SOME SPRING SUITS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 11247, 27 June 1922, Page 4

SOME SPRING SUITS

PARIS CLINGS TO SHORT SKIRTS. (.From a Paris Fashion Writer.) Of recent years there have been i-o very many degrees of dresses that the suit, which used to be the i>rop and pillar of the wardrobe, has become* only an item among afternoon frocks and tea frocks and coat frocks and three-piece confections. In one sense it has x >rus “ pored; it has not relapsed into the dull uniformity of men's clothes either in colour or in cut, and it lias taken on many of the jirettier dress characteristics, especially as dresses have become simpler and more elegant. The spring suits as shown by Worth and other large Paris firms are as varied as any of the dresses, and they have, moreover, a touch of humour as well in their colour and material combinations. SKIRTS TIGHT AND NEAT. As regards the suits, the skirts remain decidedly short —that is to say, short when compared with some of the afternoon and evening dresses. They frequently have side panels, though theso have to be very tight and neat. The skirt is of different lengths, the front half frequently being a whole stoj) higher up than tho back half. When it is none of these things it is as straight and plain and short as may be, giving the effect almost of one well-httin? trouser-leg. The coat varies in length and shape from the rather short coat belted Russianwise to the long straight coat loosely cut. One of the smartest suits of the , season was made of light grey flannel let into a yoke back and front, and hanging in a straight loose fit to the knees. The sides were emphasised by means of buttons, which were also repeated on the cuffs of the fairly loose sleeve. The skirt was absolutely straight and plain, the collar —as are practically all collars —roomy and turn-down. Frills and furbelows have come in again in connection with the plainer suits, and it is quite common to see muslin collars as well, particularly where the coat collar is exaggerated Directoire. CONTRASTS; One amusing feature of the spring suits is the use of an unexpected mar teri&l for the coat. A short loose coat lor instance, made really on short cape lines, was of royal blue duvetyn with a large loose collar, and it wa6 worn with a black satin skirt embroidered in silver. Another suit had a short coat, cut and belted as though it were a Russian blouse, opening in an A down the front, and having a wide turn-down collar. It was made of black and white tapestry, which at a distance gave it the shade of grey of a printed page. It was worn with a short straight white skirt. Aa a rule, less marked contrasts prevail for ordinary purposes. Dark blue and black hold a prominent place among the street suits, but they are usually combined with bright colour. A black crepe de chine suit with wide flaring sleeves had a rich crimson top to the skirt and the sleeves were also lined with crimson. Where the material is as thin as crepe de chine, the suit is usually on the rather voluminous side. 'lark blue and henna colour are very popular, and are often combined in a three-piece euit. This sounds simpler than is actually the case. Embroidery is so very largely used to show the henna on the blue or the blue on the henna, that it prevents any violent contrasts of material and colour. In some .cases the embroidery is of wool in all sorts of colours, and is used particularly on white and on bine of the darker kind. Where there is no girdle, the coat is very often drawn in tightly round the hips, and the tight part is embroidered to give it emphasis. EMBROIDERED WAISTCOATS. With the short coat there is a tendency to return to the waistcoat, which

to a certain extent displaces the three piece idea. Waistcoats cannot be too elaborately embroidered if they are made of anything but washable material. They have very high collars, flaring out somewhat towards the top, and thus enclosing the chin rather effectively. Some of the blouses are made waistcoat fashion. That is to say the fronts are embroidered rather as though they were shirt fronts, while the rest is left plain. Very precise muslin frills give an eighteenth-century appearance to some of the coats, as does also the revival or the stock tie. There is, indeed, just a hint of the redingote in some of the longer coats, though it is no more than this, and the line appears in some of the dresses as well a 6 in the coats alone.