MELBOURNE HOLIDAY DRESS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 5832, 24 February 1906, Page 15

MELBOURNE HOLIDAY DRESS.

There are throe items, says a Melbourne lady writer, that tho welt-dressed ! a oman never ignores—her neckband, j her Kelt, and tho hem of her skirt. Lot I any of tho three bo at fault and her j smartness is non-existent. i/<t them be I perfect, and it is wonderful how the rest of her dress can take care of itself- This i is the season par excellence for showing " what tho woman with a reputation for dressing well is really made of. Every holiday resort is thronged with women, who may not depend on uinon and chiffon voile to enhance their charms. They have to look wolf in prints at 4o lid a dozen; in Hollands, chosen solely with a view to keeping clean, and hats whose mission in life is decidedly practical. And yet, to their credit bo it said, tho average Melbourne woman sustains the situation admirably. Ono sees her in groups on piers and hotel verandahs, looking anything but uncomely. She may have overdone slightly the motor veil, and there may also bo o touch of exaggeration about tho size of her hat, but, taken altogether, she is an essentially trim and presentable person. Tho further afield ono eocs tho moro justification ono feels for the contention that Melbourne is tho best drreajd city in the Commonwealth. The why and wherefore for this state of affairs takes little seeking. Bolts collars and horns are about tho last things women in hotter cities Boom to concern themselves about; though in those days of transparent collars and reliable collar supports, the ex. ense for thin indifference is somewhat fay to seek. Tho “skirt and blouse disease'’ is not necessarily conducive to coolness, and a hem that dips at the back has certainly nothing to recommend it. North of Melbourne such conditions are constantly apparent; though, taking blouse for blouse, skirt for skirt, and hat for hat, there is nothing much to choose between clothes in Melbourne and clothes out of it. The moral is obvious, and if a trim woman wants to lose her reputation for trimness she has only to ignore for a season the potentialities of tho collar, belt and hem.