LONDON SALES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21278, 3 September 1932, Page 6 (Supplement)

LONDON SALES

POURING SCORN ON THE STINGY ""HASTENING PROSPERITY [special to n.z. herald—copyright] LONDON. July 22 With the economists " pouring scorn on the stingy," urging women to spend wiselv and so circulate money and hasten prosperity, the London sales are most temptingly opportune. Incredible bargains in summer frocks are to bo found —the result of a cold spring, but absolutely necessary now that wo have a heat wave which promises U> be prolonged. Women can buy with confidence, knowing that they can get all the wear they need out of present fashions, as it will be some time before there are any drastic changes in the salient points of the fashionable silhouette. Kven the big dressmakers of Paris realise that this is no time to choose for a revolution in clothe:?, so in their mid-season collections they "have given pride of place to the use ©I novel and imaginative materials instead o) hunting for a new silhouette, or for startling change in bodices, skirts or sleeves. With almost every French dressmaker, as in London, the great novelty has been the use of cotton and linen fabrics for evening gowns. I have mentioned this before in previous notes, but lest you should consider such a revolutionary fashion a mere fad of the moment I am stressing the point once more.

I suspect this fashion was born of j economic times. Ihe great ones of the , dress world, realising that women could ; not spend as much on clothes as in former ; years, sought the solution ,in less expen- i sive fabrics, while still concentrating on j exquisite cut and fine workmanship to give these materials the distinction of an exclusive model. And how well they have succeeded is shown in these later collections where the cottons and linens and woollens of Lancashire and Yorkshire have fashioned some of the smartest models for day and evening wear. Iu Paris, Callot showed a lovely gown of pink cotton net. The skirt had three finely pleated frills about the ankle, three more at the knee, and the " off-the-* shoulder " decollete was edged with two similar frills. Another pretty gown was in black and white polka dotted organdie, with a square neckline, short puff sleeves, and long, full skirt. The natural waistline was clasped by a black velvet belt with silver buckle, and a cluster of red roses tucked in at one corner of the square neck.' 1 The new uncrushable linen in a delicate pale green shade fashioned a very chic gown; long and svelte, with two narrow braided ruches, one about seven inches from the hem, and one at the knees on the bell-shaped skirt. The points of the decollete were also outlined with a braided ruche, and the sash was a drapery of black and white boldly striped silk. One deep Ted chiffon dress had large circles, like "balloons of various sizes, of pale rose organdie encrusted round the hem, and a sash with a large bow of the rose organdie that fell in long ends down the back of the skirt.

Odd combinations like this of cotton and silk materials are a feature of the later models. A dainty dress made of leaf-like panels of white organdie had huge Chinese motifs of thin white silk brocade encrusted on each panel, and a very original note was a sash of bright red organdie. As you will gather by these models, sashes and belts have become important on evening gowns. With regard to designs, stripes are exceedingly smart, but I find the dressmakers cling to spots, while the general public still favours many flowered patterns. When it comes to day-time models we find several insistent features, and most important is the triumph of the "gnimpe" frock, which gives an opportunity for under-blouses of all kinds of materials. This is a favourite way of combining printed and plain fabrics, also the style of the under-blouse can change the frock from a simple day dress to one suitable for smart afternoon or bridge. A sleeveless dress with a deep V-open-ing in dull black marocain had a plain white crepe under-blouse, with long closely-buttoned sleeves and a high neckline finished with a small turned-down collar, and covered buttons down the front. This was completely transformed when worn over a blouse of beige needle-run lace, with puff sleeves to the elbow and cascade revers pulled out over the front of the bodice. In the same way a dress of navy blue crepe, with deep rounded neck opening at the front and cape-sleeves falling halfway between the shoulder and the elbow, was provided with a matching blue scarf and a little blue crepe hat with a white band. This looked severely simple over a plain blouse of white and blue-spotted muslin, but exquisitely dainty over a " guimpe," as these under-blouses are called, of white Irish crochet lace, wifh full puff sleeves to the elbow and a cowldraped neckline. The early spring collections concentrated on afternoon gowns that could with slight adjustments be worn as evening toilettes. In the present mid-season col-

lections the attention has been centred on these costumes which, by changing accessories, are equally suitable for informal morning or formal afternoon, wear. One I liked particularly showed .a suit of fine wool and silk mixture in black. The jacket was short and the skirt cut corselet fashion and with a smart blouse top and stock scarf of boldly striped foulard silk in black, white, jade green and coral red. A plain navy felt beret and plain whito heavy doeskin gloves. The same suit was shown with short shoulder cape fixed to jacket worn over a muslin blouse, a huge lace bow tied under the chin, a small lace hat with a turned-up brim, whito suede gloves ruckled over the arms, white polished leather bag, and the effect was completely changed.