WOMEN’S WORLD

Opunake Times, 6 April 1948, Page 3

WOMEN’S WORLD

SPRING COLLECTIONS

PARIS FAVOURS WOOL

The new look is definitely _ established in Paris. Most designers tell this tale emphatically in wool which is the. favourite of each, house. While every designer, even the most conventional, has lengthened skirts, there is a tendency to shorten hem-lines, or at any rate, to vary them for every type of dress and every type of customer, chez Christian Dior, the man who really introduced this new silhouette.

Whether this action is really a signal that hemlines are going tc slim ten again remains to be seen. The general trend throughout Paris at the moment is towards skirts which are about 12 inches from the ground, with some houses dropping them to just short to the ankles

There is no hour of the day for which' wool is not advocated, no lyre of dress to which it is net adaptable, as every designer has gone out to show. There are simple tailored frocks in smooth surfaced striped wool fabrics, while wool jerseys, particularly those with a slightly irregular ribbed appearance, . like tree bark, are particularly popular in grey.

Grey flannels are used for tailormades and coat-frocks, but the term tailormade is an elastic one in Paris this season, since the new sloping shoulders, the tightly nipped waists and the many basque effects have succeeded in abolishing the classic tailleur. .Instead, suits are softly feminine, with a leaning towards dressiness and many of the models shown by Marcel Rochas are so softly feminine, so dcidedly frilly, that his mannequins look like Victorian da guerre types, an effect which is accentuated when thev carry dainty parasols in the 1000 tradition.

Wherever -go in Paris this season you are shown black and white shepherd-plaid and hound’stooth suiting fabrics used for two-piece outfits, and above all for coat-frocks, many of the latter with primly starched linen collars and even gnimpes. Some are opened in front in mock-bo-lero effects, filled in with (imp white ha avu or .pique modestyvests. The backs"are clearly those of one-piece garments, although they may be broken .by a small bustle-effect under the all-popu-lar black patent-leather belts which have appeared everywhere. Alpacca is chosen for dressy afternoon suits, for cocktail wear and even for dinner dresses. The French fabric manufacturer pridfe themselves this season on the return of fine quality smoothsurfaced fabrics woven with worsted yarns. (Incidentally, all the alpacca appears to have been, dyed black.)

Despite the number of crepelike surfaces shown in the springcollect ions of wool materials, the court Uriel's have decided in favour of igilher softer handles, Yelvonr cloths, heavy as winter weights, but in delicate pastel shades for spring, are the only choice for q top-coat. It may be pale-lilac, off-white, pink or duck-green, while yellow, bright sulphnre or canary, is a favourite in many houses. Dress woollens introduce soft surfaces also and plenty more pastel colours. Wool jerseys have captured the attention of houses specialising in heachwear. Gres makes many beach frocks with full skill a, showing a bare mid-riff, which are topped hy various types of bolero, or brassier bodice. You may choose a bodice which fits close at the neck, but aUvays discloses a bare waistline.

Printed wool moussesline, coming from the Lesur mills, makes an effective sarong-like skirt in vivid green printed with hold white shelf the bodice to match being opened in a narrow point. 'Loose wool jersey . play dresses are shown by Hermes, shirred in bands across the chest, waist and thighs, rather like a Grecian dancer’s tunic. In every case the jersey fabrics used for such models are the finest and most supple which can be obtained.

Evening dresses in fine woollen appear with full skirts, often padded out over the hips in the curved lines still favoured by many houses and staff petticoats are wore beneath to hold them out dramatically. Christian Dior stiffens some of his wool skirts with buckram uuderliniugs, giving them a crispness that leads one to wonder how' the wearer sits down without the front hem(Continued foot of next column)

line flying- np Tn an immense circle. Wool for evening l knows ; no limitations. It may be eyelet embroidered, sewn with the new mother o’ pearl and coral ornaments, veiled with black Chantilly lace, or banded with silvery braid. Gilded embroidery has iven place this season to silver, gunmetal and bronze which add new dignity to fashion.