LONDON FASHION NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15900, 24 April 1915, Page 6 (Supplement)

LONDON FASHION NOTES.

A Favoured Fabric. Velvet is a favoured fabric this season, and, of course, its half-sister velveteen, which forms such an admirable substitute, also finds a first place in popular esteem. A young girl recently looked perfectly charming in a very plainly made black velveteen frock with a little white at the throat. She was dark, and had her hair parted in Madonna style, and made such a delightful picture. One great advantage of a velveteen house frock is that it always looks so nice for a semi-evening gown. We none - of us have much heart For real evening dresses, nor much need for them for that matter; indeed, one dressmaker says that she has all her evening model gowns left on her hands. Yet there are concerts to make money for the Belgian Fund, or parties for kindred purposes, and some simple evening or semi-evening toilette is necessary. For such functions a day frock of velveteen could ouite well be worn with a little lace or net" collar at the neck, which should be cut down in a "V."

Coats. ' For out of doors, of course, a long coat is needed over such a gown, since a velveteen gown never looks nice in the street The ultra fashionable fur coat is a quaint garment. One model in pony skin has a full bloused top part buttoned over to one side, and a folded belt of the fur well below the hip line. Beneath this appears a little full basque. The shape reminds ono of a small boy's holland tunic when the leather belt has slipped down. That' nice, close model of three-quarter length in pony skin is no longer in tho van of fashion, and instead basques aro very full, very short in front and long at the back where they are rounded off. One example of this coa't in musquash had & short strap of fur at the waist from under which the full basque fell. These coats are also being made with velours and other fabrics, but for cloth and duvetyn the Cossack style is more popular. In furs, capes are once more fashionable and are long and voluminous, while a fichu cane is a smart novelty, of which the name is descriptive as it is made of some supple fur such as moleskin and arranged in folds. Quite a number of cloth coats are fur trimmed, having in addition to a fur collar a band of fur around the full basque.

Short, Full Skirts. Skirts are short and much fuller, waists are conspicuous by their absence, sleeves are tight and long, hats are v worn tipped over the right eye— are some of the characteristics of smart dressing. And, although many readers do not aspire to dress smartly when that word is used to mean the wearing of all the latest styles which demand a great expenditure of money, they like to know how the wheels of fashion are revolving sufficiently to have their new frocks made in an up-to-date style. A dissertation on fashion models in fur which mil into hundreds of pounds is not meant as an actual guide, but it is interesting to know sometimes what is being worn, even when we cannot afford to buy it, and these ultra fashionable models often give suggestions to us less well off people as to how to have our simpler garments made.

Blouse Buttons. Simple as are the designs for blouses, a very slight touch frequently gives a distinguished air to them. For instance, recently seen was a lovely blouse of ivory crepe de chine with ball buttons of white coral, and with- this was worn- a necklace and ear-rings also of white coral. These dangling ball buttons are a very attractive feature on some of the new models, and can be covered with material and hung from the little bone rings which can be bought at the fancy work shops. As the white may strike a discordant note it is interesting to learn that the rings can be dyed with any ordinary dyes, but they should be boiled in the dye to get a satisfactory result. Very charming is the effect of ball, buttons covered with silver or gold tinsel hung from these little rings or from rings of metal covered with buttonhole stitch in tinsel thread.