PARIS IN THE LOOKINGGLASS

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 118, 14 November 1925, Page 15

PARIS IN THE LOOKINGGLASS

FASHIONS AND FANCIES.

(Written for "The Post" by "Germain c.")

PARIS, 9th September.;. BUTTERFLIES—FROM ALL COUNTRIES ANDCLIMES.' Clothes are the, things one is looking at just now in.Paris. In tho ateliers dressmakers are working"far

on into tho night. Women from «i countries are,to be sqen in the Ttue do la Paix—butterflies from all countries and'all climes. But the Paris ian butterflies are those who set 'the fashions. To se'o them wear a wrapover cloak, manage a scarf, or put on a hat'is something to-set a. philosopher philosophying: Their make-up is airother n^aryoli. With complete serenity, they change the colour of" their, skin to. match .their frock, and the hair that Nature allots them lias little to do with their coiffures of the moment—dark or fair, curly or straight.

Perhaps it is their gift for not worrying which helps tlio women to preserve their looks. They never look haggard, they never look draggled, and they always looic well, fed, even when .they .renounce,their once ample

bosoms land their well-developed hips for flat chests and the slim hips of the ;athletei':; ': '■' '■■'' ''':-'-'--'' '■ Whatever the fashion in dress, distraction^ and diet, the Parisian wor man looks as if she enjoyed,-not riot-' busly£ but with arid in-: telligence. Even in her foolishness:— and she can be very foolish—you feel her intelligence. She prattles with her tongue and drives a critical glance straight home. She has small sym-! pathy with dreams, and none with]. dreamers. . She is practical, clever, superficially^'.' and -profoundly merciless. ' .

Never take her too much to heart.' Look at. her. intellectually, and- you; wjll "find- her * the most delightful of feminine' creatures, for,' in\spite of physical culture and quaint cosmopolitan ; , she 'is always feminine--in instinct, aid "knows-how to; weave webs of charm.. ■-,' - : ' ": ;

NEAT FRENCH WOMEN,

The Freech- woman, while alwaya the essence of neatness, and always brushed, with all accessories spotless, is a modei of eebnomyin dress. She hates waste in it, as much as in her kitchen. She has astonishingly few clothes, but what she has she has paid a price for, and they are in perfect order.; This is undoubtedly the reason of her distinction and daintiness in dress, ajnd is also why many a little French "midinette" is a model of daintiness;.' compared with some wealthy women I know, who have endless clothes, but none of them "just right."

BLACK DBESS REFUSES TO BE

BANISHED.

The black dreßS absolutely refuses to be banished, and as every woman who'has alreafly acquired s.ueh a 1 sable and smart frock, and realised its specially becoming'and useful qualities, is" naturally anxious'to go oii ..wearing it, and others 1 also, having noted its success, are just as eager to bo thus black clad and beautiful. This ''rebellion against rumour has countless enthusiastic adherents. So it comes about that actually, and ill spite of the many dresses in vivid colours, thero are many black gowns, chiefly in crepe maroeain, though crepe meteore, in alliance with ap.pliques and hand-painting, is also , very popular, and for evening wear black velvet and black mousseline-ie-soie are being very much used, some of the models being of; an almost severe simplicity, and so depending for success upon their own perfect making,.and their wearers' whiteness of skin and grace of figure. The black velvet gown, whose deeolletage is embroidered in plaques of tiny seed pearls, is having much success. This kind of dres's is mado absolutely simple, the decolletage very, modest, the. sleeves non-existent save for a fringe of seed pearls, and a long pointed sash train, which is left quite plain, except for a motif of embroidered .seed pearls just where the poini occurs. Sometimes a pearl-tassel is added.

PABIS MILLINERY.

- » . :With regard to . the.new millinery, 'there arc about eleven? black hats for every ."One coloured <■. model,' soft felt 'and satin beiig almost equally fayowed as a fabric, and. also.being so

equally smart and becoming that, presumably, to help those who cannot manage to choose between them or afford to have two new hats there is.one new model which actually and .impartially combines both fashionabld fabrics. Being all black, the effect is.not so really startling as you would: imagine. Some of these half-and-half hats are finished off with a cocarde of pleated silken or eire ribbon, or oxidised silver galon, or soft grey faille clasped and brightened by a steel ornament, are the chosen companions of the plainer gown and tailored suit. While, then, there aro plenty of picturesquely smart affairs, whose wide brims aro overshadowed by long overhanging ostrich feathers, "washed" in the silver or gold which gives a faint and most fascinatingly illusive shimmer to their beauty.

HAND-PAINTING A NEW ' TAD.

The variants in hand-painted ensembles are almost without number. It is an intriguing phase of modern fashions presented by artists, and whether any phase pi: -it will endure remains to bo scon, for it is an ephemeral fancy for which' there is at the moment a mad craze among the few. The cost of a painted costume is prohibitive except for the clever woman who may find in this a channel for self-expression. The most engaging styles in painted lingerie are shown. Things of filmy chiffon and soft crepes painted in dainty patterns. The charm of these is in their delicacy, their subtle tints and fine quality. Among the up-to-date models are the most exquisite underthings, nightgowns, etc., and with these accessories painted in the same scheme. It is now considered correct to have one's lingeries in ensemble. And dainty accessories, slippers, hosiery, boudoir caps, even garters, are painted to harmonise with the negligee.

FASHION'S LATEST WHIM.

The.cult of the odd, which is one of the latest whims in Paris, is nothing more nor less than a playful rebellion against the symmetrical; a

pose against pairs, a penchant for tho. odd^ —for something bizarre. One of its strangest manifestations is in earrings. Although her ears may be as like each. other as two ears can lie the Parisienne sees no'reason why the

ornaments> that-adorn.them : should, be alik?.' "She w.ill^for. ins.^ncapweatj 1. a single drpp-peafl'-:in one ieisr^&ija a;c two-dropCpearl' on ' thg, > Qth'er*''."ghe, sometimes may be .eveft.rso- dgring 3S?J to^ wear-large..stone's .of. "•diflgj.eiLib '.col-, oursj, as for instance,'blue for one' ear, and red for another. Thus, ears, so ' much alike, gain individuality and strike each their .separate notes in the feminine battery of charms. Wo have all heard, of c6urse, of different sleeves and different coloured sleeves on gowns.. There are 'even whispers of odd shoes—but that is "another story," as Kudyard Kipling would say. • ■ .