PARIS FASHIONS IN AUTUMN HATS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22729, 30 August 1948, Page 6

PARIS FASHIONS IN AUTUMN HATS

(From Barbara Stevenson, Reuter’s Correspondent) (By Airmail) PARIS. The Paris hat, autumn 1948, covers the hair, the head and often a part of the neck. Unabashedly romantic, over 90 per cenit of the models shown in the new collections have much veiling and every hat is the complement of the silhouette it tops. Although no capricious mood is neglected, the models seem to blend with the complete ensemble and create a composite picture which is utterly feminine. The chin is the focal point for attention with veils and ribbons tied under it and flowers or feathers tucked in the centre of the knot or the bow in a real Victorian manner. With a new Paris hat it is almost a necessity to produce a fringe if you want your coiffure to show at all. Most foreheads are bare, the majority of shapes tending to give height rather than width. Berets in fabrics to match the costume are popular, a trifle larger than spring versions, but still pushed forward to form brims or tilted upwards to give a halo effect. The exception that proves the rule in this parade is fashioned like a padre’s beret, worn back and to the side in the Dior manner but with every strand of hair tucked inside except a saucy fringe right in the middle of the forehead. Sweep-Down Brims Maud Roser swoops her brims down over the ears almost to the neck, and then back and up over the brow in a graceful, becoming manner. One model from this house has the perkiest veil we have seen for a long time. Stretching from ear to car, it just covers the face from eyebrows to the tip of the nose, and for all its fragile appearance, says firmly in place. For cocktails, she tucks a sleek coiffure into a pointed halo of pearl-studded feathers and swathes this bit of elegance, artly named “Sirene,” in soft, tulle. As usual, Maud Roser shows several models which are true classics, dressy little hats which recognise no season. One favourite would be equally good with summer _ chiffon frock at a garden party or with flattering furs in a frosty |wilight% hour. Fashioned of tulle, two rage pom-poms perch on the Watteau brim, and tiny paillettes fleck the veil which covers the crown and the brim, falls over the face and under the chin and swoops up again to meet itself in the soft curls below the back of the crown.

Jane Blanchot. is also partial to soft tulle for star-lit hours and shows a crown of flowers topped with a mist of tulle framing the face and caught just over the bust with a cluster of the same flowers. Madame Le Monnier fan pleats a brim up and over the brow and down the right side to cover one ear completely. A swirl of black veiling appears from under the brim, covers the face from nose to chin and ties high over the left ear. The ends are held firmly in place by carved jade hat pins. Feathers Camouflaged Even Mother Nature herself would have difficulty in placing the original source of the feathers. They are spotted and dotted, stiffened and dyed, then perched under and over, up and down brims, behind, atop and behind high and low crowns. They curl and swing from veils and are tucked in bows under the chin. But the essential accompaniment to all Paris hats this autumn is a fringe. It can be just a curl peeping from under the brim right in the centre or it can touch the eyebrows, cover the forehead or merely form a soft wave to the right or the left. For a special occasion, it can even be dyed in the new temporary manner to match a costume or suit your mood. As for the very, very young and daring, they may even sport a kiss curl.

The youngest and new.est hat in the fashion picture is worn' over such a hair-do. The curl is softer than the one worn in the early twenties. That hat is fashioned from fabric, shaped like a motor-cycle helmet, rounded brim upturned, sides widening from forehead to wide points at the side and fading to self tie in a bow under the chin. The climax to this youthful creation is an inch button perched right in the centre of the crown.