IN FASHION'S REALM.

Otago Witness, Issue 3384, 22 January 1919, Page 57

IN FASHION'S REALM.

WEEKLY UP-TO-DATE DRESS NOTES By Marottkrtth It ia the rule with fashion-writers to take' some particular week in a season, always, of course, nearer the end than the beginning', and use it to hail the expected change. This is because the.v have become tired of the current, and, like like their readers, want to taste the next dish, _ I expect, however, that an exception will be noticed this time', as if others are of my mind. it_ will be with regret that summer styles will be pa-ssed as having served their purpose. For, beautiful though the autumn ones promise to be, it may prove a task to maintain with them such uniform excellence. These little coats, for instance—summer coats—that hang with the straightness of a dressing sac, sleeve and sleeveless, but always with a sleeve of the mandarin order! They are close and open, and therefore wfchout and with waistcoats, and no matter what the variation, are always exquisitely feminine. Again, there are the blouse coats, which are really the last word in those evolutions that have come from the Russian of 1915. Could anything bo more beautiful, with their fulness and straightness combined, a cord, sash, or simple band just conceding to the figure to break the monotony. Again, there is the waistcoat blouse which is now at the acme --a blouse, yes. but with the fronts carried down below the waist, and by buttoning over on to the simulated self-girdle providing for the usual " W" of two waistcoat

points. .Finally, there is the frilled shirt—tho one with the single line of frilling halfway down, or two or three or even four, all so dainty and so exquisitely feminine. To muko the most of things while thoy last I am picturing to-day three very beautiful blouses, and will follow them wth three more next time —a set of six, comprising, as I believe, everything worth while in this particular line. Here is the first, and I am asking you a question: Could you imagine anything more chaste? The basis is, of course, the shirt blouse, and

if it came to a verdict that would he the one to describe it. And yet how unlike any with which we have been made familiar I The collar suggests a narrow kerchief, since, as you see, it is tied in a bow, and from this are two handkerchief-like frills that cascade in truly delightful fashion. _ It is beyond all measure one of the prettiest of the many pretty types of the summer blouse.

Returning to the things to regret losing, there is the collar. While some of the summer expressions may be continued in some form or other —I refer to details,— it is the order of things that they will not include the summer collar. And this is what we shall probably regret more- than anything—the low collar, "V" or " U," and, above all, the very elongated " U," which, of course, is the "horse collar." I have been admiring these latter ever since they first made their appearance. They have become increasingly attractive with practice till now, I should say, they are beyond all possible criticism. In a pastel tint on a- white blouse, when assisted by a 2in cuff, or less, with a mandarin sleeve, they are exquisite, and a happy choice by anyone in the flush of youth.

A talented writer whom I turn to for the first time has this to say on "scraps'':— " Voile comes in such charming colourings and designs that it is a shame to waste. The Dresden flowered patterns and Paisley shawl effects printed on pastel backgrounds, are all attractive for fancy work. So when your hot day frock is cut, be sure to save every inch for pretty articles of fashion when you do a bit of frivolous sewing. Some of the articles that can be made from voiles are bags, boudoir caps, fancy aprons, camisoles, jfiatineejs> : curt/ains, (scarfs for the dressing and night table in the bedroom, and candle shades. The glass candlesticks in a. dressing room are pleasing with little rosebud voile, shades edged with fine lac©. Matinees, camisoles, and aprons are all pretty trimmed with ribbon. A sweet little hat for a wee maiden can be made from flowered voile pleated over a wire frame. All the trimming it needs is a little lace edge and a band and bow of pink, or blue satin ribbon around the crown.

Gingham is so much in style this year that every scrap is usable for all manner of practical and fancy articles. Practical ones that can be made from gingham are aprons, caps, hats, sun-bonnets, petticoats, and petticoat flounces, neckties for outing use, slip-overs, smocks, dressing sacks, and up-to-date vests and collar for the street suit. Gingham is much used for trimmings on all kinds of wash drsesses. Crossing bands of plain gingham always look well as trimming on frocks made of white wash goods. Little bolero jackets of gingham look smart as part of a wash frock. For children's clothing scraps of gingham can' .be used very extensively, for a combination of two materials forms the main trimming for kiddies' clothes. Sometimes plain gingham is used for the skirts or little trousers, and plaid or striped gingham for little tight-fitting blouses. This emphasises a very choice mode of the moment, and a better one as destined for the time to be. Flowing front and

baok panel tunics will bo in very high favour with summer-end dresses, and then all through autumn till displaced by the orthodox coat and skirt. They may be in marked contrast, a 3 shown, slight contrast,

or no contrast at all. And they may bo embroidered as elaborately as ever you like. If in strong contrast, then it is desirable to balance the ensemble by something on the skirt, and so a hem of the material just to show that it is all one. These panel tunics will be frequently finished with fringe, of the length indicated, or longer. You will in connection notice the sleeve—one of those delightful bells that are pinched in sharply for the cuff. Beautiful slip-on coats, square neck or " hoiso-collar," have hajf skirts in two great scallops / so that front and back arch arid s'des point, the fulness enough for a slight cascading, sleeves of the mandarin order, longish for afternoon, less long for evening. The same design, incidentally, is excellent for a negligee coat for home wear, and I may say this is the very latest type for a lounge coat abroad with, observe, loose trousers. Sleeveless coats have got to be so much so that what there is of them viewed from the front consists of no more than two scarf-like sides caught together with a girdle of same, which sometimes passes through them, and one side folds jn book-marker style with fringed pendants. Blouses with shawl-like collars are frequently, with a panel front, carried over the belt, and while it is sometimes 'to simulate waistcoat points, sometimes it is in ■a diamond-pointed bib. Little coats for youthful wear are just to the hip, mandarin sleeve, and, worn open, the irame of a waistcoat, which is frequently in a chejii and invariably crossed by a belt. Tiny coats, or, rather, coatees, and the last word in Etons, are worn with spotted waistcoats that provide an overlapping collar, the points appearing below a very deep self belt with a deep oblong buckle. Such, again, are provided with fronts that cros-j over, and, coming to points, button on the belt in very artistic fashion. Economy can be studied without going into " Joseph's colourings," which, as we know, were the result of patches. JFor example, I annex this as a mere indication: " There is nothing to prevent fashion from using furnishing fabrics for her own effective end if she wants to do it. Given good taste in choosing a suitable design, there's everything to be said in favour of a fashion that has the merit of originality as well as eoonomy, for cretonne is one of tha things that can still be had fairly cheap these days of high prices and uncertain dyes. One example had sleeves and part of the bodice made of georgette, and the combination of materials, so totally different, gave it a piquant charm all its own. Once having decided to conscript cretonne, La Mode uses it in more ways than one. Cretonne hats are amongst the things that will help to make life gay at the seaside this summer, and }'t needs only a little ingenuity end patience to convert a warscarred veteran into a modish head-covering by the simple device of cutting out gaycoloured n edallions from any given bit of material, and' stitching them on to brim or ciown, or both, with coloured wool worked in buttoi bole stitch." Here is the second blouse, a very different one from the first, and yet quite as attractive. The charm is in the collar and sleeves, the first as generous as even the designer has been able to make it, and the second just one of those flares over a long trim cuff. And both, of course, have their

adornment —the collar a frill as a border and the cuff one to centre. A blouse of this character may be either of the same material all through or combine two. I cull this from an exchange, the writer a woman of some importance: ' Viewed in the calm, cold light of an impersonal investigation, the Board of Trade's pertinent pointers in regard to the inner vestments of the fair sex are hardly—well—er—modest. The secret charm of woman lies in her multitudinous phases of mystery, and to assail them is at once to disarm and discharm. No mere man has the right, politically, industrially, or commercially (or any other way) to learn, any one. of Eve's self-wrtten commandments, and, though we may laugh most heartily at a burning desire to become acquainted with the foibles of a little camisole, it's up to us as one woman to mislead all other inquisitive males on the subject down to the last tack in the shoulder strap." And now why all this—the reason of it? There was a 'Government inquiry into the cost of women's clothing and quite a number of the fair sex gave evidence. But what astonished me, who read the evidence, was the delight which counsel took in asking the witnesses for the details of their wardrobe, and then following this with questions for the edification of the inquiry room. And that is why that oaragraph was written. And now the fourth blouse, which may be cither that or part of the costume. This selcotion is, of course, very different from

tho others, and in a sense more orthodox, but it won my admiration because of those pretty cap sleeves, and then by the collar with the over one—a sign that it is a summer and autumn selection together.

To prevent stains on china, rinse the cups in clean cold water, and afterwards wash them in hot water. By rinsing the articles in cold water you prevent the stains from the tannin, either tea or coffee, becoming fixed and spoiling your Bet.