The Vogue for Blue

Southland Times, Issue 20228, 13 July 1927, Page 13

The Vogue for Blue

(From Our Correspondent.) Paris. While talking to a man interested in the handbag trade the other day, I was told that he could not get a sufficient number of blue handbags. “We sell them as quickly as they come in, but we get held up for supplies because the skins have to be dyed as there are not enough blue skins ready to meet the demand.” That is just one straw which shows the way the wind of fashion is blowing in the colour direction. The attraction many women felt for the blue gowns and suits shown at the February openings has increased as the days have gone by. Not all tints of blue are suitable for outdoor wear as they fade in a bright sunlight, and not all tints are good by artificial light, because some go greyish and lose their beauty, while others go distinctly mauve. In any event a blue shade should be chosen with care, and one to be worn in the evening ought to be tried under a strong, as well as a subdued, artificial light. Between the “difficult” tones of blue there are many which are wholly delightful. In the dull navy tints they present a very welcome change from the many beige and beige-rose shades women have been wearing so much, and in the cornflower and periwinkle tints they are a most colourful and unusual addition to the colour scheme in the ballroom. They are becoming to both blonde and brunette alike, and what a background for pearls! The very latest blue is a dull turquoise washed over with sea-green. You have probably seen turquoise ornaments which showed the exact shade I mean—pale green seeming to steal into the midst of mysterious blue. This uncommon colour is at its best in chiffon velvet, but it is also delightful in crepe shot with silver or taffetas. One of the great designers in the rue de la Paix is trying hard to make cobalt blue popular, but I do not think he will succeed. These bright, rather hard, blues are rarely becoming; nevertheless they are in evidence just now. Cobalt-blue Kashmir serge was ratlter effectively used for a tailor-made trimmed with a little civet-cat fur, the skirt pleated and the coat cut in sac fashion with wide pagoda sleeves. Sapphire blue chiffon embroidered in copper and hemmed with mink shaped itself into a glorious evening wrap, lame shot copper and blue. forming the lining. An extravagant but attractive combination, this melange of transparent chiffon and rich fur. I have seen a really magnificent evening wrap made of pale beige Indian gauze embroidered in silver, which had a deep hem of beige ermine and linings of silver lame. This wrap accompanied a little flounced frock made entirely of silver tulle.