Chat From Paris

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 87, 9 October 1937, Page 19

Chat From Paris

(By Margret Manet)

This summer intends to offer us a ;reat deal of fun in the choosing of ur "play" clothes —those delightfully riendly garments that shall see us hrough the relaxed hours of sunhine. The mode has, so far, no ihsniion of being conventionalised. We nay be as original, as fantastic, as bsurd as wc please, One finds, in describing what this airest of. cities offers as reasonable, hat one. cannot, even vaguely, genralise. If you are one of those people /ho have ideas that are "different," I an offer you one guarantee—that the idy fashion is all with you. Though have purposely depicted for you a .vo-piece garment of useful simplicity or outdoor days, as Paris would have aem, some are nothing short of fancy ress. FANCIFUL VARIATIONS. Slacks are worn definitely shorter, ,tted neatly to hip and thigh but with xaggeratedly full hemline. As often s not these are made with the addiion of a bib front, fitted also, strapped ver shoulder and crossed at back ike any kiddies' apron. Blouses, /hen they accompany, are fitted, leeveless or brief-sleeved, and striped r patterned, but almost always they -and accessories—strike the darker ote. Shorts are very, short indeed and ull as a skirt. Jackets are to match; nd sometimes a slender-fitted skirt is dded for more civilised moments, "rousers take on many guises. There j the immaculately-creased man's •ariety, but there are also those as onchalant as a pyjama. An innovaion is the breeches of the coolie, lender-hipped and slender-thighed and tted to buckle below the knee in the lanner of a hundred years ago. HOME DYES. The peasant fisherwoman is dramatsed in garb and head-dress. Bodices, ight as brassieres, and simple skirts i the rich tones of home-dyes. These re knee- or near-knee length and frequently iports an over-dress, of contesting shade, that meets in iront rithout fastening in the manner of a edingote. Every conceivable variety f blouse and bodice has found its /ay into the salons of smart wear, iome are brassiere-like, sleeveless, rith curious and individual bracings. )thers are sleeved loosely to the wrist nd hang open, both at cuff and waist, iome are tailored to the figure and ;uttoned demurely to the neck—which,] ne is forced to notice again, is in very case collarless. Waist lines may! ic apparently anywhere at all, high,' □won the hips, or for that matter nonxistent. i INTERESTING HEADGEAR, An amusing development is the ariety in headgear. Anything is worn, rom contrasting triangles that tie Older the chin to an enormous hat /Ith roughly plaited down-folding brim hat all but obscures the vision. Agnes nakes things that flange at the back ,r fall in pleats of fine straw over the ape of the neck. Matching material o bodice or skirt, a piece is quaintly vvm in the manner of a nurse's veil,

FANTASTIC BEACH WEAR

caught at the back and hanging in protective folds over the shoulders and half-way do wo the back. Mexican straws with basin-like brims upturned or diminutive coolie shapes one sees everywhere. Sandals are as versatile. Every country both ancient and modern seems

to have contributed a footwear that is acceptable for this season's beach parade. Many are heelless and backless. Very popular is the type which has no tcfe but a broad band, rather than a strap, .into which the foot slips and stays. Many are merely an arrangement of leather thongs that hold the instep dexterously and in comfort. Webbing is used in gay colours. NEW PATTERNINGS OR NONE. So far as materials are concerned, flat plain colours are most in evidence. Stripes have suddenly become so broad as to be unrecognisable as such, and act almost in the nature of "camouflage." Spots-are .grouped, but no

longer with any regularity. Line checks have foun'd a way , back, also the finest lattice. When any fancy patterning is attempted it is grotesquely sparse and the motif may prove to be anything from starfish ty full-riggecjj. ships. One frock, made prosaicly enough, depended for its interest on the occasional green octopus that writhed in its sulphur folds. Red prawns clamber and jelly fish drift in this dramatisation of sea life that mere beach wear has suddenly insisted upon.