LADIES' COLUMN.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 88, 13 April 1912, Page 11

LADIES' COLUMN.

London Hashion Notes, A CONSTANTLY-CHANGING-PANORAMA. [FROM OUB, OWN COHBESFONDENT.I LONDON, Ist March. While the season is Lent, even the most fashionable wear clothes that are a 'little subdued, but it will not bo long before London is a community o^ chameleons. The landscape will be occupied by colour schemes that change with the rapidity of a kaleidoscope. It will be impossible to fix tho colour worn by any one person, for directly io has been decided the hue is blue, it will have changed to green ; bo soon as a roseate hue is picked out, there will bo an immediate change to gold; crimson will instantly turn to black if tha wearer moven ever so slightly ; faint pearlgrey is transformed into blubh rose in a twinkling. And all this marvellous change will bo due to the always-present tshot taffetas, really the only, material which at present we seem to hear much about, livery day comeb'some announcement telling of fresh experiment, and as the material is being boomed by so many of the leaders of fashion, who übq tho silk for every variety of garment, it would not come as a very great surprise to find tha-t overpopularity had been its death. But jit this moment iL in much too soon to hint at such an anti-climax. Our educators are doing their level best to mako us believe that nhot and embroidered taffetas in the only kind of fabric we shall aeo for a long time to come, 'and that we shall bo hopelebsly out of date if we neglect to put away satin wrap-coats and bring out coats of taffetas. Our millinery, too, is to bo tvenieadously dependent on shot Bilk — already it iit, and for midsoason requirements the BLuff is well suited. WANT OF UNANIMITY. Abroad, opinions appear to be a little divided. On the one hand it is said that Worth iv not a great admirer of taffetas, and thai he has tho support of Raveral other dressmakers of' great repute. On the otlipr hand, there arc ntiines held in equal cfitoam whose owners declare emphatically that laffetaa will be- the "catchword" of the spring. It i 3 taking tremendously for the Riviera costume, and its buccbbb there is to be repeated hero. A third assumption is that in Paris the material will not bo considered any great "catch," while the more suppla and softer materials are to be had in such wealth. of choice; but that in London the demand is likely to be much greater. It is much' too early yet to say with definitencss anything much regarding materials or styles ; it is tho season of experiment, but it its a little impossible to believe that till the miles of taffetas silk now on the shelves, and the myriad of tailored suits and dresses of it all ready for wearing will have to be relegated to the backblocks, because there is an absence of demand here. Not a'lnfc of it; taffetas will be worn, even if only for a few months in 'the spring If special exception is taken to the shot variety, there is still much that is of self-colour, and plenty that is^ sombre in its blackness, while of Bprigged and embroidered taffetas there is charming range, which is bound to be liked for linings and for trimmings, and for fichu and scarf arrangements which will form somo feature of every fashiouablyattired woman. Horally patterned fabrics have been specially introduced to accord with the picture fetyles that arc returning to favour, and nluch of the sprigged taffetas is delightful, while tho flowered crepe do chine and the inousseline and the ninon will be in immense request for fichus and pannier*;, and a great range- of draped effects. Ab shots are met with in all those ethereal fabrics, ii, is not likely that shot taffetas will be abandoned in great haste. Anything fTiat meets with a Riviera success so assured as silk is meeting now, is sure to have, at any rate, one season's existence in fashion. ' - In addition to shots and sprigs, taffetas are woven in the tiniest of checks and the finest 'of hair lines, and all the dress 6ilks now are of the usual double width; no, longer doe 6 tho dressmaker have to wrestle with dress i fabrics of anything in tho "t_wentie3"- j-fifty-four-inchj -fifty-four-inch is the accepted width. THE SHOT FEVER. It is not only outwardly that we are to walk about clad in. shots, for even' the petticoat ha 6 been victimised to meet immediate needs. There are underskirts of inqirette woven in_ 6uch a range of colourings that they will correspond with practically all the silk blends. These underskirts do not yet .boast much width, and they are all very plain and fitting, save for tho clc«e-kilted flounce, which is the finish at the edge. Petticoats of shofc f>ilk and shot satin, will ako be wanted before long. Already there is a great sale for the neck .ruffle of shot taffetas ; this is^ very deep and very full, and always is slightly pinked out. It clasps tho throat closely, and is finished at one side with a tight bouquet of mixed flowers repeating the colours in the silk, or with a neatly-tied bow of the silk itself. Some of tho colours arc- very bright, and are apt to be trying, notably a bright green shot with blue; but there are many complexions which are able to carry off with good effect even anything so generally unbecoming. T»3"etas scarves of great length and width are all in readiness for the prospective demand, edged round with bouillonue of the 6ilk, itself; some of these are- ample shoulder capes with fichu ends; others are the more ordinary straight 6carves. But it is not taffetas alone that display the shot. One of the other fabrics with chameleon characteristic* is ninori, and this delightful gossamer stuff forms the itiost attractive tunics, nearly all tho up-to-dato blouses made on a foundation of fine all-over net, and a great many of tho useful scarf 1 wraps. Ninon seenib to vie willi silk in showing coloui mixtures that are unubual. Ninon — plain, bhot, -or shaded — is nometimes given a wide satin stripe for a border, and iJna comes in splendidly for trimming. Many of tho eunimor dresses will be of the satin-bord-ered ninon, and when intended for scarves and scarf -draperies, tho ninon, of selfcoloured ground, is patterned at two-inch intervals with inch-wide satin stripes of a coloarj but the unusuul foaturo about these stripes is that in the middle of the scarf tho tint ib so faint as to be almost imperceptible, but by the time the end is seen tho colour has) gradually become ■deeper and deeper. Thus arranged there are scarves, of crosmy-whUe ninon, striped with palo, yellow deepening to rich orange, or with the faintest bliißh pink ending iv a deep roseate hue; delicate sky blue darkens till it reaches indigo; peacock blue finally takes_ on a complexion of the deepest dye in that lovely colour. Yes, satin striped ninon has grout possibilities for entire dresses as well as for the many details which the modern woman of fashion must have. Ninety-nine out of every hundred blouses, in arrange all choice, seem to be made of ninon of some descripti6n, stretched easily over a foundation of white lace or net, what trimming there is being put on the foundation and covered by the delicately -woven voilage; whether or not the blouse if, cut on the Magyar principle -is a matter of personal choice, but the pattern is one so immensely liked that it is going to last all through the summer. .The Magyar cut of eleeve influences dresses, wrap coats, and tailor-mades. It is, however, found raflher difficult to cut the long sleevo on the kimonu, principle, but this effect ls_ maintained as far down the arm as possible, and then the additional length is added, the union being hidden by a wide band of embroidery, which is placed about tho level of tun buct-Hne; tailored sleeves are thus manoeuvred as well as somo of the dress and blouse sleeves. AT COURT. Datps are announced for the early Courts of 1912, and certain regulations have just been mode known respecting the dresses of the ladies. _ The result will be, perhaps, to restrict individual ideas, but on tho other hand one good effect will be to put a ban on tiny train wliuso maker and wearer would wish to bo of tha binuou- variety: no freuke of any description yiill bo .lllovved. The Lord Chambei lain's department ihstmela that "the iobe muut be fifteen inehefc on the ground it tin bj^kj the tr§in. Dy&B ?&& l 2 jjg.

from the shoulders, and fifty-four inches wide jit I'he end." With these instructions in front of thotn, dressmakers will bo saved the onus of idiosyncrasy. Tho debutante, ako, is told how her plumps must bo \\orn (i namely, blightly to the left sido of the coiffure, the centre ono to bo higher than tho other two. ONE WHO KNOWS. Mr. Redforn has made himself re6ponsiblo for, the statement that "the hobble skirt, which is. 'merely an aberration' is doomed, and tliat its place is to be taken by a fashion which will unito the spirit of Greek drapery with tho elegance and distinction of tho robes of the Second Empire. Harsh materials will- be replaced by soft, clinging stuffs ; instead of rigid lines the figure will be suggested without exaggeration. For _ eomn time past, a revolt hats been brewing against the 'robe collante,' and tho eccentricities that have developed from it. • There aro two reabons for this. Iv the first place, it is not every woman who can decently wear a dress that leaves nothing to the imagination. Tho feminine torni. particularly when its curves are too full, it botter divined than brutally outlined. In tho ncixt place, tho late fashion had become too common. Society could not for ever adhere to a style worn by everybody. The desiro to please, to present beauty in the 'most fitting setting, is tho basis of what is called fashion. And the most fitting setting for feminine beauty is not the 'robe collante,' the hobble 6fcirtj tho balloon-hip dress or other monstrosities of bad taste." - There arc 'not many who will desire to quarrel v-th Mr. Rodfern about these opinions. Present tendencies corroborate all that he states.