LONDON FASHION NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15175, 14 December 1912, Page 6 (Supplement)

LONDON FASHION NOTES.

[*80* OUB -OWJJ CORRESPONDENT^ j London, November 2. j Proh? jtently displayed is " velours delaine "—one of the newest of tailoring fabrics; it is a soft woollen with a surface suggesting velvet pile, and in the distance may easily be mistaken for velvet; it generally has an invisible stripe. It is made in two weights, one being considerably heavier looking than the other. i Cloth is a beautiful fabric in its modern edition, and this, too, is rather proud of its suggestion of velvet. Indeed, "velvet effects" characterise many kinds of material, including a ratine which is given a stripe of chenille, this strip being o£ colour contrast to the ratine, and so producing a shot effect. Broche ratine is obtainable, and it is used for tailor-mades, for wraps and for dresses; it is not exactly a graceful material, but its raised wool pattern brings it very high up on the list of the season's novelties. The material may be self colour, but it is not always so, and when a brilliant violet is allied with black, the result is just a little pronounccd, if not startling. Friezes are usually quite pleasing, the " crepon cloth" describes its appearance, while face cloth is too useful ever to disappear altogether. Dressmakers and tailors are combining fancifully patterned materials j with quite plain materials, and they do j not hesitate to mingle coloifr contrasts, j For instance, we ad know how very fashionable in the summer was the tafj fetas coat of a pretty colour worn over a I dress of cream or white. Well, the idea still finds favour, and over and over again will tho smartly dressed woman be soon in a dress of black, with a wonderfully contrived coat of hunter's pink or suede-cloth, or one of champagne tint over rich claret colour; N black coats will be worn over dresses of 'white—and coate of white will be worn over dresses of black. There is a closely curled astrachan cloth in white, which, with touches of blstck velvet, makes up delightfully as a smart coat to fee worn over a dress of hLick velvet or silk or faced-cloth. If present appearances count for anything, wiq shall see less use "made of satin. Rather will velvet have the first choice ; next will come the long list of broche effects, and there is a fancy for damask with its decoratively embossed surface — a material which is brought out in all the bright, yet " dulll colours which characterised damask in the days when its highest ambition was to cover furniture and to provide curtains, a sort of dull magenta being quite prominent.

White velvet has made its appearance, and it has, in tie form of a dress, graced the Longchamp course; its accompaniments were a white velvet toque trimmed with two black aigrettes— standing upright, the other pointing down to the shoulder; white,antelope boots with short fronts of black, patent leather, and a set of ermine. 'V : Wnite 1 velvet will' cot be practicable for everyday Londoners, but it will no doubt have its patrons among the smart people in appropriate surroundings. White stands out prominently, and so does black; both seem to be necessary to relieve a somewhat garish tendency in modern colouring. Poplin has undergone various developments since the time when purchasers were satisfied to have it in its plain edition; last year it entered the list of shot effects; this' year it has become a brocaded material, also a moire one, and | in theSe latent phases it will be used for dresses, for coats and skirts, and for >' dressy Evening wraps, tVimmed with i handsome embroideries in Persian colourl ings.