FAMILY ENSEMBLES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21876, 11 August 1934, Page 6 (Supplement)

FAMILY ENSEMBLES

FOR MOTHER AND DAUGHTER SIMPLICITY ESSENTIAL [special to n.z. herald —copyright! LONDON. July 6 The post-war period has brought drastic changes in every phase oi lite, but perhaps nothing has altered quite so much as the relationships between parents and children. In the old, spacious days, when the child spent its lire in nursery surroundings, the parents were much more remote and their lives only touched occasionally. With smaller houses, fewer servants and possibly no nurses, the modern mother and daughter crow up together with a sympathy and understanding that is much more valuable than any lavish expenditure could possibly be. . Fashion has been indirectly influenced by these new conditions,, which demand a simpler style of living, and therefore less elaborate dressinE. But while women's clothes have becomo simple, the daughters' have added a touch or sophistication, and the result is that many mothers and daughters wear dresses made exactly alike, with really charming results. Recently a woman was photographed with her three young daughters. All four were dressed in simple chick dresses, with white frilled collars, buttoned down the front from neck to hem. with white buttons and belted at the waist with white. _ Ensembles in Tweed

You may think- this is easier in summer cottons, but I have seen a family of three in tweed suits, all made of the same material, and all wearing brown belts, gloves and hats, and the effect was very pleasing. Yesterday I saw a mother and young schoolgirl daughter both in navy blue jacket-and-dress ensemble. The mother had a large white bow. at the neck and the daughter a wide turn-down white collar. Both had white hats and gloves, navy, shoes and bags, so the family ensemble idea waa preserved, although the neck sensibly adapted to suit each wearer.

The whole idea is charming, and makes for closer sympathy between mother and daughter when once it is.recognised that a growing girl is very sensitive about her clothes and hates to wear very childish dresses long after her height and physical development have mad<= them unsuitable. Incidentally, the mother often gains an added appearance of youthful charm by wearing quite simple but at the same time suitable styles, because naturally this idea should not be exploited when the daughter's dressing calls for frilly party frocks and unsophisticated muslins. The tunic ensemble I have sketched to illustrate this mode is a very up-to-the-minute model, and yet quite suitable for both ages. It has the advantage of offering an easy way of lengthening the skirt should the voiithful wearer suddenly shoot up in height, without in any way impairing the stvle. If worn beneath a coat to match the skirt, it will also look charming without a coat later in the year. Value of Contrasts

The ensemble idea, which originally did so much to improve the standard of women's dress by making them choose everything to match, still persists, but in a very much wider sense. Quite vivid contrasts are now introduced, but there is always a definite relationship between any two colours or materials that are introduced.

There is a strong liking this season for navy blues shoes, bags and gloves with navy ensembles. In which case the colour relief will be given bv the blouse or wide collar and bow, or jabot, with perhaps a hat to match. The shoemakers have achieved marvels of beauty with dark-coloured leather shoes. Manv of them sell bags made of exactly the same leather as the shoes, and thev are not expensive. Stockings remain medium in colour —neither very light nor very dark; but the best stockings have quite a dull fi'iish. which <rives them the appearance of heavy real silk hose. Quite a number of grey stockings are worn with grey ensembles, but black stockings still remain unpopular.