LADIES' COLUMN.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 23, 27 January 1912, Page 13

LADIES ' COLUMN.

TjOndon liashion Notes. THE' ART OF DRESS. SOME FRENCH EPIGRAMS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, 15th December. "Nobody can dress a woman unless ho is an artist." "The dress of a woman is as complicated as the woman herself." "Man only can fuit a, woman in dress. The woman dressmaker drowns hoi Ipp.lf in details unU .negleclb tho oui- . line. The male drps&muUev remembers tho details and respects the oulline." "Woman muss he dressed according to her type. Generalisation is the ruin of elegance." ' " Ail those words of wisdom were uttered by the eminent Paris dressmaker M. Poirct, and no doubt there is much truth in some of his remarks, but on the whole ho •« much too severe, and taking as her text the fourth of the Frenchman's epi- j grams, "Lucille" has something to say in reply. This lady is tho famous director of a big house of fashion in London, and j she has a business in Paris as well, and in private oircles she is known as Ltdy j Duff Gordon. OUT OF HIS PROVINCE. "Of course," says "Lucille," "the woman -dressmaker remembers details, and it is the details, the little touches, that make a dress charming and distinctive. Hard outlines are not feminine — they do not please. A man has no business to understand a woman's dress. It is not his metier. It in his to appreciate and enjoy tho result, without understanding how it is attained. , "As a matter of fact, no real man evesdoes understand. Ho cannot explain exactly what a woman is wearing, but he knows quite woll if she is looking charming, or if she is looking grotesque and unpleasing. Considering that clothes, to be delightful, must fit the nature of the wearer, it is surely evident that a woman dressmaker must be more successful than a man in making the completely and delightfully feminine— the robe that is soft and delicate and graceful — and this is done not by swathing the figure vrith hard lines, butjby a Subtle combination and by many little details. I will say this: I consider that a man is as much out of his province' in making women's clothes as a woman would be in making men's. Anyhow, my success in Paris seems to show that women themselves realise that it is the details that matter." The opinions of "Lucille" will prbbably carry the day. Surely not even the most ardent devotees of "line" can 1 complain that this feature has suffered from negleot during the past two ' years. _ And even now, when more fulness is imparted to dress and blouse and oloak, there is not enough, to eliminate the outline of the figure. FOR THE USEFUL DRESS. Cashmere Te frequently demanded for this, even though the season is winter and warmer fabrics abound. But there is something appropriate in the choice of this Indian fabric at a- moment ' when India is «o much to the front. The dress for, indoor wear for.the afternoon ie, still a very simple affair, with an almost utter absence of fulness to relieve the Magyar bodice,; and only the merest suggestion of trimming to smarten up the still-plain and still-confining skirt. Long lines are the feature of most of the simple fic-cks, therefore nothing is better liked ■»«_ a finish than a t Vine of silk braid running down the entire -dress either at one side or down the middle, the lino being broken < at tho waist by a narrow beltbraid in front, velvet at the sides and back. _ The alternative trimming to the braid is a procession of buttons, some of whicb are there for use, others for ornament only. Dresses buttoning in front are growing ' popular, ac they make for independence when dressing. All the house-dresses are made with Magyar cut of .sleeve, and, often there J»an entire lack of fulness about the bodice, its severe line being broken by a saddle yoke stretching across tho , top of the arms, a piping of satin or velvet marking out its rSrogrees with the aid of a few mate-rial-covered buttons ;the neck is sure to be without coHar, and the Magyar sleeves are so long that they come well over the *rißt. • The plainness of the skirt is to some extent mitigated by a panel, sash, which may float at the back of the.ekirt or at one sjde of the front, finishing rather lower than midway by a piped line and a few buttons. Cashmere is such ■ a delightful fabric for draping that one regrets its scanty use ac necessitated by the modern "line." There is a faced cloth, too.that is very successful when draped ; but it has little opportunity of proving its merits in that direction. The house-dress of faced cloth v is just as plain a thing as that of cashmere, and the 6ame severity and meagreness of material characterises the dress, of velvet. Colours are many and charming, materials (mußt( muBt have reached to the aenith of perfection, and therefore it i*6 regrettable that more of them are not used by the designers of current styles. Here and there, truly, one does find the, slight use of fulness, even where velvet is concerned, but at present this is the exception which proves the rule.^ Charmeuso is still in demand for the little indoor drees, used in conjunct-ion with velvet or cloth, and one of the neweet tones is a soft cafe-au-lait, which the users have labelled "grege." The triple rever upon laa otherwise very plain bodice is a modern addition, and three fabrics are used for it — velvet for the bottom layer, cashmere for the next, and mousseline or lace for the top one; # the> colour contrast or colour harmony is left to individual choice. This triple rever decorates only one side | of the bodice; the other side must be I plain. THE INDISPENSABLE. Every one will guess that the blouee it referred to. Man) times hat its doom been forecasted., but its disappearance is still in the remote future. So far from disappearing, th<-. blouse is constantly making' itself attractive by appearing in novel effect. All the fabrics are dainty as possible; there is no end to the veiled variety of lace covered with ninon, of figured silk suggest* ing mysterious shadows as it is dimly visible through its rnougselino exterior. The trimmings and embroideries and - Morallyprinted border* are worn beneath the outer covering of something plain. Eighty per cent, ot the blouses aro built on Magyar lines, but infinite variety with these is now possible, for the newest Mag- j yar has a front fastening surmounted by ' a dainty vest of net or lace, or it has a vest all tho way to the waist, or it is made on .the crossover principle with & one-sided .lingerie frill si wiling across the figure, or it has the, plain expanse of the front relieved by' one revev turned back, this revei 1 being of colour contrast ov ' of plain velvet on a two-Btriped Bilk. There may be an expanse of plainness across the front of the figure, relieved immensely by graduated folds- vrhiob arc : brought from tho shoulder back and -'front. One of. the. Magyars. . which . buttons in front with three largo enamel buttons, ha« a rounded guiinpe of cream net, this opening being outlined .with a strip of silkworked embroideiy, which is finally carried down the outer, part pfthe arm, making the.a ll-in-one line more pronounced than ever Paris has just given us' a further j wdition of the Magyar, and it has been given the name of the' "Infanta blouee" — no- sooner Had the recent uenuation about the Infanta Eulalia arisen than one of the biggest French 1 houses set about designing a blouse that should. fit in with the topic of.thp horn*. The Infanta blouse in a Magyar, made, of silk cashmere; it is of severely plain pattern, but its severity is broken by a boxpleat of white aillc l-unning from collarless neck to waist, decorated with a close-set line of .the smallest gilt buttons. The neck i 3 finished by a very wide Peter Pan collar of white silk bordered with a. double 'ruche of white blonde laoe ; a similar finish is given to the elbowlengtli Magyar aleeves Now Zealandors desiring to be thoroughly Parisian should secure^ or make this blouse, which is going to be the smartest thing, for a time at any rate. There is no limit to the coiour range> or to the colour contrast : individual taete 'will supply much that will ia»ks for varioty. In th« na*e mentioned the sills, coiamev* wu in pals F&raa, violat,

with its white trimmings. The turneddown collar does not cover up the front button-trimmed band, and the gau at the nock in spanned by a small Quaker bow of Parma violet velvet Another Magyar fits round tho neck at the back, while the front is cut out in a V-shape, and is intended to leave the throat quite exposed, for some distance) ; a finish is supplied by a sailor collar of silk, tapering off to a point in front and finished there with a very fluffy jabot, of kilted cambric The collar is cut with a sharp point in the middle of the back, and another on each shoulder There are not many Magyar* which have a sloppy effect under the arms, and that is a groar comfort ; tho majority of theee blouses are made to lit the figure much inoro closo than they used to be. Pretty is _ tlxo model, Magyar ot course, made of silk-embroidered net, with rounded truimpc and half sieevps of Vaiendenne* lac>. Tjus iat-terung is at the back, the front trimming consists of a shaped piece of' .-ilk embroidery which is placed just bel'iw the guinipc All colours .ire to bo had, always wirh the white fittings, and the silk-worked net makes one ot tlio most dressy blouses ro be had at small cost. There is still a. dearth of fullness about mohi of the blouse front*, but enough is supplied to form easy gathers into the wai&tbelt.