PARIS IN THE LOOKINGGLASS

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 34, 8 August 1925, Page 15

PARIS IN THE LOOKINGGLASS

FASHIONS AND FANCIES

(" Written for " The Post " "by "Gormaine.")

PARIS, 10th June.

' Under the trees of the Champs Elysees, Parisians gather in the eveningi when the sun has set, and the fashionable cafes have suddenly become more popular than any house of entertainment in the city. Women in evening dress, hatless, sleeveless, and in fresn draperies of white or some pale colour, sit at the round tables until the delicate turquoise »of the sky has given place to primrose, and that in turn has melted into night, and the stars glow aloft with unusual splendour. It is- like some monster garden party, where the visitors can scarcely be torn from the buffet, and truly colossal must be the consumption of iced drinks. "Oh, my ancestors," said a Frenchman, glancing at the tableau . before his eyes, "these hatless women in cales! When did one ever see tho like in Pai-is!" But ho had to agree that the sight of these hatless women with their shingled heads and light summer dress made an exceptionally attractive picture. - 1 THE SUMMER REIGN OF OKGANDI. The favourite fabric for the midsummer season will be, as it usually is, organdi! Its continued popularity is easily understood. Is it not the very incarnation of summer and youth? 1* it not lighter than the wind? Ib it not more dainty than white wafer clouds? For all of these reasons, organdi will continue to hold undisputed sway this summer in the realm of fashion. Organdies in white, in- fuchsia, in petunia, in red and yellow and green and orange, organdi pleated, tucked, or ruffled, organdi beribboned, organdi beflowered, orgnndi how you will, mais toujours de l'organdi! Rather interesting to note is the manner in which the characteristics of the new modes will be carried out in organdi, a tissue more conducive to producing demure effects of a slightly bouffant nature, rather than the slender silhouette. The belt-line, ■ following the very latest decree, will be at the normal. The ceinture in organdi frocks will not rest on or below- the hip. The skirts will be quite, quite short—and garters are coming in ! Don't be shocked, 'tisn't my fault; I am merely a poor chronicler of the modes that be, and I can but state the bare fact. Garters are here, and they are to be seen on the ultrashort skirted woman. It's frightfully shocking, I know; mais quo voulesvous? • These garters, by the way, are in pastel colourings, and trimmed with flowers or little rosettes of. ostrich feathers. Sometimes they are worn above the knees, sometimes below, sometimes there is a single garter, sometimes there are two. MILADI SPENDS MUCH TIME ON LITTLE. The little coquetries of the toilette, exemplified in scarves, nock chains, feather neckwear, and those jolly little degage coats that are so frequently slipped on nowadays for house wear, are very much. to tho fore just now. To tho male mind tho expenditure lavished on these trifles may appear inconsequent and extravagant, and the only answer we can give to this charge is that they afford such an opportunity for pretty graceful poses and gestures. One can make as much play with a long scarf of tulle; a wide stole of fur, or an ostrich feather'boa as a Spanish lady with her fan and the folds of her mantilla. Quite recently I have been shown perfectly enchanting little draperies that are half scarves, half coats, fashioned in various transparencies that are hung with tassels or lightly decked with metal embroideries. One of these, in a rich shade of rose crepe de chine, comprised a straight length mounted on to a. yoke piece of dull silver lace, the sides "just caught together beneath the arm to suggest' sleeves, while in another of jade coloured georgette the centre back dropped burnous wise, to.| form a capuchin, was weighted with a silvel tassel, but almost touched the hem of the garment, if such an incidental little affair can so be-called. SUMMER HATS AT THE RACES. \ Summer hats at the racecourse are exceptionally attractive this season, and under the brilliant light at Longchamps the flower toques that are so in vogue

at present were aa gorgeous a3 a hundred bouquets. One of them, of scarlet geraniums, was charming. To attenuate the vivid colour, it was lightly swathed with tete do negro tulle," the edge of which came over the eyes and almost to Die lip of tlio wearer's tnchanting nose, in the ninuuer of a little" veil. Less flsml'oyant are Ihe loqucs of white and purple velvet gnipr:*. Those ;itc tlifi toques I,'j worir in ;i' ppus-ive ;ii|.| repentant nwocl, wlicn our. dow .out, !<-r\ ib vouug m tiie d*z hdoit yes-

terday ... a toque for the " morning after," so to write. Pretty frocks ! Pretty women ! Pretty hats! And roses everywhere. Entire toques of them, wreaths on large " capucines," single roses nestling under floppety brims and against a cunningly contrived curl—a rose attached to a slim wrist by a black velvet ribbon! The rose that " lights up " the black taffetas frock! It is a delightful vogue, and

one which promises to last throughout the summer. THE CHIGNON VOGUE. Neat little chignons are being introduced into the hairdressing operations, for many women are letting their hair grow, though all cling to . the present style of dressing it close to the head. Some women are letting their aide locks grow also, and the curl that has to do duty beneath the down-turned hat that still conceals the upper part of the face and all tho hair is apt to be an "artificial accessory belonging to, the hat and not ! the head. ' Still; tho hair-cropping artists are using their scissors freely, but it would appear that middle-aged and elderly woman are more devoted to bobbed hair than their juniors. "They are quite right,"' said a Parisian hairdresser the other day. '"Nothing gives.so young an aspect to the; face as short hair, even when the hair is white or griy. A youthful face will stand any,style:"'-