SPRING FASHIONS

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 47, Issue 2670, 15 September 1937, Page 2

SPRING FASHIONS

FANCIES FROM PARIS BRIGHT NEW MATERIALS SKIRTS SHOWING FULLNESS. New Zealand dressmakers and their clientele will already be turning their thoughts towards the fashions for spring. The new spring fashions, as Paris is showing them, are very gay. Just to see the bright materials, the jaunty little walking suits, the flared crepe and silk frocks is a tonic, and nothing could be more stimulating than to be able to invest in a whole wardrobe based on the new ideas in clothes.

A warning note must be struck, however, at the beginning of the season —that due allowance should be made by the woman who is buying new frocks for the gradual toning down of effect which takes place after the first novelty has worn off. A great many girls have a flair for personal chic, but they are apt to exploit the gift and carry it to extremes, with the result that they adopt a striking note, even an outre style, immediately it is introduced, only to find within a matter of weeks sometimes, that it has faded right out of the fashion picture. Even the cautious woman may be tempted by an unusually attractive sleeve, a gay silk, or a tooshort skirt, and it is disappointing to have to go on wearing a garment without getting pleasure and satisfaction out of it. Even, however, allowing for the toning down process, this will be a very interesting and picturesque fashion year. Here are some of the ideas exploited at the Paris collections. Greater Fullness. All the important fashion houses in the French capital are introducing more fullness. Skirts are wider and cut so that they have a certain swing. There are any number of kilted walking frocks, and the smartest afternoon dresses have finely accordeon-pleated skirts. The “little bodice,” with its moulded to the figure effect, is not nearly so much in evidence as> a corsage with slightly gathered fullness, which, for the majority of women, is a much more becoming proposition. Evening dresses have draperies, loops and panels, the looping of soft satins and chiffon velvets being particularly lovely. And yet, in spite of all this extra fullness in dance and dinner' models, there is nothing bouffant about any of the styles. They look almost streamline again, and are moulded about the hips, down to the knees. Slashings have returned to favour, however, and the smartest collections include a majority of evening gowns which are cut up right to the knee, so that there is a good deal of display of luxury fine silk stockings.

With materials cut on the cross many dressmakers found last season that a. good deal of stretching took place, spoiling the line. This has been obviated with the new satins and crepes by cutting the skirts, particularly, with fewer seams, and stitching them in such a way that the material will not give easily. Skirts for day wear are interesting. One of the smart couturiers is making . them with a full and gathered front ! panel to give a wind-blown effect. Ani other is carrying the top of the skirt ■ quite four inches above the natural I waist-line, but without giving any I suggestion of a yoke or a panel. All the walking skirts are considerably wider than they have been for some time, and the length is smart. In some of the collections there is a tendency to get . back to the little flared skirt finishing three or four inches only below the knee. But the more responsible dressmakers, while sponsoring the short skirt, are not going so far as this. The hems of their skirts are a little less than half-way between knee and ankle, which is considered in Paris the chic length. With wide shoulders, which, by the way, are remaining in favour, a too-short skirt is apt to give a silhouette that might easily become ludicrous. Fantastic Patterns. Printed silks and cottons are most amusing. They are among the things > which should be bought with a good deal of care. While it is funny to

have a short sentence from a popular cabaret song, or a row of little crowns and Coronation bells printed all over a frock, for as long as the novelty lasts, it must be remembered that such a pattern is not amusing when people have got tired of seeing it. Yachting women can have white dresses printed all over with tiny blue or pink sailing boats, and motoring enthusiasts will find patterns in which racing cars, motor horns and comic mascots predominate. For evening dresses all the materials seem to be unusually rich in both colour and fabric. The metal tissues and lames are popular with the smart houses and there are lacquered satins printed, in exquisite chintz designs in pastel tints. Some of the flowered satins are made quite simply and the hem of the skirt, for about 12 inches from the ground, is lined with stiff net and then given row upon row of close machine stitching to make it stand out from the feet. White, black, and soft tones of blue, with a great many rather unusual green tints, are favourite evening colours in Paris.