FROCKS AND FASHIONS IN LONDON.

Otago Witness, Issue 3774, 13 July 1926, Page 67

FROCKS AND FASHIONS IN LONDON.

By a Lady Correspondent.

(Fob thb Witness.) There is a good deal of sound sense in Holland —if the Dutch leap, they look a good deal before they do so, and calculate their jumps with a nice discrimination; these wise people have an excellent proverb which runs, “A smart coat is a good letter of introduction.” Now the most severe critic who bemoans the time and attention which we expend on our clothes, cannot accuse the Dutch of being a frivolous race given to wasting time and thought on the lighter side of life, therefore, if they can make an assertion of this kind and make it so frequently that it becomes proverbial, there must be much truth in it. We believe their proverb anyway, and since good letters of introduction are distinctly good assets, we turn our attention to coats. Madame Handley-Seymour must have been responsible for a good many successful first impressions with her letters of introduction” of this kind, and I saw some fresh examples when I was at 47 New Bond street this week. There were coats for all occasion: lame evening wraps with smoky fox, soft chinchilla or fronded lancer collars, satin beaute coats with encrusted bands of sequin trimming, ruched chiffon capes for wearing with afternoon gowns of the same material allied to more substantial crepe de chine or marocain, plain marocain coats ljned with pastel crepe de chine, frisca and kasha coats forming one item of three-piece suits, and cape-coats in kashas and fine tweeds—each as pleasing, if not more pleasing, than the last. “NEXT TO EXCELLENCE IS THE APPRECIATION OF IT.” Thackeray tells us, that next to excellence is the appreciation of it. He undoubtedly would find both in these salons. There was a seaweed-pink fourpiece suit which particularly caught my attention. It was carried out in very fine tweed, and the skirt—close fitting to below the hips—was slightly flared at the hem. With this was worn a jumper edged and strapped with crepe de chine to tone, and. a short, well-cut, plain double-breasted coat, having pockets and fastening with four tailored bone buttons to match. A cape of the tweed lined with crepe de chine hung gracefully from shoulder to hem. ROSE SHADES PERSIST IN POPULARITY. Pink of another shade, this time bois-de-rose, was expressed in a three-piece suit having a kasha coat, kasha skirt and marocain jumper top. This jumper was carried down on to the skirt with strips of strapping at either side, through which ran a narrow belt fastened with buttons to match. A cape of the tweed straps at each side. A plain straight coat, the third piece, had two pockets, a fluffy collar of fur dyed to match, and was lined with the same shade of marocain as that used for the jumper. The only trimming consisted in a very fine Vandyke piping of self-material round the body of the coat. Deep shades of wine red are still popular, and an example of this, was a straight wine rep frock having plain close-fitting sleeves with a row of plain bone tailor’s buttons running from elbow to wrist and a skirt with inverted pleats and a row of the buttons down each side. The bodice was plain and had a bateau neckline fastening with two buttons at-the back. A cape of that popular variety which ends just below the elbow line, also trimmed with the buttons, completed the suit. As coats each was delightful—as of introduction” equally they were above reproach. MORE TRUTHS FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE IN EUROPE. Some wise man of another nation once said that since the British are a people trusted instinctively by children and animals, the British Empire is an Empire which may be trusted by all other Powers. There is a great deal of the child the composition of every Britisher, and you need not go very far for evidence of the truth of this assertion. One day this week, I went from the Dog-and-Cat Shop at Selfridge’s to the toy department, and anyone searching for confirmation of this truth would have been easily satisfied in either. The buyers and the assistants in the latter department are in a position to amplify the assertion of that wise man, for all the year round the toy department is one of the busiest in the store. Here, the tastes of children of all ages are catered for, and certainly there were some very large “children*’ quite as interested as those smaller people for whose benefit one supposed they were visiting the department. “WHEN WE WERE VERY YOUNG.” Fairy cycles, Kiddie Kars, model Citroens, and beautifully made toy ponies seem to be an undying source of attraction, and the British liygienically-stuff-ed Bambino dolls and delightful animals with heads full of expression show what excellent workmen the British toymakers have proved themselves to be. I was very amused to see two young men-about-town, looking quite as at home as they might have looked at yrh ite’s or on some polo ground, buying a

toy model farm—evidently as a present, for some small nephew. The farm was beautifully made and was enamelled in clean gay colouring, and the farmhouse and outbuildings, the animals, the poultry, the garden hedges, trees, farm labourers, and their agricultural machinery and implements could be bought piece by piece until the collection was complete. At first, the two men decided to buy the farm and the outbuildings only, but in turn appeared so fascinated by the fresh pieces that I felt an absurd anxiety that the small recipient would be left with nothing to collect. In the end, the parcel was despatched with the farm complete but for a few gardeners’ tools, a dove-cote, and some rabbit hutches, but, as the purchasers derived so much entertainment from making the collection, and that other child would be delighted to have so many toys, it proved an ideal arrangement from the point of view of everyone concerned—including the very human assistant. A HAPPY HUNTING GROUND. There were amusing bath-toys in great variety, beach toys, mechanical toys, games ad infinitum, small garden-houses for the very young —these houses of gaily striped awning material and having tiny hardwood chairs and tables—and in the magical section a demonstrating conjurer who had an audience as long as he cared to demonstrate. The word “atmosphere” has been made almost meaningless by misusage in the highways and byways of Chelsea and the garden roadways of Golders* Green; nevertheless, it is true to say that the atmosphere of the toy department of this store is extraordinarily pleasant, and, if to take an interest in toys is evidence that the British are a people to be trusted, then our integrity surely is unquestioned.