LADIES' COLUMN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12859, 6 May 1905, Page 6 (Supplement)

LADIES' COLUMN.

FASHION NOTES.

' [ Of ft OW\ COKH'ESt'ONDKN

London", March 25.

(K-k, authority expresses the opinion j that silk will 'nave only one rival so ! far as material is concerned, and that rival will be linen, for an entire novelty ... be the linen robes, which the first few days of warm sunshine will bring into display. These robes, cut with well-shaped skirts, •winch nerd only to be set into » waistband, and a. bodice-piece of indicated outlines, with a simple working perhaps of conventional Bower spray-, are to be had in a great variety of colourings, and they arc to be accompanied with a nice belt and tic. Tins variety will be for neat morning wear. Far more elaborate and costly are to be the linfn dresses with endless elaboration in the way of Broderie Anglaise—or eyelet-hole embroidery— Irish crochet for trimming, which will bo suited for race-wear and for garden-parties; the?' robes are specially embroidered by hand in Ireland, and all patriotic people are expected In have at least one in the summer wardrobe. Among the cheeked materials tlt.'i black and white or greyish-white effects are innumerable, and in sonic of them a dash of colour is introduced, in the form of silk embroidered spots of silk at each intersection of the lines, and when made up pipings of velvet or silk of the same colour as the silk spot are introduced round the shouldercapes, into the pleating? oi the skirl and elsewhere. On these cheek materials for the early spring velvet plays a conspicuous part in the trimming; sometimes hand, of it finish the skin in place of the Item, while panel effects are also seen. Some of the smartest and least expensive costume of the moment arc being made of this new spotted-and-checked material, and in many cases the short skirts are made either closely boxpleatcd or sun-ray kilted, while the neat little bolero is ' slightly pouched over a smart waist-bell, and the sleeves embody the latest ideas ot puffs above and below the elbow. A new and clever technical device in weaving gives all tho appearance of a shaded check to one of the new materials, though in reality only one colour is being employed to produce it. Wool and silk eoliennes "are again to be worn very largely for smart afternoon and visiting dresses. Little upstanding pleatings of ribbon are frequently used to finish the hem of a skirt. especially when the hem or binding is turned up on the right side, as it is in many or the newest costumes. When a skirt is somewhat frayed at the hem. a neat little pleating of ribbon, applied either in upstanding or in the regular pleated ruffle effect, freshens t up, and conceals the shabby portion. When the binding is lined with haircloth this method is simple, the haircloth having just enough stiffness to keep the ribbon pleating out in s smart little row all round. A deep baud of velvet is used at the hem of some of the latest skirts. All the newest French skirts tit snugly over the hips, and then Hare out in a fulness that follows every line of the figure. To be modish the skirt must be plain and well fitting for about ten inches below the waistline, and all the fulness comes afterwatd. Many of the skirts in the small plaids or checks are cut entirely mi the cross and circular, fitting smoothly round the hips, and gathering fulness us they descend. As a rule these skirts have a seam down the middle of the front, and possibly a. line of trimming there too. Other models have Hat braid trimming round the skirt, and there are others again which are quite plain save for machine-stitching. Colours which are to be fashionable seem likely to be in as long a range as the materials themselves; at the moment, all the fashionable tints are good ones. Cloth and fancy woollen materials in the tints of cedarwood, rosewood, oak, and walnut are made up into costumes with or without a short basqued velvet coat. Certain soft shades of mauve and lilac are quietly but persistently asserting themselves in fashionable circles. and one of them, namely, wisteria, is likely to be one of the leading colours of the season. Next in favour aftei mauve and lilac there come some very dainty shades of silver-grey and lavender, which are particularly attractive in soft cloth and in all the varieties of taffetas mousselino and taffetas chiffon, crepe de chine, and silk eolienne, which will again be greatly worn this season, and which by the way is perhaps most pleasing in its peach and heliotrope tone-.

The coat and skirt shown in the sketch will be seen to have a very long coat that really seems an upper skirt almost, and this modish coat, having forsworn the stern coatsleeve, has one drawn in full from the shoulder, but elongating off to slimness at' the wrist. . The fronts, as "'ill be seen, are not 100 severe, aud have the tasteful swathed effect; and a little waistcoat which was generally of white cloth with gold bouillon embroidery. The coat and skirt was made in purple,"and blue, and brown, and green, and blaijk- indeed, in everything one could mention. . <

The sketch above shows how in the sleeve the decorative dies hardest; for instance, in the close-fitting tailor gown the pretty sleeve is not parted with, and in this feature the tailor gown of to-day differentiates itself from the tailor gown of years ago, whose, sleeve was a much more demure idea, travelling to the wrist with 'uninterrupted plainness,