SUMMER FASHIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17336, 6 December 1919, Page 4 (Supplement)

SUMMER FASHIONS.

Our London correspondent writes :— The heroine of old who in the summer time wore her white clear starched musli. frock flounced from the waist to the hen is to have her counterpart when summei conies to us. But we talk of voile instead of muf'.i. and like to add a dash of colour to n blanche toilettes. The Bread-and-Butter Miss. Therefore the girl who at an afternoor function will play the bread-and-bnttei , miss part, minus its flavourless charactei will in the evening reappear in all tl.. splendour of the East. She is to one ti in constant never, this clever interpritei i fashion's multiplied vagaries. A magnificent display of oriental opulence is contrived by means of mi onlighi blue and crystal beads, threaded in stripe? and mounted upon layers of blue tulle. The corsage, cut in a deep V at the back and a loss deep one in the front, has one sleeve of coloured broche crepe draped to the elbow and shortened to nothing elsewhere, and upon the other arm no sleeve at all. This crepe defies description as to colour, for it is kaleidoscopic in its medley of blues and crimsons flecked with orange, and on the skirt- it is repeated daringly and quaintly in the form of a thick rope, which is worn round the hips. A most effective addition this! Poke Bonnet Vogue. There always was something specially demure about the poke bonnet. There always will be. Young miss of seventy years ago wore hers with an air of bewitching shyness, venturing only now and then to dart a coy glance from beneath the pent-house brim, upon the very edge of which a knot of moss roses quivered. But though the girl of to-day chooses taffetas, just as young miss did all those years ago, to make her hat (we do not adhere to the bonnet scheme, you see) the pretty thing it is, and very "possibly the knot of roses, though probably of a more modern variety than the moss is favoured, there the resemblance between young miss and her descendant ceases. Neither shyness nor coyness are characteristics of the modern girl. Nevertheless, the hat with the poke bonnet brim is every bit as becoming as its predecessor was, and whether it be made of silk or satin, straw or drawn muslin, will, with its charming trimming of flowers, or plumes, and the long hanging velvet ribbon strings which give it a certain resemblance to the old world bonnet, be the captivating completion of many a summer toilette. Grandmamma's Fichus. In exclusive dressmaking circles in Paris the fichu has returned to favour. This news will be welcomed by women who possess embroideries made and worn by their ancestors in the early Victorian days. Next to real lace, there is nothing more coveted by the woman of taste than genuine old hand-embroidered muslin and net adornments. Our great-grandmothers bestowed unlimited patience, time and care in evolving from a length of muslin and a reel of thread fichus, capes, collars, cuffs, handkerchiefs, and caps, which for their beauty and value relied sofelyupon exquisite workmanship. If we have not lost the art of embroidery we have certainly ceased to imitate the fine handicraft of women who lived in less strenuous times than those of to-day, and who were thus able to build monuments of needlework J skill to lend distinction to the toilettes of their descendants. It is perhaps not generally known that when the foundation of an old muslin or net fichu has perished beyond neat repair it is possible to transfer the embroidered design to a new ground which will inde- 1 finitely prolong its wearable life. If the work is undertaken by experts, it will require close scrutiny or an , experienced eye to deject the removal of the original background. A clever needlewoman who has some technical knowledge of the method of transferring might, however, satisfactorily execute the renovation herself and j save the expense of labour. j