SALE TIME IN LONDON

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22823, 2 September 1937, Page 5

SALE TIME IN LONDON

LEARNING future trend • VALUE .OF IMAGINATION ! BENEFIT TO NEW ZEALAND i. , ■ Br BARBARA LONDON. Aucusfc 11 vlt is sa ' e time in London. Stores fcnd salons alike are brimful of bargains. Model frocks and coats, that a few short months ago were fixed at fabulous prices, tp-day are marked so ]ow that even the most modest purse can afford them. Fashion fantasies of ' -every description—fancy shoes, glovc-s, (icarres, handbags and handkerchiefs, ilotver conceits, costume jewellery, in fact, that represents but & passing whim—are reduced well be-y-low\ their original cost, while those V articles and ideas that are expected to live remain, much the same price as before.. . For this reason, sales are as interesting educationally as they are from a bargain-hunting point of view. By watching the nature of the articles reiected, one can learn almost as, much about future trends as from the midseason collections. Of course, a certain things are sold at sale price merely because of seasonal changes, but the majority are reduced because they are no longer the correct fashion. You in New Zealand, therefore, can indirectly benefit* from the London sales in perhaps an even greater degree than those who actually buy the socalled bargains.. I have kept an eye on such newcomers ps the evening dress of uneven length, the host of gadgets, prints and accessories "that were born for the Coronation, and the frankly short "ballerina" skirt introduced to the ballroom by Schiaparelli. • , Coronation Influence

Coronation gadgets for the most part have gone by the board. Only their influence remains—either positively, as illustrated by presidential prints produced in America, or negatively, as in the light-hearted ; frivolity, displayed in evening clothes, that are a direct contrast to the formal gowns of the early Bcason. Feather head-dresses are forgotten, but head decorations persist. Veils of tulle or.chiffon—sometimes spangled or spotted—are wedded to flowers and ribbon bows. You can wear them any way so long as ; the effect is piquant ' and provocative. Bunch pink roses, mounted on chiffon, high on your brow niid pull the wispish. chiffon ends loosely . round your head Madonnaiashion to cross at the back, come to the front again and loop softly under the chin. Prop your curls back with infinitesimal faille bows, mount a shelliikfl ribbon cockade on. the crown of your coiffure, or take a circular tulle yail and give it a topknot of stiff, coloured ribbons. Artificial flowers continue to bloom on hats, heads/corsages., hem-lines, and clipsvthat can be; fastened, anywhere from hairline to slipper sides. They make leis and belts and demure midget posies that are tied by""velvet ribbons round the wrist. The Corselet Belt

Belts have grown in proportion and importance—they are now corselet shape for evening and are often elaborately boned or laced. In my sketch this week you see a white organza evening frock flowered in navy; which is worn by Miss Janet Johnson, Australian star of the West End. production "Bats in the Belfry." You probably saw her when she toured New Zealand with the "Wind and the Rain" company three years agoi A corselet belt of navy taffetas, fastened by a butterfly bow at

the back, gives accent to her slender These belts are easy to make and charming in effect. I saw a tea-rose : ,Wgariza dance frock belted with a ' corselet of faille ribbon in the same Riiade ; six tiny ribbon bows formed a front fastening. Another idea is to tfiount multi-coloured ribbon on a buckram corselet shape. This is a belt -tl:.at will give character to any secondBeason frock. , 'Heralded a few years back as a contemporary conceit, ribbon has proved -he most successful dross-reviver on the niarket. There are no end to the things than c.in be clone' with it. Fashion-wise "Women are buying up all the unusual pieces they can lay . hands on. They njake of them suspender straps for their formal dresses, gay boleros that t'irn last year's danco frock into this s dinner drcss, skull caps adorned w, yi choux for cocktail time, and Bashes that tie in enormous bows and ? re appliqued on to the dress material in front or back.' •ul '^ OU " so • vo,|r imagination at the nbbon counter—visualise how that foinan-striped tailctas when swirling in Jertical lines round the hemline of your billowing dance frock, will not only + 'll° ou r ' as ' 1 but make you inches taller, or how bows of that black velvet baby ribbon will lend your wrists elegance and a Subtle sophistication— J'oii will bo surprised at the effect you achieve with practically 110 outlay, striped talfetas/ ribbon, by the way, is cheap 'tute f6r a scarf and very much As. for the uneven hemlines, of which , *P° e earlier in this article, it seems at they are no passing dream, but a ferv rea i actuality. Nearly all the 1 s bow frocks that are either a /°| P l ' lifted right up in , nt ; and they are not dinner dresses, / fnel,; J ° ri " mI ba!l somis. Whether this im;.! OI Vi ca toh the popular fancy reoW seen, At; present it is an rl„ , ' C con tributed only by those who r 'ghV Car aUy as^on niake it look