MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 26 November 1929, Page 8

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OE INTEREST

(Noles by

Marjorie)

FOOTWEAR FASHIONS. ■ THE LONDON DISPLAY. LONDON, October 10. Again at the great 'Shoe £sid Leather Fair the manufacturing towns and countries compete with one another to attract buyers not.only from Great Britain itself, but from overseas. While 1929 is proving a quiet year in the trade, British manufacturers are still exporting three times the value of boots and shoes sent here by tbeir foreign competitors. The “slump” in the;demand for footwear is attributed -to the fairly general trade depression and;the return to a quieter note in women’s shoe fashion. One learns at the Exhibition that Leicester specialises in ladies' goodclass .walking shoes and Northampton in men’s high-class footwear. The smaller towns of the country introduce the beautiful and famous handsewn -hunting boots. Leeds is famous for its heavy agricultural and workmen’s boots. Bristol, once famous •for its hob-nailed boots, has now taken to the .production of ladies’ fine shoes. Norwich sends a light and dainty type of shoe; and London, with a scattering manufacturing trade, produces large quantities of men’s and women’s footwear comparable with the “bespoke” type. One thing especially strikes the visitor to the Exhibition, the absence of .novelties, the main note being restraint and a lack of exaggeration. This applies .to women’s shoes as much as to men’s. The one-bar pattern in .women’s shoes is in overwhelming preponderance, and there appears to be little disposition to alter toe shapes or height of heels. There seems some tendency in the new samples-to,get away from the darker shades of .glace kid, though there ;is no ; threat to return to the pale shades of the -two years ago except as trimmings. Vivid colours, such as blue and green, are scarcely in evidence at all.

Uppers of reptile—real -and realistically reproduced —and other peculiar ■material are numerous. Pythons, lizards, crocodiles, ostriches, antelopes, elks, pigs—all have been brought into use. In order to attract notice to then’ models one Bristol firm is showing cases of live lizards.

On the whole, however, women nowadays are forsaking fancy shoes and demanding something of greater comfort and durability. Very high heels have lost their popularity. On the

J other hand, two-colour shoes —usually a brown and a lighter shade, or a I leather with a reptile skin inset —will be worn even a little more than previously. Tan shoes, both for women and men, seem to be coming into favour again. It is always interesting to examine the men’s fancy boots and shoes, which are manufactured by one or two firms, and for which there is a constant and small demand in various parts of the world. This year there are splendid creations in black and white, in speckled red, some with red toes and trimmings; others in gold and red; in blue and silver; in silver and tan; silver and blue, and gold and green. Perhaps the most ornate pair of men’s shtjes is that decorated with red roses on a base of gold and green. Such brighter footwear, however, only reminds us that there are few people in some parts of the world whose tastes are strong enough for them to defy convention. One interesting novelty is an inven-

tion for measuring the foot In three dimensions —length, breadth, and shape—the idea being to try to standardise “sizes.” At present, for example, one manufacturer’s idea of size “5” shoe may differ considerably from another’s. A USE FOR SNAKES. Snake catching, since fashion began to demand snake and lizard skins for shoes and belts, has been a growing minor industry in Queensland, writes Geoffrey Pinnock in Piccadilly. Among the most successful hunters are two white women, who are now serious rivals to aborigine prowess in this field. The skin of a good carpet or rock snake is worth 5s in Queensland, and in those districts where the species are prolific a good living can be made. The two enterprising ladies wear felt hats and leather trousers, leggings, and gloves, upon which a snake can expend all its energy without doing much harm, until a slash from a bowie knife dispatches it.

MQDIERN J-ASHIONS. ITGDY UNWHOLESOME STYLES. “Ope-zof the ,woman buyers at the ?FasmonS; Exhibition, .which was .opented at(Olympia for the benefit of The trade, .said, <as she looked at some of the dresses ■which have reverted to the ’type of a .quarter ..of a, century ago: ‘I .wonder if women will really wear (these clothes? J believe they will have the. courage to Tight the designers.’ “The Very young girl,” says a .London writer, “brought up to wear the .gay, free clothes of the after-war .period, knows nothing of the ‘tuckeddn’ rblouse, .the Trailing skirts, and the ’.bits and pieces’ appearance of 1904. “But -for the absence of enormous ‘leg-of-mutton’ sleeves, some of the dresses at Olympia might have come from the pages of the fashion periodicals pf that year. “One designer showed me an evening frock in which he assured me there .were a thousand yards of tulle. The ..dress was composed .entirely of minute frills, .which reached to the .ankle.

“Obviously, to be able to sell a dress of this .kind would be good for i trade,;but is the modern woman really .going to turn herself into an oldfashioned ballet-girl to create industrial .prosperity?

“Not only silk jumpers, but woollen •jumpers are to be worn ‘tucked in’ beneath a belted skirt. When the jumper -first came into fashion, years ago,-it > took women’s hearts by storm -because of its simplicity.

“It banished the problem of the waist-line. Now the-waist-line has returned and the tuoked-in stockinette jumper suggests that ancient monstrosity, ithe woollen blouse. .“Evening - dresses with huge lampshade skirts which I saw aye obviously -‘stunts,’ but almost all the evening gowns designed for wear by ordinary women show nothing of -the almost , Greek-like simplicity which has for so long distinguished modern clothes. “They have miniature ’bustles’ at The back, and -from the waist downwards have that ‘bits and pieces’ look .which is, so the designers used to say, -the enemy of -line.’ “Underskirts of knee length are •hidden by overskirts of frills, petals, points, and jagged, uneven edges, which touch the ground. Some of these frocks have trains, or ‘fishtails,’ of fine chiffon —admirable dust-collec-tors.

“It: is impossible to know what the ordinary .woman .will think of these .fashions, for the public are excluded -from the.exhibition. But some of the /buyers are doubtful of their success. They fear that the cost of the yards and yards of .material needed will make them -too expensive fof all but rich jvomen. “There are some sensible .novelties, such as the picturesque coats made of string. Lined with fleece, and proofed, they are intended for sports, country, or -motoring wear. .Cloth and fur coats show only small changes in design, and there are beautiful 'British tweeds, which will delight the woman who knows that a tailored coat and skirt is never out of fashion. “There has never been a year in which fabrics have been more exquisitely designed, or of better texture. “Next year we may well expect to see the revival of the straw ‘boater,’ and the high starched linen collar.”

-WOMAN REFUSEID .LICENSE

“Edo not knew. jf .the Borough Council has any.legal reason for not giving a' -taxi "driver’s license to a -woman, but if .she thinks. She has any legal right to one she .will .have to take action in the .Supreme Court for a writ of-mandamus,” .said Mr J. L. Stout, S.M., -in the Palmerston North Magistrate’s Court, when a woman was charged with driving a licensed taxi without having a taxi-driver’s license, states an exchange. The traffic inspector said defendant had applied for a license, but the council would not grant it, apparently disapproving of lady • taxi-drivers. As a further application was being made for the necessary license the case was adjourned.