LONDON FASHION NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13781, 20 June 1908, Page 6 (Supplement)

LONDON FASHION NOTES.

* (IRQII Otm OWN coxkeseoxdzxt.} " London, May 8. Last Saturday, witnessed the. first dress function of the season, namely, the "Private View of the Royal Academy. Tho crowd was, as usual, very great, and one was all the more painfully aware of the vastness of. the. throng, because, instead of looking at the pictures, one had most of the time to keep one's eyes almost on tho floor to, avoid getting tangled'up in the ridicu-lously-long trains worn by tho majority of the stylishly-dressed women. Little groups of womenkind would get together and talk about anything and everything under the sun, except the pictures on the walls! And these little groups, in clusters, occupied the greater part of the fioorspace in each of the galleries. At length, in desperation, one had to pretend that no trains were present and simply walk on them—there was no help for it! Result, by tho end of the day the skirts did nob look so fresh as they had done early in the morniug.. But sensible people who went there minus trains, with the object of looking at the pictures, were simply maddened oy the trailing lengths twined in and out among each other, and they did not car© what happened so long as they succeeded,in forcing a way through. Item No. 1-. It looks, then, as if trains are to bo one of the features of the coming fashion. For everybody who is anybody always dresses in "tip-top" style at Burlington House, on Private View "Day. ' Another point would have struck one oven-more forcibly, but it did not interfere with one's progress, and that was the prevalence of the now coats so generally worn. .typo of coat; which at the. hick fails in a slant from tho middle of tho shoulders to the skirt, well below the waist, and falls, too,, without anv fit to the figure, may conduce to the revival of an old affectation known in 1 , the "eighties" as -the "Grecian bend." Literally hundreds of these coats were to bo seen, and they seldom matched, either in colour or material, the dress itself. Some were of velvet, some of shot silk, others of cloth, and a good many were of lace; all seemed to be loose-fronted and rather cut-away in shape; some were fitted with a decorative waistcoat of yet again another material. One of these was made in sapphire blue panne, worn over a dress ~of "cream Shantung—the brilliant splash of colour was visible a', long distance off would have been visible galleries away had the crowd permitted a clear view. Someone else/was wearing one of these coats, made ; of black satin, over a dress of pale creamy filet net; one of heavy cream lace was seen over a dress of black crepe do chine. " Some of the nicest were of rich silk guipure embroidery even at the best these semi-fitting old-fashioned Directoire coats have not a great deal to recommend them. Some were of flowered chine silk; indeed, there was no end to the variety of their material 01 colouring, but the feature was that the material and colour should form a contrast. Item No. 2, therefore, the apparent popularity of these quaint old coats among women who keep themselves thor- j oughly up-to-date in the matter of dress. Some," by the way, were finished with rolledover Napoleon collars; most were cut away at the sides. into a swallow-tail, shape behind, but there were a few square in shape. The sleeves, in a good many instances-, seemed to be cut in 0110 with the coat, thus inducing a long sloping effect 'of the shoulders. . \ " ;_' : Then, as regards the mora ordinary coat and skirt costumes, of- which there were many/examples, in fine cloth of- delicate colours: The coats- were always semifittmg,/ lunging in a helpless' sort of way from the*- shoulders; all were rather elaborate in the way of braiding, but the colour of the braid used always accorded exactly with the material.. When Eton coats were worn they were decidedly square in shape, and this feature was accentuated by/ the loose cape-like sleeves which ended at the elbows. 'Skirts, almost without exception, were trailing all over the place. ' Shantung was a favourite .material;,forjihese costumes, sometimes iin the most'vivid of green, violet, and cerise, silk of the coarest description being employed, the coats held- together across tho chest by floggings. The limply hanging tailor-made gown, altogether without stiffness round the edge of the skirt, has a weary air; it altogether Jacks the sprightliness and jaunt imparted to the wearer who adopts a neat, sufficiently short, wellstiffened' skirt which stands out well about the Ankles and shows pretty -shoes.

The above figure is a smart little tailor costume in heavy elephant grey cloth, with a new cutaway coat, trimmed with soutache of the same shade and big grey velvet buttons. A piping of grey velvet makes a becoming finish. It is worn with a white felt hat, trimmed with spotted grey and brown, wings. '.-■■'

A GOLFING BLOUSE. ■']<■:■■-'' What could bo neater or smarter for the 1 fair golfer than the practical morning blouse v in fchi* above figure? This is of soft ele- ,; pliant-grey kid, stitched and tinishecl in :' ; , manly fashion with just v, tiny scrap ot conventional embroidery and a touch or Nattier blue at tho cuffs ami in. front. This is completed by a white linen collar and black satin stock, and is worn with the neatest of -' , grey felt hat*, with a cluster of jay wings at the side. . - -. '.' . "•■ '..'. ; ■.