PARIS IN THE MIRROR

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 151, 30 June 1928, Page 14

PARIS IN THE MIRROR

(Speciall'Written"for "The Post" by •■" Germaine. "•) . ' / : PARIS, 2nd May. _ Dear Paris is so very attractive this time of the year. There aro so many things to do, frbm ordering—or hearing one's ' Dearest • Enemy order—new clothes by/the dozen, to.seeing the new plays, and'sampling the cabarets or restaurants. -.'■•Repetitions-Generales,- happen every, day. As for theßois, it is just no%v a dream of beauty. To have tea at the Pre Catelan, Armenville, or Madrid is a delight. AH these tea palaces -open on to the Bois. The windows where one sits'and sips a cup of China or-Ceylon, and nibbles a dainty tartine or a delicious' • moka,'' give on to green lawns, and among the bushes that surround them,.the long graceful branches of the forsythia are in full bloom. Lilac of every shade fills the thickets, the first of the-briar,roses is in'blooin, the free flowering China rose of a delicate yellow and scented lite sweet briar. Thrushes and black birds are busy overhead, finches/are on the look out for offerings of: cake crumbs. The Bois offers a greatly appreciated retreat from the" bustle and stir of the city streets. ...'-... TO BE PLUMP THIS YEAR. There have-been so many fatal illnesses—whooping'"cough, measles, and such like—developed through over banting, under dieting, too much dancing, or whatever one likes to call it, in order to remain thin (scraggy in many cases) that quite a lot of people are most seriously alarmed. ; So that We, in Paris, have all made up, our minds that we arc going to be plump this year. Fond mothers arc' preparing to resort to forceful feeding, and Sweet Seventeen is henceforth condemned to dimples, whether she likes them or. not. To be' fat or thin, that is the question. If I were a:man, I- must confess I would prefer "ma-Chcrie" to be on the cosy side of nine stone something and five foot eight. But,.from the frock point of view.. . • . . Well,' it's certainly the broomrstiek figures that wear the new frocks to the best advantage. RAIN PBOOF CLOTHES. !■'.-. .'■).--.; ■ Unfortunately/ we cannot hope for a rainless summer;' the summer of 1927 was about as bad as bad could be. Pef-

haps this year we; have bettor ' luck. Who knows? In case it is best to be prepared for the worst and rain-proof clothes are rather delightful nowadays. Almost every kind of material, crepe do chine, satin, glace silk can be "water proof." These arc made up into the most charming creations. Whether they are really very practical.or very proof remains to.be proved.: They are excessively chic to look at, and, after all, they. are only, designed for rain

showers in the'Avonuo dv Bois, or the rue do la Paix. Delightful also are the modern parapluies. And this summer they are getting fatter and dumpier than- ever they wore. The handlo is tremendously thick, and really I cannot say that'this. Huuipty Dumpty umbrella is a picturesque accessory. But who" uses " an ' umbrella nowadays? It's merely : an elegant piece of furniture that One tucks under one's arm, or leans against, with negligent abandon while halting for a few moments' conversation on. the threshold of one's favourito afternoon. the .. salon! There is something very ■ friendly about an umbrella;/it's almost a companion. It is to some'women what a cane is to a man. NEW SUMMER STYLES. y The little Early' Victorian girl, with her. full-skirted frock, and her pantalettes, finds her counterpart in the spring collections. . The sloping should: ered grace of romantic boauties, such as one used to see" pictured in the album of Byron's horoines, lives again to-day in the "robes-de-stylo" which our cou■turieres create with such a sure hand. The mature feminine charm which appears to such-advantage in Whistler's portraits, finds modern expression in the draped gowns and in' the 1880 gowns which were the surprise of tho spring "Openings." Smart modernity breathes from the slender frocks

Sport and General, Plioto.

and suits /which arc being ..jahowu and which hiivo no counterpart in history, for they are.as trim asian airplane and as graceful as a 'plane: doing", a nose dive. ■ ■ ■ : •..;: '-, Any woman can this season find in Paris clothes which will enhance her particular typo .of beauty and express her personality, provided that she is not so overcome by an embarrass cle richosses that she behaves like the donkey in ' the • hypothetical, story" which, being'placed between two bales of hay, could not choose which one,to eat and sOy starved to .death in a sad state of indecision. : THE riTNESS OF THINGS. . . The new clothes are very lovely, and the finish and attention to detail is absolutely feminine and perfect. .fcSuits have comfortably short-skirts and trimly tailored lines. Evening dresses are beautiful aiid carried out in most exotically beautiful colours. Marigold-yel-low, fuseliia, cornflower . blijo, jade green, a brilliant purple, and flame, these are the colours one meets where tho evening gownis concerned, and they are usually masses of tulle over a satin slip of a matching colour or several different coloured tulle dresses may have various .slips, such as silver and gold tissue, satin, the colour of the-gown, or sometimes white, satin, and. even black satin does duty in this respect. ■■ ■ Some little girlish frocks also appear. The simjilieity of , these frocks is brought to a happy completion with a fortunate choice of detail, such as unusual sleeves, odd, and very becoming necklines and plain coloured edgings applied to- the*charming organdi frocks, which-are being-prepared for summer resorts. •