PARIS IN THE MIRROR

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 73, 30 March 1929, Page 14

PARIS IN THE MIRROR

(Written for "The Por.it" by "Gennaisic")

CANNES, -:.!nl January

Ca lines, the dressing-room of .Madam.; Europe find Miss America, i.~; tilling up will, this season's gowns, which will be next season's fashions in (h'j provinI'ial society of two Continents. The mannequins .from the big i'aris shops have arrived, and cameras arc ticking, recording thu "creations" that will appear in the newspapers and magazines of the world this spring and summer. For two brilliant months, Cannes will be a fashionable whirlpool of feverish gaiety and .strenuous -pleasures, with meetings at the racecourse, international tennis championship, polo and golf challenge cups, pigeon shooting, and, of course, the Casino which is Cannes. Then when the carnival is over the shutters will be put up in the hotels and shops, and the town of a thousand delights will take a long sleep until another season brings new fashions and new thrills.

The most expensive gowns that money can buy arc being displayed by forms fit. to wear them, gowns made to emphasise 1 the individuality of the wearers. Eve, in v garden of her own Eden! Lovely'women wc;ir these gowns iii the evening, at. the Ambassiidcurs with its flower garden and Tango or-

chestra. Blondes, in white tulle, pale green tulle, and in pastel colourings, and brunettes beautifully brown with geranium lips, dark hair, flashing teeth and black eyebrows, all are' so beautiful, that it'is difficult to choose between them. And their figures arc usually as perfect as their faces! There is music, laughter, and a gleam of gems.

DOES HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF

IN DRESS?

Docs history repeat itself in dress.' Certain things do. For instance, the thin, light costumes of to-day have si very exact parallel in the dresses worn from 1793 to ISIS. Tho French Revolution brought a revolution in costumes as great as that caused by the World War. The admiration of Greek democracy which animated the more idealistic revolutionaries found another expression in the "Grecian" dress of the women of that day. Corsets, petticoats, elaborate coiffures were discarded. Clinging gowns of the thinnest cashmeres, muslins, and guuzes were worn generally. 1 The "Mcrveilleuscs" of 1801 showed the slender supple Hues that the women of to-day like so much. One famous beauty made a bet that all her clothes didn't weigh more than a pound. She almost lost, for her gold garter-clasps (weighing 2oz) brought the weight to lib exactly. The women of that day were proud of the new freedom and comfort they had acquired with the light dresses. They often said: "Never, never', never, will wo go back to wearing petticoats, corsets, heavy headdresses, and thick materials." How far will the movement towards greater "femininity" lead wo modern women's dress from the straight and narrow path of the .sports mode? That remains open to question, but if the

history oi: costume really repeats itself, there may be a marked change in dress" ahead.

THE FEMINISING INFLUENCE.

There is a distinct return |o femininity in the fashion, world. And this is very evident in tho costuming of (ho fashionable women . in (Jaunts. This docs not intend to spell long skirts, long hair, and discomfort. But no one is quite clear about the shape it means to lake. One talks vaguely of a vague ilutinc'ss of outline, of godcls, and actually vi' becoming hats! All this is merely in the air. Colour is also mciiI ioncd. And tin; feminising inlluenco i.s to come out in colour, so it is said. J'a.slc) shades are in, and accordingly some of thn new stuffs an; courageously limid in their colouring. There is a new-old Dresden cliina blue, for instance, and that poetically named shade "ashes of ruses'' is once more to tho fore. Many radiant young women appear to be wealing thorn. They are all ,so vivid these young Parisienne women, so assertive, so certain of what they like and of what they don't like, and if they all go in for the same hat and the same frock, it is, you may depend upon it, because they choose to, and not because they must.

COLOUK,.

Most women adore colour. It is their unly hope of self-expression, now that form—or shall we say shape?—is not done any more. It defies time and survives it. The colour in an old master, for instance, or, to go one better, in an Egyptian, mummy, seems to laugh to scorn our paltry three-score years and ten. One wonders what we, too, shall leave behind us for posterity to enthuse . over—what lovely colour schemes.

BLACK FELT HATS,

On every side just now one sees a sombre regiment of black felt hats. When the quality of the. felt is good they are nice enough, but nothing on earth can look as demoralised as a cheap' black felt, or satin or velvet hat. It attracts every speck of dust within miles. The newest hats, tired of the plain discretion of tho cloche, now expand into tam-o'-shanters, or mould the head closely in the form of weird skull-caps cut in all kinds of curious shapes. A certain well-known modiste is showing a model of his own creation which is ornamented with a diamond brooch, the price of the jewel being five times that of the hat. llose and gardenias such as are pictured in these brooches recall to mind tho decorative ornaments that our "Empire" ancestors wore on their docolleto bodices.

PICTURESQUE VEILS.

And more intriguing still are those picturesque little veils that hang from the edge of the hat to just below the level of the eyes. There is an individual charm about them that gives distinction and personality to every woman.

Bright gold, silver, and metal edgings to the narrow or wider brims are a significant feature of the new modes. And there are also amusing little motifs of gold lace appearing discreetly here and there in the crown like a gleam of sunshine.

God cures and the doctor takes the fee. ■

In time the grass becomes milk,

Give to a pig when it grunts and to a child when it cries, and you will have a, fine pig and a bad child.

He who would tell the truth must have one foot in the stirrup.

If a man would know what he is, let him anger his neighbour.

Act so in the valley that you need not fear those who stand on the hill.

Give orders and do no more, and nothing will be done.