London Fashion Notes

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 105, 6 May 1933, Page 9

London Fashion Notes

Specially Written ftr "The Post",

LONDON, March 10. | In London we celebrated the arrival of spring with a weekend of brilliant sunshine which was even more than usually appreciated after our recent icy blizzard and heavy snow storms. With tulips and daffodils showing in every florist's window, and masses of gorgeous coloured glooms aC^ every street corner we feel we have definitely left the winter behind, and the urge for new clothes is as strong aa tho spring fever of Love. Dress parades continue tc be a social pastime, and the. vast ball rooms of tho exclusive Claiidgcs Hotel must

have accommodated' fully a thousand women for.Norman Hartnell's show. As; I have maintained before, individuality marks every designer's collection, but certain fundamental points are found in all. This designer expresses the spirit, of youth and flamboyant femininity. So ono finds his day skirts are shorter, his afternoon frocks luxurious and lavishly befurred, and his evening gowns either slinkily* exotic of sequins or lacquered materials, or fluffy affairs of chiffon and frills. The coats in several daytime suits in this collection were cut very square and short, showing a striped juniper that reached below the waist. |3uits for smart town wear had be-* coining - collars of fox and lynx, which, continued nearly to the waist. In the' new . egg-shell and reseda blues these make very decorative suits with small hats to.match the suit or fur. Several coats showed scolloped edges, I and a suit of powder blue tweed "with, .three-quarter, loose eollarless coat had wide scolloped rovers, and scollops at the bottom of the coat.

A very sophisticated suit was made entirely of black lacquered satin, with a black fox collar, and was worn with a small black sequin beret with circular veil floating round the face. Incidentally, I have seen two of these sequin caps being worn , today., One beret in all blue sequins with blue veil to match a blue tailored coat. The other was a small "circus" hat with crown and little top-knot tail of pink sequins and a close turned-up brim of black sequins. The latter was worn with' a black suit trimmed with a high black 'fox collar, . and beneath one glimpsed a blouse of palest pink lacqufcred satin which tied in a soft bow at tho throat. ' : One or two ideas seen in. the new evening gowns suggest brilliant renovation schemes. , A dainty gown of blue and, white figured chiffon had tho top of the bodice and capelet sleeves of red and wliite chiffon with a deep shaped pieco of the red and white chiffon'edging the skirt. ■ ... ' ; A black chiffon gown had' a bodice, one side white lacquered satin, and the other black'lacquered satin. These crossed over and draped round the waist, ending in long sash ends to the bottom of the skirt at the back. The white end hanging below the black side of the bodice and vice-versa. This appealed to me as an attractive way of bringing a plain black dress smartly up to date. Captain Molyneux of London and Paris is showing one of the best colsleetions in London this season. There. is nothing sensational about his clothes and he avoids exaggerations, but every model shown was perfect for cither the country, town or evening wear it was designed for. His cxelusiveness consists of printed materials, etc., designed by an artist and manufactured for him only, but apart from these facts every one could wear his clothes in any'walk of life. His suits and day clothes are •definitely a little longer than many other designers', but this seems an added attraction. Also his evening ■ frocks are long and slim, with gradual fullness that flows round the feet rather than the billowy fullness from the. knees that ono sees in many other collections. Of course ' there are a i great many loose three-quarter coats which look new and exceedingly smart. Also kind to the fuller figure. But there are still a great many perky little jackets suits, which certainly aro chic and appeal enormously to the youthful section of society. These little jacket suits may be of one material, with ofteu a top coat to match, thus providing, a three-in-ono ensemble which is always useful. " On the 'other hand, the odd coloured jacket is still a great success, and one seen yesterday showed a jacket of dark blue velvet worn with a whito, blue and red plaid skirt, and a jumper of soft white angelskiu pique, with exactly matching plaid buttons. ■ ■ A great number of these jumpers and blouses have short sleeves reaching anywhere from the shouldc^ to the elbow, and I am glad to note that a' great many jumpors reach the hips. An outstanding feature /Of tho Molyneux collections was'a pair of long gloves made in the same fabric aa-the dress or blouse. This makes a most attractive finish although personally I did not care for spotted and flowered gloves, except with summery dresses, i But a white satin evening gown with one shoulder epaulet of red chiffon that twisted round the waist and fell in a long end at tho back looked distinguished with red chiffon gloves to match. Of course, the eire satin gloves with matching dresses were very successful. Also soft white pique gloves to match collars and hats with neat little dark day dresses. I also admired a slim black town suit with dainty little blouse of white spotted muslin, and spotted muslin gauntlet gloves. All of 'which could be easily tubbed at home to preserve ..the virgin freshness so essential to this material. R¥TU SIBLEY.