PARIS IN THE MIRROR

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 32, 9 February 1929, Page 14

PARIS IN THE MIRROR

(Specially Written for "The Post"

by "Germaiue.")

,PAItIS, 12th December

For the moment, boredom is banished and we arc busy .and gay. How' else could wo sunrinou resolution to elbow our way through the shops, amid v surging crowd of eager, breathless shoppers and cover acres, of ground to buy New Year gifts. The Grands Boulevards arc always fascinating in their fairy tale Christmas aspect, as fascinating as the flower market at the Madeleine, with its banks of pink and white tulips and cyclamen,>and its forest of Christmas trees. Tl« lines of booths on the Boulevards have made their appearance. They attract lots of good-natured shoppers, glad to make their purchases without too much loss of time, and without having to run the gauntlet of barriers and. queues in big shops. One may buy sparkling silver and coloured "stars," glittering glass balls, strings of /lags of all nations, or a jmininture pere Noel in his white coat.

Or one may even buy a beautiful old .print, or a tooled leather volume, or

again, ,a pair of silk stockings; 1 and a dozen lace-edged handkerchiefs or some of the ; n'ew mousseline-de-soie handkerchiefs in all the brilliant colours in and out of the rainbow. PAILLETTES POPULAR. After the • business of shopping is over, one has not even time- to feel fatigued, for the evenings are devoted to pleasure. Due consideration must bo. given .to. dress, however little time is left for.' it. The drosses for the Keveillqn parties must bo thought of. One,'sce'n'at a'recent opening, was most striking.' I,t was in silver lame, and quite untrinime'd,.' save .'for a''motif on the right ■ shoulder, wOrked in silver. Paillettes are more popular than ever, but these aro very small, and-massed to!.ge'ther, so that; when mother o' pearl paillettes are- used a -wonderful rain- ■ b6w-effect is; the result. Many of these gowns, ar.e being prepared for "Cliristmas and "New Year festivities. For girls, ,ther,e ( are '.little' chiffon frocks worked-lightly in crystals' or silver beads,; the.glittering- effect being 1 pro"ilueetl by a branching design on the circular flounces, or round the hem of the skirt. Evening frocks r.re more elaborate and more beautiful than the gown they cover. They may be of brocade or velvet or of shot lame. The lining matches the gown, or else is of silver to give a luxurious effect, and the fur trimming ■may be tlyed in any colour. THE TRAIN.

The tendency to introduce the train or some simulating drapery is very marked, many gowns being shown with this adjunct; It may be said to be one of the principal characteristics of the new evening fashions, and ono which the designers have developed in many original and unexpected ways. It has been adopted picturesquely in a gown of peacock blue, which is patterned over with Chinese pagodas and willow trees. The lines of this creation 1— which was worn, by the way, by Mao. Durnbnt Sartoris at a KHz ball the other evening—aird slim and unbroken. Tim train forms a. loosely twisted drapery, which trails along the floor at the back, and a spiral of Ihc same material ending in a point, dips from rather far back, on the left side of the gown, adding to its artistic singularity. The fish-train 'is another example of the train, while many of the now. dresses dip into side points, and finally descend in a train wbich sweeps the floor. THE COAT AND THE SHAWL. A delightful fashion which is daily gaming ground is the vogue of the coatco. that useful little- garmont which is rapidly replacing the shawl for evening wear. The designers have been very busy evolving origiual styles in these. A particularly charming model seen, carried out in deep ivory satin, has tiny daisy-heads worked.over it in brotlerie anglaise. A black georgette frock-has an accompanying coatee of georgette, on tho long tight cuffs of which appear an embroidery of steel beads, which embroidery is repeated on tho corsage.

Long coats of brocaded lame and tissue have by no means disappeared from our midst, and, of course, furs

play an important part in tho designer's programme for evening wraps. But this season, there is no doubt that velvet '■ is ■ tho dernier cri, and, somehow* it is tho fabric which, perhaps above all others, lends itself most befittingly-to wrap around lovely womanhood when it is clad in the dainty and delicate fripperies which comprise modern evening dress. The shawj, though ousted from first place by tho coatee, has not altogether departed from view—it is too useful, and

•becoming, for. that to happen onco—sy .'it lias still- been inc.

several of the winter models. One I. like very"much has a neat fascinating pattern of white flowers embroidered on a ground of black crepp do chine, while a ciri-ious orange crepe was almost 'entirely covered by embroideries in .browns ami'golds, and shades to tone. '.-•:•'■'' . . SEEN AT CLAKIDGE'S—SHE COLOUR CAED. Some very smart costumes were su.t'ir at a luncheon gathering at Glamlge's yesterday. .: Black seemed to bu^ the favourite colour. .Blue costumes were almost- as numerous as the black ones, but varied in tone. Navy blue appeared frequently. : ■ Sonic, .very smart costumes in'the greyish and slaty tones of blue'wore.!see.n. Silk frocks, .as .blue as -the sky- above the . Riviera, were worn .by several, women, with coats of darker .blue, or-black. Some of the reddish-browns ;in..dark ■ and medium tones looked particularly well, and a few, dark' green costumes -were worn, j | x MATCHING HATS. '. . - In most cases hats matched the colour of tho coat/ they accompanied, black, '■ navy-,, .grey-blue, 1- green.. Most of the hats, were- in cloche form,' very few of them.showed any exaggerated tendency to arch ,iip over the forehead, although'most of them ;had, in conser: vatiyo, form, -the:/'poke, bonnet", silhouette which leaves the eyebrows bare and descends well to the nape of the neck. 'A few ;of .the .close-fitting' brimIbss hats were worn by.tho younger women, and several of these showed quite a section of tlio forehead. One, with, a little black veil fafling to just below the eyes, ';was' -particularly attractive on the handsome, girl who wore it.