LONDON FASHION NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2310, 9 June 1898, Page 44

LONDON FASHION NOTES.

LoKposr, April 1 23, Dear Emmelinb,— From ' one "point o| view there is a. great famiij ijkenesfc among the orthodox sle«vflß of to-day, but from another point of view they- hardly - beai the smallest resemblance to each other, * To be more explicit:. All sleeves agree In thai they are of very small dimensions, no matter from what vantage ground they are viewed, but there all likeness ends, .so great Is. tha. variety of the styles in which the ,Bleßveft-ar« trimmed, as well as of the materials,of which they are composed, And this applies chiefly to the dress' and blouse sleeve.' fox bbvionslf

.there can be no great variety about the make of coat and jacket sleeves, which are all of the ' usual shape, though merely being sufficiently •-' roomy .at the top to allow of the bodica sleeve ' being comfortably accommodated underfieatb. In every separate article of dress tucks . Üboutid, and each of its constituent parts is likewise so adorned, and none more so perhaps than the sleeves. Some of the sleeves are tacked closely round the arm from the shonlder to the wrist, there being only the merest suspioion of fulness in the armhole ; some are tucked perpendicularly from end to end; some have a small puff at the top of the arm, and. immediately under it come three horizontal narrow tucks, while the rest of the sleeve is quite plain ; some have the tacks arranged in groups of twoß, or three?, extending from under the puff at the. shoulder to the wrist. One of'ths newest French sleeves is tucked closely from the shoulder to the elbow,, the intermediate portion to the wrist being quite plain. There is another variety which has a group of Beveral perpendicular puffs running up the back of the arm. Then there are sleeves whose tucks are arraDged neither perpendicularly cor horizontally, but run in a slanting direction ; and there is still another variety whose tucks , cross one another with lattice-work effect. Thip, however,. does .not. exhaust the list, for another way for them to, be arranged is in wavjror'sUghtly-vandyked lines either round the sleeve. or down the sleeve. Tucks are often simulated by the use instead of numerous fine cordiogs or pipings, or else by row upon row of narrow ribbon, velvet, or 'else- by the use of , narrow lace insertion, ■ Braiding, too, is, all the ragei' especially for woollen * materials of the cloth or tweed texture. Naturally, the character and amount of trimming and the style of manipulating the same depend largely upon the nature of the material which is being used and -upon the smartness or otherwise of the occasion for Which the blouse or bodice is required. When thin materials' of the soft; silk and the chiffon order are used, nothing perhaps is more popular than the ruched sleeve, the gatherings* being prettily outlined with fine white or cream lace or velvet ribbon or chiffon ruches. Transparent sleeves continue extremely popular, and these are always ruched and lace or jewel or chiffon betrimmed either round the arm or lengthwise, or in the lattice-work pattern, or in a Olanting direction. '■ As for the top part, there is either a Email puff daintily tacked up here and there or a small butterfly puff, or else one or more epaulets. Sometimes these latter are done away with when the bodice or blouse is made with revtra, for these come from the shoulder seam and, taper away to a point at the waist, ornamenting the shoulders fln their descent. When cloth materials are used the sleeve sometimes fits exactly into the hole prepared for it without any fulness whatever. But the latter kind is very ngly. A .sort of miniature leg-qf -mutton sleeve still -holds its sway, though this is used-more particularly for-the coat than for any other class of sleeve. The wrist is ornamented in some manner or another. There is a fall of lace or chiffon, or puffings or jewelled trimmings ; and very often,', when the material ia of sufficient substance, the, sleeve" is cut broad over the wrists, • in bell . fashion. 'Another feature is the uss of two different colours in the same pair of sleeves. In one instance a fawn costume had sleeves _ of green silk, the upper part being of a bright shade, while the underneath was several tones darker. ■ ,_The slashed slesve is not by any means unknown, and neither is that which is a series of small puffings round the arm, gradually decreasing in siza as tha wrist is approached. There are rumours afloat of the xeiustallation of the sleeve which buttons up the arm. , Beginning with three buttons, the cumber will gradually increase?* until we find ourselves wearing sleeves buttoned — or appearing -to button— from the wrist to the elbow. So far it has not been quite decided whether these sleevea shall button on the top or under the arm. Blouses, too, are in infinite variety both as to materials and styles ; but here again the . tuck in some form or another is perhaps the leading featnre. Some are most beautifully and originally thus adorned, the tu<sks being arranged in a slanting direction and crosswine, as well as straight round and lengthwise. The whole blouse may be wholly composed of large or small tucks, or it may have . only some sort of yoke of them, or the yoke •may, be of fulled silk "and the rest of the • front— ai-'well'as'; frequently, the back' too — elaborately^ tucked. • OOsn s the" same ' bodice tuck's may go" across the' figure, and., also "~ down it. For instance, 1 the yoke may be a mass of perpendicular tucks, while the rest ' of the front may be;a close series of tucke, or j - groups', oft tucks,* gqirig across the "figure, the j ; two kinds being of course divided by a puffing or gathering of silk or chiffon or a band of insertion or a row of ribbon velvet, or whatever else fancy may dictate. . Some washing blouses of striped materials have the fronts cut on the cross, while the tucks go straight down, arid in this way the ' slanting eff act of • which I have spoken is the -result. With bodices and blouses, as with sleeves, tucks may be replaced by cordings or pipings. • • < Another characteristic common to nearly every clasß of blouse bodioe .is the pouch front ; ifc need not hang much — indeed, that would not be correct — but there must at any rate be a suspicion of a loose and easy fall. Manifestly this means the addition of a belt. Yes ; and belts are of endless variety and are composed of an endless variety of materials ; some of them are quite startling works of ait. Of course the bslt must be . more or less decorated, to be in keeping with the bodice which it 'accompanies and of which it forms an important feature. One new kind— of the useful type — is of black velvet made on a leather foundation, which naturally gives it much support. These black velvet belts are narrow rather than , wide, are mora or less elaborately embellished with eteel ornaments and have a buckle corresponding. Many of the pouchyfroated blouses fa&ya a short basque worn . outside, but this is sot altogether abso- ' lately essential though a good Seal in trogue. Two more important points are the _ presence of the sailor collar, tied In front With a bow of ribbon, and the one-sided . ef£ ect which is produced by a frill or by the . addition of a single rover. Blouses made

with the sailor collar often have a movable yoke or chemisette, by which means a good deal of variety in the way of fancy vests may be indulged in.It must be admitted that, notwithstanding the number of tucks used, many of the blouses look severely plain, particularly those in glace silk, which partake largely of the nature of the shirt blouse. In the construction of this class very little material is given up to fulness, for it is all monopolised in ths formation of the.perpandicular or horizontal tucks, and at the waist there is jusfc the smallest suspicion of baggmess, for, however severe and seeming to be wanting in material may be the blouse or bodioe, there must be a small modicum of looseness about the waist in front, but not at the bacb. To return to these glace silk blouses. The tucks go straight down or straight across— baok and front alike — or else in a slanting direction, and sometimes in squares. Everything is tucked, and the change in the numerous blouses seen in London is rung by a fewer or larger number being used and by the different directions in which they rnn. As ths front tucks are arranged, so are those on the sleeves. For example, some bodices have several tucks going straight across the bust, and the sleeres are tucked round on a level, while the back of the blouse is treated in a similar manner to the front. . This. 1 style of decoration usually makes the wearer Jtook as broad as she ia long. In all these beautifully-tucked bodices there is a tremendous amount of work, but speaking generally they are too severe, and prim to be very effective, more especially those which are one mass of small tuckings , all running in the same direction. The glace silks used are either of a self colour or else are shot with white.

For very special functions and for evening wear many of the chiffon and siik mu3lin blouses are very beautiful and are much bef rilled with their own material and trimmed with jewel bands or with bebe ribbon, and some are elaborately embroidered all over with coloured silks and jewels. This class of blouse has considerably more fulness at the top of the sleeve than has the variety made of the stiffer glace silk — in fact, the puff 3 are in some instances, comparatively speaking, quite large — and instead of many tucks, little frills edged with babe satin ribbon are placed round and round the figure row after row.

Another style of blouee has ravers broad at the^ shoulders and tapering' to nothing at the middle of the waist. These revers are sometimes of silk or satin corresponding with the blouse they adorn — sometimes the are of velvet — and are trimmed with some sort of soft rucbing or edged with guipure. Then there is a Y-shaped vest of something soft reaching to the waist, and thees fronts show much variety both in the way they are made and the manner they are trimmed. Accordeon-pleated chiffon is, I believe, Dearly played out, but I saw a teream blouse of this material whioh had a square tucked yoke of its oyn material, the tucks going across. The effect, of the tucks so arrac gad 'across the indentations of the ) pleatibg was veiy curious. The sleeves were ruched and cut on the cross.

"Five blouses — Paris model* — were all made alike, all trimmed alike, and were all of the same material — namely, glace silk. They differed only from- one another in colouring. One was heliotrope, another was light blae, a third pale green, a fourth lemon yellow, and a fifth pink. Each had a rounded tucked yoke of white silk mußlirj, the tucke alternating with bands of narrow satin ribbon, and the collar band corresponded. The front of each was delicately embroidered in whits silk in a flowing pattern and dotted sparsely with silver sequins. At the waist they were slightly pouched, but across the body the material was without any fulness at all. Each fastened down the left side from below tho yoke with three diamond buttons and all tound the edge of the yoke the silk was cut out in little scallops*. In eaoh instance the sleeves were quite plain to the elbow, and thanes upward they were ruohed, and ended in a butterfly pnff. A white satin ribbon fastened in a bow at one side and ornamented with diamond buttons formed the waist belt, and altogether these five French" bod'ees constituted a very charming quintet.

— Years truly,

Zbaija.