Paris In The Mirror

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 39, 15 February 1930, Page 19

Paris In The Mirror

(Written for "The Post" by "G-ennaine.")

PARIS, ISth December

Paris has already taken upon itself a festive air., Many of the stalls lining the Boulevards are open. Some of them are doing business at 10 o'clock in the morning. For even at that early hour there are some festive souls abroad, and they arc having their flutter at the wheel of Fortune, before some of them, one imagines, have even had their breakfast of roll and coffee. At that hour, too, one' might observe the printer in his stall, busy printing visiting-cards as fast as his machine would turn, while at a case near by, an assistant was setting up the type that would soon take its turn on the platen. The cards, of course, are destined for the traditional Christmas and New Year's greetings, and rarely has the printer's rush started so early. After dejeuner, of course, comes the great promenading multitude. And to walk along the Grands Boulevards, say, from the Opera, to the Porte St. Denis, for anyone in a hurry, is no mean test of patience and endurance, so packed are

the ,broad pavements by people and stalls. Cafe terraces are packed at night, and with the braziers aglow, the scene is bright and typically Christmas, as Paris knowsdt. THE. YULE BLUES. The Yule this yearraay not be white, but one thing is certain, it will be a blue one.' Wherever you look in Paris, blue is the prevailing colour. The feminine fancy this season seems to have turned to .blue. . Blue frocks are everywhere, and the shop windows are masses of blue, Children are running about in the prettiest of little blue coats, while though the men folk may bo wearing overcoats in grey and brown, these do but serve to emphasise the starling blue trousers they are wearing underneath. Count the motorcars, and one sees how many are painted blue out of a hundred that pass by. We might have a worse colour for our company, despite the fact that blue has been associated' with melancholy. Blue, after all, is a virile colour, and from its predominance, we may take it that we are very much alive this Christmas time. A NEW FACTOR TO BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION. There's a new factor to bo taken into consideration this season. You vwill remember, I have sometimes told you about the new hierarchy of dressing. No more wearing that little sports for morning and evening. Any woman wearing a' specific model on unsuited occasions, will henceforth be considered ignorant of the rules of smart dressing. This rule holds good, for hats, too. Yes, I know, it's a bother, but it is worth it. That old spice of variety will develop versatility of temperament and imparts a whole lot more fun in life.

There are. as (many new hat materials as there are dress materials. It's amusing to make your hat to match your frock. In tricot, tweed, velours, satin, or flat fur. Or you may prefer rather to harmonise than to imitate, and in that case, you will -wear an Angora .felt with tweeds, a satin felt with silk, a panne velvet with lame.

Obviously the long back brims are best with the collarless- costumes. The very idea of trying to reconcile them with the Medicis fur collars or high cravats, bring back bur old dreams of missing trains. But there are lots of smart shapes to choose from: Berets, Begums, large cloches, undulating up over curls, small cloches that hug the back of your head, a modified trieorne, a modified bicorne, transformation hats, with two or more spare parts, and if that's not enough for you, 3fr'm sure I don't know what you want. WHAT ASSETS? WHAT LIABILITIES? Of course, if you dress chez one of the big, world-famed dressmakers, your capital problem is solved, for you get your hat there, too, andiyour vendeuse tactfully makes you think you choose your own. But, if you're thrown upon ; your own resources," there's just one thing to do—shut yourself up in your boudoir with a full length mirror—preferably a triple one—and consider exactly where you are: Hair, skin, contour, height, heels, weight, wardrobe. What assets? What liabilities? Then balance your stock with hats in colour, form, and size. TASHION HINT**. With change of figure, comes new inspiration. In order that the couturier may live, our.modern woman must die. Her pale Victorian ghost has been re-

suscitatcd, and with long skirts, frills, and furbelows even leg o'mutton sleeves have returned to life with her.

What one wears is as subtle and insidious as the germ of a new disease. You can't escape it.

I, for one, have no intention of adopting a Cubist silhouette, or wearing dresses that utick out in squares aud angles, and if you take, my advice you won't either.

Ono of the newest necklaces that charm Parisiennes, is composed of strands of ruby-coloured crystals, emeralds, and pearls.

The sweaters knitted in "modern art" designs are lovely, and so are the dresses and coats trimmed by diagonal seamings or bands of fine straight tucks.'' But more lovely still are the new ruffly fluffy dresses, and there's nothing Cubistie about, 'cm.

Strangers appear surprisingly welldressed in ■ Paris. The same women elsewhere seem so1 mtich less so. Away from Paris, woman's sartorial eye refuses to see true.

Tho new feather toques, more like wigs, than hats, are winning deserved recognition. . ...

Cornflower blue, after a career which lasted many years,, was in great disfavour until quite.recently, when suddenly reinstated for evening wear, it has become a startling success. An Utterly ravishing ensemble is composed of Venise, a shirred cap of irridescent satin and arc-en-ciel, and a frock of rainbow tulle, which is like a sunrise over the Lido. . ■ •