LONDON FASHION NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15002, 25 May 1912, Page 6 (Supplement)

LONDON FASHION NOTES.

[FROtf oxna OWX correspondent, i For Immediate Wear. Losrooif, April 10. Although the tailor-mad© suit of shot silk occupies the place of honour in all iho showrooms and windows, the time has not yet arrived for wearing it, as the weather is for too chilly for thins so thin. Much warmer, and really ' far smarter is the tailoring silk made with a rib; its faca is much tho same as that of poplin, but perhaps a trifle more tubstantial; it can be had with reverse side of colour contrast, and little additional trimming is needed. There are still a certain number of satin tailor-mades, but these are losing caste, although it must be acknowledged that the tailor-made of satin reversed with fine cloth, in one colour throughout, may he very attractive for smart wear, notably perhaps in light silver grey; both skirt and coat will be. made half of satin and half of the cloth so that it is net possible to say of which the costume is made. Half-and-half effects are on the increase, so are odd effects and one-sided effects. It is nothing unusual tor. the tailor-made, say of navy cloth, to have one square-cut rever of ' blcck satin, the other of China blue curly I eponge, with cuffs of the latter. Many j experiments are again being carried out with ftriped tailoring fabrics, and the more eccentric tho arrangement of the stripe tho bettor the suit seems to bo ap- ; predated, until many of them are no- J living- but a hideous patchwork. Cloth j of plain face reversed with a check side 1 lends itself to many experiments; the- skirt will consist mostly of the check, with a I deep hem of the plain colour; the plain j colour will form the coat and its trimmings will be of the check. For useful occasions, whipcord is a material th.it will take a lot of beating; usually it is woven in effects of grey and white, navy and white; it is maae up rather on the cross, and slanting lines are its characteristic in consequence. There is no doubt about it, however, navy serge is the ideal material for the tailor-made, which may just as well be worn for the morning as for the afternoon, its appropriateness for either needs being regulated by its trimmings and make. Useful suits are very often belted—indeed the belted tailor-made is quite a feature of the season, and the presence of a strip i of patent leather round the waist docs add •an air of smartness; if the basque is an I addition—as it now so frequently is—a j belt is needed to hide the join. Rovers ar> always there—atr least there is sure ] to be one —and this fact immediately I makes for a more drossy result. Tho I tailor-made coat is not the tryingly plajn { thing it was two years ago. Ruches i and bouillonnes and killings are sacred to j the suit of silk, but there is immense | choice still left to make tho more sub-j stantial suit smart and decorative ; there are fancy silks to form the revers and collar, a?, times handsome lace is pre- ! ferred for these offices, metallic laces and i insertions are useful similarly placed, while a hand embroidery carried out in silks often accounts for "the smart effect "of the costume. Apart, however, from all these additions, it is amazing to note to what- on extent such an accessory as a pretty jabot or a one-sided cascade of lawn, | with sleeve ruffles'to match will raise the simplest coat and skirt on a pedestal high above its more ornate neighbours. The latest jabots of fine lawn are generously edged with Irish crochet or. Mechlin lace; some are without fulness, and have the effect of a single rever, edged round with a band of insertion and set on to a strip of the same; this insertion band is fastened at the neck with a- brooch, and again, a few inches above the waist, its mission being to fall outside the fastened j coat, and this is not at all difficult to arrange seeing that many of the coats have only one rever and require something to finish the plain witrimmed side; in such caws the spotless white rever is a great attraction. There is another finish for the plain coat, and this is a double- : decker jabot, made as a cascade, of white net veiled with black net; it has an upstanding collar, and with it is worn as a finish at the throat one of the pretty little " brooches" made of ribbon flowers or berries in a long spray.