MY LADY’S DRESS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23865, 20 July 1939, Page 21

MY LADY’S DRESS

A LETTER FROM LONDON Dear “ Phillida,”—Our hate, these days have an unfamiliar heavy-headed look that we have not seen since the beginning of the century. Of recent years our headgear has been a myth of straw and felt and veiling, lightly topped with ribbons and flowers. Hats have perched precariously forward on our foreheads. They have been set violently aslant When they have had brims, as likely as not they have been cJ-ownless.—tA hat has not been successful unless it has . looked as though it would fly uwayl '. -i To-day,.. ...everything Is different Line, of-course, is still all-important and the new piled-up hats must have balance. But to be, chic one must, sport a multitude of trimming Fabulous yards of grosgrain and taffeta encircle sailors, bunch themselves in turbulent bows all round tiny crowns and fall behind in wide streamers that reach almost to the waist. Or flatcrowned hats are towered with cumulous blossoms —lilies of the valley; roses or lilac. When crowns are high they soar. Hundreds of them twirl

upwards in Tyrolean, style. More emulate the chimney pot. Berets do acrobatic somersaults to reach unprecedented heights behind—being •trapped across* their middles with inches-widc ribbons which slot through to tie in Mozart bows on the back of the neck. Lingerie- has gone wildly to our heads Frill upon flounce of broderie anglaise, organdy and dotted Swiss circle towering crowns and trail behind in clouds of whiteness. Trimming,, you see. completely eclipses the hat itself. It is to the bows—or the blossom—or the lacy frill* that our eyes are at once attracted. And for the most part it is these extravagances that differentiate the hats of June from those, of January The moral of course is this given alrnosi any hat of yesterday an inventive hand and mind can create a model of to-day. I know because I have done it myself v Last year .1 possessea a nice little black sailor made from thick pineappie •traw. The very apex of fashion when I acquired it, it was handed with black velvet ribbon which tied on either side In a butterfly bow, and from these b6ws grew long-stemmed tulips of white and pink. To-day those

tulips have faded and the velvet has become dusty—so off they came! At the ribbon counter of my favourite store I found a wide, stiff taffeta with cute pico{ edges. Twc yards and ahalf of this I looped round the crown of my hat letting the long ends fall behind. The effect was like that at the top of my sketch —which is of a model by Schaparelll Note that the hat is set plum-straight across the brow—affecting to obscure the vision and effecting an adorable insouciance One important point to remember when wearing a member of the new heavy hat brigade is that your frock stflt or coat must contras* with it Thus, if your ■ headgear is a profusion of flowers pierced with neart-breaking bows and butterflies, your frock must be sweet and simple. If your hat has something of the French widow about it—and the transformed model which I have just described iefiniteb has—then your frock can go gay Your neckline can be afroth with organdie frills. Your skirt can be stiff shining faille that spreads in umbrella shano And you can sport a petticoat that rustles with meticulously -laundered flounces. My two other sketches show you a

dream-lined beret of pliable petrol blue felt, that is carefully seamed and folded before being plastered on me head with bands of orchid pink grosgrain, and a dizzy hat that ip the vary breath and essence ol spring Get it now and wear it when winter dav' hang heavy. There's nothing like a new hat to cheer you up—as the raying goes—and this new hat is a verlb able rocket, Pale lime green straw iu set platter-like across the forehead. All over its almost non-existent crown lilles-of-the-valley wander in wanton profusion. They raise the hat into the tip-top class—both in dimensions and style. They give glamour to whomso aver they alight upon If you are short of cash and youi ideas seem meagre take a dcowj around the ribbon and fancy counters of your nearest store Pick out the gayest of their trims and. after studying your last year's hats, invest in them. Scarcely anybody should have trouble >n achieving that kind of success that keeps husband’s hearts warm and sets the telephone bells of the un- M attached contin- iTj/yfc ously ringing. v . London June 2.