PARIS IN THE LOOKING GLASS

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 49, 26 August 1922, Page 16

PARIS IN THE LOOKING GLASS

FASHIONS AND FANCIES (Writttn for "The Poet" by Germaine) PAEIS, sth. July. Some new and efficient Tiding features were introduced into the annual display of riding and athletics given in a dress rehearsal last night at the Cirque Molieres at the Porte Dauphine. As usual, invitations had been keenly . competed for, and there were some hundreds of people in the queue at the door at the opening, hour, for this little entertainment has the reputation of being the only one for which Parisians are careful to arrive in time. It was an extremely pretty scene. The riders and helpers in hunting pink stood grouped near,the entrance, and the sandy track was set jb a frame of women in many coloured evening dresses. Every neck and corner of the riding school was filled, and as usual, the men had to hang in clusters on pillars and round dqors, in order that the women might all be sqated. , Madame Mpliere gave ft magnificent demonstration of her skill and grace on horseback, and Monsieur Fresson petri-' fled the company rtearest the ring, by putting a nervous thoroughbred through some dancing tricks, set to music. Madame Blanche Allarty, as the star, gave curious and daring feata of Haute Ecole, and three .ecuy* eres rode and ' drove six horses in tandem, while a pretty; display of flexible and graceful movements by Mile. Lysiane, the young niece of Monsieur Moliere, who was finally car-

ried away like a modern Cinderella in a tiny motor-car, heaped with flowers, closed the entertainment., Then came the classic hat-making competition, and the awards of prizes by a jury of women. Some beautiful toilettes wcro worn, and the scene, with the.bevy of commissaries in their elegant scarlet ;,coats and high riding" boots, w-alking about among the vivid frocks of tho women, was pretty to watch, while the horses raced upon the? tan. > POST-WAE COBSET. While women of all ages are" practically agreed with the dressmakers -in banning the stiff and whalebeiued corset of pre-war times, there are jnany who prefer always to wear the modern flexible corset-belt, which is so precious an adjunct to the skirt, if not to the corsage. Dancing and straight one-piece fropks together have 'almost slain the corset, which will probably never return in its old form. Women no longer slim, and no longer young, have never willingly appeared -in public without some sort of corset, and prpbably never W'll. Even surgeons are of opinion that in the form now in vogue, it is of use as a, support to the figure, and helps to counteract the pernicious effects of walking on high heels. Many men also have adopted some kind of corset-belt, which, from the aesthetic point of view, gives excellent results. Altogether,' the corset trade, if not altogether flourishing, is in process of revival.

WHAT IS BEAUTY! The new fashions are not only attractive,' but so comfortable. The nineteenth century closed with<. Buch an orgy of tight-lacing, such multiplication of petticoats, magnification of sleeves, monstrous enlargement of hats, that the fashionably dressed | woman was a nuisanoe, both to herelf and to her neighbour, on almost every occasion, public and private. It isn*t even conceivable that the modern, free T as-air young woman will ever consent to be again cooped and crimped and stay-laced, and ( crinolined, and bustled, and farthingaled into dresses that are , actually uncomfortable. 'Then, when one comes to beauty, the question arises: What is beauty, and where is it? vln suppressing the natural lines of the figure, or in' exhibiting them? In .exploiting some at the expense of others'/ In being all curves, or* simply reed-like? In having ears and no foreheads, or foreheads and 'no ears? In having "eyebrows shaved off almost to vanishing point, or having them thickened by means of creams and lotions? Every one of these changes has been, or is, fashionable. Was it for beauty's sake that women wore the long, trailing street skirt, which a frozen hand held gracefully just above the mud? Or the melon sleeve, heavy with buckram, that bulged like a balloon from each shoulder, and made the serving of dinner resemble a sudden letting down of edibles from behind high, , coloured hedges. Was it for beauty's sake that lovely women wore the spineless' frock, the backle/s frock? Was it intended to create the exact shock it did create? And was the wearer inured to any draught in that region, in just the same way* as she has been inured to wearing next to no bodice, as she has been inured to wearing next to no skirt, as she will be most certainly inured to wearing next to no anything that fashion decrees? Qui sait! Most women dress for> if' not because of, other women in their, particular circle. It is really the guiitf. spirit that guides them. Why elsa do they insist upon wearing what- every wanaii. of their acquaintance wears, without question, of its suitability? - , 'a choice between fashion AND FRECKLES. ■ . If the Psrisienne'e complexion sames .trjiwjplantly through the summer, u.n. ,

protected by fashionable raiment hen. either wind or sun, her blonde siaU-i's ,iom cross the water suffer cruelly frr.rri both. Two victims who had just arrived in the city after a, long sea journey went yesterday to a beauty specialist and asked for lotions. One was burnt a painful scarlet over face aad neck, ancT the other had a mask of freckles. The "scarlet one" was quickly supplied with a selection of lotion* aad face creams. ".4bove all," said the specialist, "wear a dark veil out of Aoon." Tae*> "freckled one" w«3 not go easy to help. ','1 have been recommended," she said, '■'a lotion of purple violets distilled into watercress broth. Can yon make up some for me?" The specialist acouted the idea. "Freckles are obstinate," she said, "but try this lotion, and never go into the air without a dark veil." She handed a bottle. of can oxygenee, tied up with blue ribbons and labelled "Eau de Beante," and told her that, even if the freckles took a long time to disappear, her skin would become so surprisingly white that she would resemble the lily of the field. "Ab/>ve all," said she, "never go into the air without a dark veil." "But no one wears veils," said the freckled, one. "Well, you must choose," said the lady specialist, "between fashion and freckles." Some women are taking henna baths before going to the' seaside, in order, not only to dye their facas a niqe sunburnt shade, but even their arms and the rest of their bodies obtain, by this process, a dark shade which is a perfect counterfeit of sunburn. KILTED SUNSHADES. It would seem difficult to apply the kilted process, so popular this season with dressmakers, to a suubade. -Yet it has been done, and some amusing little freaks of parasols are now to be seen made of gaily-coloured silks very finely kilted and spread on a /lining on a diminutive Japanese shaped frame. They are naturally not the type to be selected for afternoon use in town with sober ! suits, but with the rainbow-tinted raiment prepared for holiday wear they will be quite in the note.