green, lettuco-green, and grasshopper-gieen tram to be indispensable where the newest spring fashions ore concerned. Tho newest hat is made of straw almost esi soft and pliable H6 soft taffetas silk; ths crown it tall and pleated and

its .shnpo i» like nil inverted Mork-bog;' the brim is vciy narrow and its turnecluo edge i& bound with velvet. Thp n'nw trimming, which is in grc.it demand, consists of mammoth pear-shap-ed pompons of Hipped apple-gicen and white fratheii crushed closely together on one side of the hat. Variety is obtained by the use of laigc pincushion pompons of creamy white velvet. Hats of fine crinoline in black and colours arc hiph in favour with the milliner, the tall crown of many of the new models being carried out in black, while the brim is in a brilliant colour — such as royal blue — and is trimmed with feathers to match the brim, supplemented with a wreath of palo roses which cover the junction of the coloured brim and the black of the crown. There is no doubt that the fur toques now -worn ai-e #very costly ; go are those, too, whose brim only ia fur, tho crown being velvet. Recently a wellknown Parisienne was heard detailing what, her's had cost, and the details published are : For zibelino £8, for aigrettes £A, and £4 for velvet and making up ! Tho total cost of the toque was thus £16 — a stiff enough price ;n; n all conscience ! The owners of these trifles, however, know that they are becoming, that their appearance is decidedly dashing, and tho whole effect very neat. After all, what matters the cost they say in such circumstances?