MY LADY’S DRESS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22723, 8 November 1935, Page 18

MY LADY’S DRESS

A LETTER FROM SYDNEY Dear Phillida, — Have you ever heard of the forgotten girl? No, she is not a lost soul crying in the wilderness nor is she the persecuted heroine of the latest talkie thriller —-she may be your own daughter or she may be your sister; she is, in fact, every little girl whose age falls between the • twelth and' seventeenth-year mark. Lazy parents summarily dismiss these years as the “gawky age. They expect nothing of their daughters during this critical period when their minds are forming and their bodies developing. They think that because their children are busy with the process of growing up everything else can go, and everything else invariably includes their outward appearance. How rarely does one see a neatly-dressed girl of 14? Yet if you expect your daughter to develop a dress sense later in life, this, surely, is the time to foster it. No fussy clothes certainly, and no sophisticated ones, but often the lankiness and slight gaucheries of this age can be dressed every bit as attractively as the frank childishness of their juniors or the sophistication of their elders. If you have a daughter of 14 do not say to yourself, “ She looks, her best in her school uniform ” and leave it at that. School uniforms are all very well for school, but she will need a change of clothes just as much as you or I do.

The reason she looks well in her uniform is probably because it is so simple. She will certainly need very plain clothes, but there is no reason why they should not express her particular type—a thing which even the smartest of uniforms generally fails to do. Summer clothes for the girls in their teens are easy to choose and easy to make. Nearly always she is best in cotton, and this year the range of stuffs is tremendous. Seersuckers, ginghams, lobralcos, and Indian Heads are all good, serviceable materials which will wash well and wear well, which can be made in charming and suitable styles and which provide a wide colour range. Linen is good, too, but it must be uncrushable, as these young ladies are apt to crease even tlie most hardy of materials. Then, for party occasions, dimities, batistes, zephyrs, dotted Swiss voiles, and, very rarely, organdies are refreshingly youthful and becoming. In the silk world Liberty prints, which will wear for ever, shantung and tussore, spun silks, and China silks are sufficiently unsophisticated. Day clothes made in variations of the “ shiitmaker ” style are becoming. Vertical lines and pleats are best on the fat child and shirrings and gathers on Uer lanky sister. The present fashion of shoulder yoke and gathered fullness in front of the bodice is particularly suited to the growing girl. It is fun to have a matching co'at for your frock, as the young lady has in my illustration. She wears a plaid of uncrushable linen—a short-sleeved frock which buttons down the front and has knife pleats for bodice fullness and a hip-length matching jacket.

The pert miss in the other sketch wears a blue-green seersucker with unusual placement of pleats and raglan sleeves. Self-coloured stitching is the only decoration. Long evening dresses should not be worn until the age of 15—and even that is early. Then they should be made of the simplest materials, and not too low in the back, A checked gingham evening dress is a pleasant friend to the very young. I have seen a charming one made with gored skirt and widish shoulder straps. A flat ruffle of the material went round the top of the bodice under the arms. A posy of red poppies was a fitting finish. Either cotton or silk nets are youthful materials which look well on the very young, and they have a grbwn-up association, which is pleasing tc them. The present fashion of puff sleeves, basques, and shirt-Waist evening frocks are also a boon to the 15-year-old, and touches of white pique, white buttons, etc., are smart as well as youthful. Taffetas, either plain or in one of its floral or plaid variations, is a youthful material, which can be made in suitable styles. But do not fall into the trap of fussiness. Let your child wear a bouffant frock by all means, but beware of overdoing the frills and ruffles, and whatever you do don’t attempt a picture frock. The only successful picture frocks are worn by the most sophisticated. They need an “ air ” which no young girl can possibly have acquired. To get back to Liberty silks—you will find that these come in a variety of small floral designs which are youthfully fresh and extremely suitable for the growing

girl, who looks well in a floral print, but cannot stand too bold a pattern. Small patterns are definitely the best for the young, and for this reason-they can always wear a spotted material. One of the most attractive day frocks for a 14-year-ok] that I have seen was made of navy-blue handkerchief linen, polkadotted in white. It was in two pieces with a six-gored skirt with inverted pleats in front and a hip-length top with short raglan sleeves, which button up with four enormous white buttons. While pique belt, collar and cuffs were crisp additions.

Perhaps the most difficult age to dress well is 13. No suggestion of grownuppishness must be allowed. A good style for this age' is a frock which has a sash of the material attached to a “V ” in front and tieing in a bow behind. This is able to be adjusted as the child grows. Teach your daughter to be careful of her accessories too. She will want to learn early which shoes, bag, hat and gloves are correct with each frock. A good idea if you do not wish to provide her with more than one set of accessories is to have them either white, brown or navy and plan the rest of her wardrobe accordingly. Just one word before I finish, about a white angora wool swagger coat with raglan sleeves, hugh patch pockets and button links at a high neckline. It > / would be ideal for a summer holiday coat.