FASHION NOTES FROM LONDON.

Otago Witness, Issue 2883, 23 June 1909, Page 81

FASHION NOTES FROM LONDON.

<T?KO1I OtTB. Oivx COEEBSPOSDEST.) CHIEFLY ABOUT THE -PRIVATE VIEW." ! LONDON, May _7. Frost within and frost without! Thafc was the state of affairs on the morning of -May Day, which fell last Saturday. It happened" to be the date selected byi the ltoyal Academy authorities for itsprivato view — that uig society rush when people assemble as much to display their new summer frocks as to inspect the year's show of new pictures. With f\ temperature ;n; n the neighbourhood of the low forties, however, there was little in-, clmation for ladies to don thin clothes ; to do so would have been to run a foolish risk. Unhappily, this meant that the interior of Burlington House on the great day wiis year from a dress viewpointwas a distinct " frost.*' In the ' early, morning al 1 outside was white with frost, later there was a fall of snow ; consequently those about to make the Academy] their objective thought it wiser,, to weas their coats and skirts and furs. T - —A Tailor-made Display.-*-* Never can I recall a- more dingy 6how of what has come to be relied upon as an infallible harbinger of summer styles and fabrics. It was a coat-and-skirt day, and by tnis time New Zealanders have probably arrived at the conclusion that the up-to-date tailor-made is not possessed ofmany features that make it attractive to look upon. The- coats and jackets are long and skimpy in the skirt, vague and loose in the back, and only define the waist at the sides by means of clever cutting and skilfully introduced trimming. Many of them fasten across the chesi

with a single button, some fall straight open without fastening, and some of them are sleeveless, particularly is this the case with the coat made of embroidery, toile de jouy, and lace. There if no middle seam in the back of the present tailor-made coats, but there is a flat plastron effect which is generally outlined by ■buttons. The coat has little room below the hips, and as the wearer walks there are wrinkles and bagginesses above the -waist and below it. Coat sleeves are skin-tight, and they are made to fit into the armhole without even a pleat to impart an easing tendency. Skirts, as a rule, are of sensible length, and manyare still of the kilted variety Some of the new coats are made with a stand-up collar, like a dress collar ; this does no& quite meet in front, but leaves a space tor the '"ntroduction of a lace or lawn jabot, to surmount sharply pointed revei's. Cloth was the material chiefly used, and a popular colour was a bright tone of namingo pink. —The Black Element.— Whether the colour of the costume was gay or dingy, there was practically always a" touch of blaclr, introduced in the form of pipings, or jet buttons, or more conspicuously by"~pocket-tiaps, cuffs and collaioi it. There were a number of coats and sicirts of the heavy-weight tussore, in natural tint, as well as in bright colours ; all ....ess had a relief ox black — manywould have been much prettier without it — and this not infrequently took the form of jet buttons of considerable size, c which were dctted about wherever a suitable space could be found. The black sash wound high above the waist was visible beneath the open-fronted coats, its ends being carelessly knitted to fall at one side ol the skirt* — Transparent Coats. — Worn over a clinging frock of any of the spring materials, a semi-transparent coat is to be a feature of the season ; this coat was to be seen at Burlington House in many guises and of many" fabrics and colours. It is, of course, very' long; similarly, of course, it is semi-fitting — loose rather than shapely. Its material may .be course net, the finest of silk anuslin, marquisette, of heavy lace, or of fine net lace ; the colour selected may either match the ckesa beneath or be a contrast to it, the former is preferable. For instance, a dress of plumbago-blue foulard with white spots was veiled by a long coat of >he same tons of blue, in silk gauze, trimmed with silver embroiderj*"; it haH no sleeves, and was more in" the shape of the old-time burnous, as are so many of the present-day wraps. Those in the shape of a coat have fairly ample ' slesves. Some are .heavily and gorgeously adorned with •metal, jet, or crystal, and are obviously designed principally for evening wear, but ix> London a- good many people make only the- slightest -difference -"between the garments th.ey wear by day and those they ■ wear by night ; therefore, elaborate transparent coats are quite as suitable for the one occasion as for the other. Coats of heavy crochet Irish lace are more fitting than those of net or chiffon, and con° spicuous at the Academy was ona whose ' patt-ern of flowers was picked out by small-sized buttons of shining jet. It was long, its fronts were rounded, its sleeves were tight, and it surmounted a dress of black chitron. There are innumerable coats of a less elaborate type carried out in fine material lined with white chiffon or white, soft silk, which belong tc a class apart from that of the transparent coat, which is quite one of the most up-to-date of the spring fancies. Soutache embroidery is still being much u.sed upon fine materials, and it is promised a fresh vogue also upon feummer coats, dresses, and everything else. ' " ° Coat?, transparent and otherwise, were much braided with lines of silk braid, '• of colour to correspond with the fabric ' upon which it appeared, ir widths varying from the hair-breadth lines to. two inches. — The Princess Frock. — | In cloth 'and cashmere de- soie, the princs?s frock was well represented at the Academy on Saturday. Had the weather been warm, it would have been there in muslin, chiffon, and all the other airy fabrics which are so much liked. ' The princess outline is just now the mo<=t prominent note in the fashion ax>rld, a ague, yet defining the figure; ,vhat little iv ne^ is allowed takes the form of soft fichu-like draperies of transparent material tailing flight ly over the shoulders, and disappearing into the Avaist band. This latter, by-i he-bye, ha> considerably descended from its foi-mei lofty position and now it Lj practically always where the waist natuialiy is. There is generally a gmmre— robe and sleeve;— of cieam sprigged net; the plastron behind and be-fore is characteristic of the princes go-.vn, and this plastron is usually a «ood ceax embroidered with ulk, and touched here and th-re with buttons. It U to be leg retted that m:,ny of the skirts are still • so skimpy that walking looks difficult,', and dcubtless is difficult, the train is \ naircw and of eel-like aspect. The princess gown eeems to need the addition of a boieio ; Paris is resurrecting this dainty dcftil which will be a feature of the sumircr. An apron-pla-,tron front is often ! to be seen, beginning at the line of the ' knees, narrowing at the waist, and widening above it so as to cover the chest entirely, where it is cut out in a snahow yoke, the sides of which cross the shoulders; buttons trim the plastron all round the edges and appear to nail it down ujjon the gown ; similar buttons form a hue down the back of each sleeve. B?neath ihe plastron at the back all fastening is hidden, hcoks and buttons, whc_-e presence is a necessity, are quite out of .?ight, all the hooks used are small but strong, all the buttons are tint, so that their pre-ence Is not cv-en i?u tooted. Moit of the present -clay frocks fasten behind, and a good many of the coisc-lel

skirts have the belt affixed ; -with such, the bodice portion is generally of net to match the skirt in colour. This net upper portion is generously tucked, it is also lined with narrow silk braid which has the appearance of bands of silk.The user to which net is put are many, and the varieties of the material itself are almost as numerous as its uses. Worthy of note is the becoming chemisette of silver net, with its introduction of the dull gold lace, embroidered with threads of oxidised silver. -Metallic net, which composes the "sleeves of nine out of 10 of the latest models, is overlaid with another veiling of a colour to match the dress. There are entire dresses of plain net, relying upon tucks or bands of eatin for their trimming; there are blouses of coarse net which are to match the coat and skirt ; there are gimps of it, and there are neck ruffles of it. Gold and silver tissue are again being immensely worn for evening dress, but . whereas -last year- silver tissue was most j in requet, there is no\£ a , tendency -to " give the tirst pla.ee' to gold. It is almost alwaj-s veiled with some- other cbloiir or combination of 'colours. Nothing 1 could be more pleasing than a dregs" of rich gold tissue veiled in gauze of sunseV pink, painted or printed with' floweiv-petals in white and pate pink, the gold tissue gleaming through with every movement. — Xeck-wear. — At the private view people needed some protection round the neck. In ad- ; dition to fur stoles, there were many boas of ostrich feather, some very long and full, others of the pierrot type, with ends finished with dingle-dangles of chenille or silk or ribbon or velvet; of spotted tulle there were many, the dots being of chenille, to match the' net. Some of them were parti-coloured, the foundation being white, the outer edge of colour, these are quite pretty, and have f ehot effect ; the colour should be chosen to blend with the dress. Others of tulle t foundation were thickly sewn with rose petals. Then there was a great display . of scarves — hardlj a summer, dress this I year will be complete without this addi- | tion. Wider than the scarf 'of last year, ( it assumed in some cases the dimensions ! of a shawl, and it is always elaborately ; embroidered and not infrequently dged round with thick fringe. ' J From scarves it is only a step to veils, i Sometimes a. loose veil is attached to the \ hat by a cluster of" roses, and is then' arranged round the shoulder. Ihe new white French hats are. finished ,/with a veil which 1 is becoming and 'prelty: It is of wide r meshed Greek net in white double j silk, ,and represents. a straight, »vide piece /with a border of satin ribbon in and out and very closely - quilled,- making a ruche nearly half an inch" wide. This j ruche is repeated along ■ the. borders and] u£ each'^end, and; consequently, ' though j .the veil .is very, open and clear,. over "the.! face and' hair,-' it 'is sufficient!} 1 weighted j to remain in position in r fresh breeze. ' Veils of fancy spotted nets, jrith large," or i mesh of squax^e shape, are sold in all the newest colourings, and are selected to match the hat. , -jHats With Strings.— Several hats worn at the private -view, were finished with strings from the sides \ of thß brim, and these, on a pretty j woman, are very becoming. One hat of , black crinoline, in the new, modified ] mushrcom shape, oval from back to front, and with the brim curving out at either tide as if to roof in the hair, was trim- j mcd with pink tulle and blue forget-me-nots ; and the tulle formed the strings ; another had strings of 'black lace, caught together under one ear and held by a diamond lace-pin. Unfortunately, -'t looks as if the enormous hat has taken on a I new lease of life, at any rate, it was conspicuous at Burlington House, made in straw, satin, an-d silk. — Shoes. — ■ ■ Coloured shoes were a marked feature of dress at the private view ; all hues ware there. The material was either ! leather or suede as a rule, but there were] ome which had the. back portion of tussore set into vamps of patent-leather. Large buckles finished the insteps. Some p-aopie, sadly lacking in taste, wore creamcoloured suedt shoes, with dresses of violet or blue. The vesult made one feel fad. If coloured shoe are to be worn they must accord exactly witJ- the shade of the accompanying kirt. Stockings must match the shoes. Bi/;broiderks an I floss silk are a feature of some of the I coloured hosiery. Stock ir/^s are to be ' had in half-tones, embroidered *r contrasting shades. Some of the finer examples in silk have both lace insertion and bands of coloured embroidery, and all boots have extremely wide, curved tops, i These tops match the dress in colour, for J instance, one pair had the uppers of blue | •silk, with fronts of black patent-leather, ! tiny blue mother of pearl buttons were the fastenings.