DRESS IN ENGLAND

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1679, 4 May 1904, Page 27

DRESS IN ENGLAND

LONDON. March 12. March moans hone (writes “A. Society Butterfly”). Spring is in the air. brown buds are on the trees, and London is once more waking up to life and gaiety. Bond street dressmakers have returned from Paris, and Rue cle la Paix modistes are arriving for a visit to our dark and dreary metropolis. My American friend and I went tlie round of the smartest shops, and even interviewed a certain personality who has been called the king of liis profession. Certainly ho reigns supreme in the matter of evening gowns. The definite changes of fashion shall be dealt with first. Chiffon tulle, aiul mousseline have had long innings, and richer, firmer materials are now to take tlieir places. Brocades, silks and satins will be the favourite fabrics of the near future. And with thicker, heavier stuffs, come —as a natural sequence—a marked simplicity in make and shape. Dresses of the “princesse” style seem popular, skirts are almost plain, and these rich, beautiful materials need little or nothing in the way of trimming. - SOME GOWNS. A charming demi-toilette dinner-gown was in a sort of taffeta silk, only richer in quality than the ordinary silks of that description. The design was of roses on a cream ground, and every delicate shade of colouring in pale pink, pale green, dove-grey, white, and fawn —what is known to the trade as a “Pompadour effect.” The skirt was plain, the bodice had a cream lace fichu, and tho only trimming seemed a ribbon ruche, made in the same range of colours as the pattern on the silk. Altogether, a delightful frock, and it somehow suggested the idea of a smart, perhaps royalbridge dinner. A beautiful evening dress appeared in richest satin of a pale blue colour —the thick yet soft satin that our grandmothers wore, and handed down to their, perhaps, ungrateful. descendants. The skirt of this gown was absolutely plain, rather full, and not very long—in fact, it looked almost the same length all the way round. The bodice fastened at the back, and had in front that long point that we associate with the so-called “Court bodice” of the mid-Vic tori ail era. But the trimming was the thing. Round the entire decolletage. down tlie front from waidt to hem, and even on the slender shoulder-straps—sleeves there were none —appeared fringes of diamonds that gleamed and glittered even in the pale March sunshine. Real gems, of coui'Se, they were not,-but.the imitation was sufficiently perfect to lift them —and their price—far above the ordinary trimmings of everyday life. ANOTHER GOWN. And by far the most beautiful was in pale mauve brocade, the material being of the richness that used to be described as “able to stand up by itself.” This brocade was unique of its kind; it bad only three motifs—anglice patterns—one which formed the front of the bodice, one on the short train, and one on the front of the skirt. The bodice of this dress was a triumph of art. It had dainty adornments of delicate blue that formed an admirable contrast with the pale mauve; a gleaming line of the same diamond trimming that appeared on the blue satin ; and—cleverest toueli of all —a. ' small, half-crushed, pale pink rose, tucked into the front of the corsage. What a mixture it sounds! Mauve brocp.de with blue, a pinlc rose, and diamond trimmings—yet perfect harmony and entire simplicity had set their seal on this beautiful costume. The sleeves were of cream lace, light, long, and most gracefully arranged. Near .the shoulders they made a slight puff, were

caught in above the elbow, and then flowed away from the arm, after the manner of what has been known as tho “angel sleeve.” Consols go down, but prices go tip, and the cost of these frocks fluctuated from fifty to eighty guineas. But a description of such unattainable delights may suggest new ideas to women who have brains and beauty but little available cash.