LONDON FASHION NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15056, 27 July 1912, Page 6 (Supplement)

LONDON FASHION NOTES.

[iTtOir OTTR OWX CORRESPONDENT?.?)

I.oxpo.n", June 14.

Among the Flowers.

Torsi: are again very beautiful and so reallooking. There is not often an attempt to make artificial dowers in colours opposed to nature, and the consequence is that the great banks of blossoms in the millineryrooms look quite life-like. Of creamy : dowers .re ;»>e not given many; there is j really nothing between a white which is absolutely dead but very clean-looking-and a distinct yellow which is. best represented by king-cups, poppies, and Alan .Richardson roses. Another shade of yellow is best shown in the primrose, but of deep cream there is really very little. Even,- week see* some new arrival in the artificial flower market,, and among the rather heavy-looking varieties we see a prominent place given to sweet-williams, the flowers being made of satin or velvet, surrounded by foliage of a deep bronzebrown. The clumps are beautifully made, and in all the colour combinations that grow in the garden; nevertheless, the species is rather solid for hat-trimming. j Hoses are, of course, well to the front, some--1 times being thickly massed without- foliage, i at other times being introduced rather to show tip the naturalness of the wreaths of foliage, relieved only at wide intervals bv a large, bloom, made of velvet or of silk and velvet combined. Very gay are the big bunches of hydrangea in the vary. ing tints of blue, pink, mauve.

Just here ami there the large picture hats are found to be provided with, strings of tulle or velvet, .which are lightly passed under the chin and fastened to one side. A' novelty is the chin, strap made of small roses, close-set, which, instead of encircling the crown in the usual way, is brought "down over the brim at each side from the back of the ears and passed lightly under the chin.

ii flowers are ne&cry always made in natural colours- the earn© cannot always be said of foliage, for a great deal of this is of every known hue except- the natural tints. We know by the shape that some of the most striking foliage trails are intended for the ivy, but there resemblance ends. For the "colours are lloyal blue, bright cerise, blush pink, silver-grey, dead white, sombre black —indeed, everything: except, green. The leaves, for the most part made of muslin, are properly veined, and they really look very well on hate of dead wnite. "ivy is not the only foliage similarly, yet rather charmingly, misrepresented. Giant flowers, put in an occasional appearance, bnfc the tendency toward exaggeration is not greatly noticeable. One of tho most •ambitious of flowers dissatisfied with its natural size is the pansy, which the florists are making the size of a ] saucer, particular care being taken to get | the correct effects of shades ami marks, j The gardenia is a flower that many people : like- to- wear as a dress spray. This flower has an excellent duplicate in the boxes filled with artificial blooms, and the foliage is the rich dark green of nature. Each flower, with attendant foliage, costs 2s, bat ill the long ran a spray u not. expensive, for it is capable of lasting clean and fresh-looking for a whole season, and only the keenest sight will be able to distinguish between the real and the artificial, especially as the former is scented. The fields are providing plenty of bine cornflowers, and flower manufacturera are not behindhand. The rich blue cornflower, made of silk, is an effective flower, and in these times, when purple and blue mingle, the cornflowers are placed high at the side of a purple hat, tulle of similar tones being left to do the rest. Old Friends. Quaint and unusual, indeed, are many of the millinery models, particularly those which are close-fitting. They look horribly dowdy on first inspection, but they are just duplicates of shapes worn a generation ago. High of crown and practically brimless, ' they are trying to wear. They are small in the head and hare the merit' of resting on top of the hair and not hiding the features. The trimming usually consists of a tall spray of mixed flowers, which are assembled along one high stalk. An old friend, and one whose reappearance will no doubt be welcomed in the near future, is the simple sailor shape, of which Queen Alexandra used to be so fond, and which everybody wore.. It is the sailor hat o£ the" schoolgirl, rather high in the crown and rather narrow in the brim, its simple trimming consisting of a wide band of ribbon or velvet finished off at one side in a flat pleating. At present it looks rather out of it, but it will surely not be long before the 'sensible and becoming and neat little sailor will be worn. At any rate, there are numerous early arrivals in the model salons. The tourist, the river girl, and the country walker cannot do better than select a shady Panama, dead white in tone, banded with black velvet. The price is the only drawback so far as the multitude is concerned, but the outlay of two guineas and a-half on one of this season's Panamas will repay the wealthy purchaser. There are some Panamas of a cream colour, but dead white are the first choice.