LONDON FASHION NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15563, 21 March 1914, Page 6 (Supplement)

LONDON FASHION NOTES.

tIBOU OUR OWN CORRESPONDBKT.i) London, February 4. Weird Hairdressing. At last the threat has been fulfilled— coloured "transformations" have arrived in London, and the colours include green, blue, pink, purple ; but there is no limit to the range. Individual demand will create a special supply, and a well-known supplier of wigs assures the world at large that it is not only actresses who are going to have coloured hair, but that many women in private life and in fashionable circles have already ordered these 'new transformations. The consequence is that show-cases are nacked with models wearing wigs of the newest fashion, whose favourite shades are declared on authority to include blue, green, pink and purple— but these are merely a few, for there are more than fifty colours and shades. A few weeks back —even in Paristhe fate of the coloured wig was very much in doubt, and the query was put into type: " Are we really going to wear coloured hair? It is not easy to find an answer. For general use we are not going to wear blue hair, but it is undoubtedly true that the futurist movement has already made its influence felt in certain eclectic circles in Paris, and side by side with the futurists we have the disciples of the Russian ballet effects." High Hair-dressing. Although the high hair-dressing has not become general for the daytime, it is very popular for the evening, and in a few months' time it is expected that it will be the accepted position for all occasions. The spring hat shapes will be modelled to accommodate .the change. The public is advised to be choosing a variety of the quaint, high, old-fashioned back combs of tortoise-shell, for these are bound to be necessities before long, and to wait before purchasing means that prices will be higher then than they are now. It is forecasted with certainty that all kinds of combs will be required,-but that the high Spanish type will be the greatest favourite. A slender jewelled filet remains a favourite form of ornament for the evening coiffure, with an osprfey mount at one side. Plume-holders are new; their mission is to support the fantasie that decorates the evening hair dressing. These holders are of openwork gold, or of platinum, blazing with brilliants. The Mercury cap, formed of latticed jewels, is fitted with chin strap of pearls. Some Strange Flowers.

Cambric, silk, satin, velvet—flowers of these may soon be voted archaic. At any rate, we have got to admit that flowers made of cork and flowers made of feathers are newer than flowers of any of the other aforementioned materials. Cork roses! Yet they are hero, just a few advance specimens. The cork is dyed, and, as the petals are applied in relief, the effect is fomethitg like that of embroidery on the straw. Cork roses, so far, are seen on shapes of straw which call for very little in the way of trimming, and what little theie is has to be compact and neat. Not so very long ago flowers for this type of hat would have been made of pliable straw.

Next there is the artificial flower made of fronds of ostrich feather, and to be considered smart one must wear a posy pinned into the front of the tailored suit, o.- else on the left iapel of the coat. A largo rose, made of some bright- colour and of short curled ostrich fronds, is first choice. There will be nothing presently into which ostrich feather trimming does not enter. Summer muffs are of ostrich feather, so that when a fashionable woman appears at a salon nowadays, or, indeed, in any smart assembly, she carries & muff which looks for all the world like a large bunch of unbound ostrich plumes, and the colour is generally a striking one—rich red, crimson, or Pompeian red is recommended for the brunette, while a deep royal blije or a sapphire blue is considered most appropriate for the blende. Up-to-date stockings and shoes hove played very important parts in fashionable dress, and as time goes on their role will be a still more conspicuous one,.and selection must be careful. Stockings with lace incrustations and of the finest possible mesh show a number of fanciful designs, in which gold and silver thread, and even paste ornaments, are to be seen. As for shoes, on most (with the exception of the shoe intended for morning walking) large glittering buckles are to be seen. Sometimes these buckles eclipse the shoe, whose toe-piece is often reduced to the minutest proportions, and when upon this attenuated front is placed a large buckle there is not much shoe front to see. Afternoon and evening occasions see an increasing demand for shoes with the ribbon cothurne, threaded through paste-outlined holes. The ribbon has a tiresome way of working itself loose, and in consequence various devices are on offer, all supposed to overcome this unpleasing inconvenience.