NOTES FROM LONDON

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 142, 17 June 1937, Page 19

NOTES FROM LONDON

LONDON, May 21,

Returning from the Royal Naval Review at Spithead one remembers with greatest pleasure the maze oC illuminated ships, the searchlight display, and the fireworks. From the top o£ Fort Gilkicker, which was reserved fnr :.\rmy '.id Naval officers and their guests, we saw the wide sweep of Spithead water lying beneath us, its uniform darkness broken only by the occasional "headlight" of a pleasure yacht dimly glowing in the distance. At ten o'clock, precisely, a fairy fleet, as long as the eye could reach, leapt into sight —row upon row of vessels outlined in brilliant light stood in assymetrical formation. Flagships and foreign ships flaunted gleaming flags, and the more important of them boasted 'midships a shield bearing the King's G.R. in red, white,., and blue lamps. As suddenly as they had appeared the lighted ships vanished, and simultaneously the" long, white arms of a myriad searchlights reached skywards, each making a separate pool of light on the clouds above. For a few moments they stood to attention and then began their danee —first

swaying slowly from side to side they gradually increased to a quicker tempo, bending, .rotating, pirouetting, sweeping, the skies-in perfect rhythm, and finally went wild—each, independently, crossing, weaving, and interlacing, one with the other. Again there was darkness till, this time at a signal from the Royal yacht, every ship started her fireworks display:

It was a breath-taking sight—so perfect was the organisation that red rockets followed blue rockets and "Prince of Wales feathers" followed "golden rain" in exact unison. The final burst was a simultaneous procession of red rockets, white rockets, and blue rockets from every ship. They streaked upwards a thousand feet, broke, and fell in burning stars to the sea. We had begun the day at twelve o'clock, when we left Waterloo for Portsmouth. After lunching at Whale i Island we went,- by picket boat and car, to the Fort, arriving just in time to see the Eoyal yacht, the Victoria and Albert, enter the waiting lines of warships at the beginning of her inspection tour. 1 Sports clothes of the spectator type were worn by most of the women present. Tailored grey fiann>i suits, sometimes chalk-striped, and usually worn with shirt blouses and Breton sailor hats, were particularly popular. Top coats of tan camel's hair were a protection against the cold evening air later. I noticed a number of cape suits —a grey flannel cape anci waistcoat worn with a tan wool skirt and a navy cape worn with a pale blue suit. There were a few tweeds in pastel colours and several plaids. An outstanding outfit was'a pale, duckegg blue frock worn under a box coat, finger-tip length, of pale blue and. tan plaid. The wearer was a striking redhead and her tan- felt hat had blue grosgrain trim. Her shoes,, gloves, andbag were of tan suede. A navy flannel coat, vertically sti'iped in white, was worn over a navy, fitted suit—a forerunner of many to come —and the suit in my sketch was dark grey flannel worn over a waistcoat of yellow flannel, with a dark grey stripe, and a yellow sweater. Notice the detail in. the, jacket back and the umbrella pleating of the skirt. Man tailoring is the secret of English sports chic.

This last week has produced the first instalment of a new fashion serial— the ribbon story. 'A leading store features it in a current window display. Here they show an evening gown by' Alix in french blue faille cut. very plain, with a spreading skirt that bursts near the hem into eight rows of brilliant colour —blue, emerald, gold, and cyclamen ribbon niching. Another original model is a white organdie, also with a full, dancing skirt, that has a twenty-inch satin ribbon in gay flamingo pink wound from the front of the bodice, where it is caught and shirred between the breasts, down under the arms, round the back to the front again, where it ties and falls in two long ends to the floor. A beautiful cape to wear over this gown is also of ribbon. Ground length, it is made from vertical stripes of different-col-oured ribbons —nile green, pink, pale blue, gold, and mauve —cut in spreading gores.

Nor does the ribbon story end in the evening—it is right to wear a ribbon hat at lunch. We are all used to grosgrain trimming and even whole ribbon hats at cocktail time, as long as they are either black or white, but today our satin and taffeta ribbon hats are vivid colours, brilliantly contrasted, or mysteriously pale shades combined with expert skill. ' They are twisted in turbans and toques and even cover spreading brims.

Then we are shown gloves with ribbon palms, scarves that are made from striped ribbons or ribbons joined in stripes, ribbon belts, ribbon boleros, and ribbon bracelets.

If your winter foundation is a dork one try enlivening it with these.flip-