SUMMER FASHIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18103, 11 February 1922, Page 4 (Supplement)

SUMMER FASHIONS.

Organdio is proving the queen of Bummer materials, especially in its newest colours. Bengal pink, cornflower blue, steel, and Spanish onion yellow, and it is frequently trimmed with dainty cockades of its own material. Etruscan red and pearl grey mako the newest colour combination for the summer coat frock. Collar, cuffs, and rcvers are of red, while a girdle of beads to match, placed at the low waistline, carries out the colour scheme, effectively and brightens tho grey of tho frock itself. Amber is rivalling pink, coral, and jade for tho fashionable bead necklace, but the vogue for black and white has mado ivory and jet in great demand. Black had a great vogue in Paris, though all-white, especially in laco and crepo do chine, assumed its proper summer popularity. Hats are mostly worn exceedingly large—some distinctly Directoire in trend —decorated with trailing glycerine feathers or ribbons. Ostrich feathers, too, appear, but under new guises. "There is ever much charm expressed in an all-black frock, especially when it appears to be peculiarly plain and simple, and yet is full of many oldworld fancies and new details of interest. The Waistlino. Much is heard about tho change in the fashion regarding figures and deportment generally. Even a corset of steel and an armour of buckram are whispered about! Each successive season wo are threatened with violent upheavals. The great designers in dress, and those who arbitrate for us, generally strike a happy medium through tho lines of art and common sense. From no corsets at all, women will be loath to plungo into anything stiff and uncomfortable—of that we may be sure. For months past a more definite waistline has been indicated, and figures have generally improved, largely becauso the really well-dressed French and English women hold themselves much ! straighten—tho slovenly "hunch" has long been vetoed as bad style, and so has a "sloppy" figure. Consequently the corset lins conic back into its own, but only as a perfect-fitting, thoroughly comfortablo foundation for tho garments that cover it.

New Use for Straw. It is certain that in the hands of the great artists trimming has become an allimportant item of the garment. For instance, in a lovely cloak of black satin, lined with white embossed crepe de chine, is a fringe that takes us back to the silk curling fringe of the 'sixties. Yet, with what a subtle difference; for this fringe is made of straw, fine and silky, and to all appearances it resembles strands of fine silk braid, but. falls in as light and soft a manner as if it were composed of feather frends. It is~so extraordinarily original, this coat, and somehow the simplicity of the trimming seems to bo exactly correct for tho characteristic straight lines of the cloak itself. Millinery Trimmings. Black velvet, and even felt, is striking quite an autumnal note in millinery straw, though the latest thing in dress trimmings has many rivals in the nrfllinery world, where hats of satin, crepe, georgette, and lace are all more popular than the once übiquitous straw, which is now chiefly used for simple river hats.' Tho vogue of straw as a dress trimming is still in its infancy, and interesting developments may be looked for. Equally novel and varied is the use of feathers and wings on the new hats. Some brims are made entirely of feathers; long strands of what used to bo called " lancer" plumes cover the wide brims as closely as silk, and are drawn from the base of the crown over the edge, where they are caught clown under the lining. In other cases feathers form a fringe over the eyes. Wines are also used extensively, and, liko feathers, ofton form the brim of the hat or even the lining, being placed flat against it underneath. Many plain hats for country and seaside wear are of a modified sailor shape, and are trimmed with a big bow or rosette of ribbon placed exacty in the front of the hat. Sometimes a bunched-up drapery of taffetas takes the place of ribbon, but with either trimming there is an appearance of height in front which contrasts markedly with the plain untrimmed country hats of the last few months. A plaited ribbon hat, liko ono of plaited cloth, is much in favoun, tho ribbon is usually picot-edged and the brim just wide enough comfortably to the eyes."