OUR PARIS LETTER

Taranaki Daily News, 13 July 1929, Page 18

OUR PARIS LETTER

FROM A PARISIENNE’S NOTEBOOK. WHAT IS BEING DONE. (By Yvonne Rodier.—Special to News.) Paris, May 23. Dresses are divided into two distinct categories for day wear. There is the practical “sports” type for walking, shopping, and so on; and there is the fluffy, smart house dress of flounced printed crepe or mousseline de soie. Though greatly in evidence at the beginning of the season, the basque is now less favoured. Outstanding points to be noted in the prevailing dress silhouette include the definitely heightened and pouched waistline, the lightly defined, swathed hips, and the preponderance of large bows. These are “placed” according to the dictates of the Parisienne, w r ho refuses to have too much bunchiness anywhere, fashion or no fashion. • If the big bow is wrongly placed, she insists on its elimination, being determined to keep the line of her dress as comfortable as heretofore. Soft tweeds are much to the fore both for coats and tailored dresses, and neat, taut waistcoats of white ottoman are quite a “craze.” White qipue reappears in bias bands on blue and black serges, as well as on black wool crepe frocks worn under the new seven-eights black coats. The newest coatfrock has a bright scarf draped round the throat, the ends passed through a deep slit in the revers.

Apropos of scarves, their popularity shows no sign of waning. Almost every day-dress has its scarf, which is of two or three strongly contrasting colours when the dress is self-toned. High

collars on fashionable short silk coats have long scarf ends which tie into big bows in front. Coat-dresses of black satin with softly hanging panels of white have many advocates. Another well-liked novelty is a plain woollen skirt of Scotch plaid, unravelled at its lower edge, accompanied by a similarly trimmed, unlined coat.

Flowers for wear with tailor-made dresses are made of fine straw, with “eyes” of coloured silk. The nasturtium is fashion’s favoured choice, and is reproduced in chiffon, in velvet, in straw, and in suede.

The very newest dress jewellery is made of wood incrusted with silver, ivory, and gold. Dress jewellery is only worn, however, when there is absolutely no other decoration. The prevalent flowered chiffons, for instance, obviously need no jewellery touch. Plain georgette or chiffon gowns, on the other hand, call for its ornamental aid. Satin mixed with net is used for evening gowns of black, white, blue, and other colours.

HYGIENIC HOMES.

THE USE OF RUBBER TILES. (By M. Hamilton. —Special to News.) If all housewives were given their own choice of flooring, I suppose most of them would vote for a wooden parquet, since this material seems most sympathetic for the purpose. Now, however, we have another substance that runs it very close, and is particularly suitable for use in halls, corridors,kitchens and bathrooms —in fact, wherever parquet may fittingly be substituted by tiling. This tiling is not made of pottery, but of rubber, a substance now presented in such a variety of new forms that it bears little resemblance to the stretchy, flexible product of earlier years. The new rubber tiling is very rigid and hard-wearing, the base being of asbestos cement with the rubber surface firmly welded to it. It is made in separate tiles that neither buckle nor twist, but remain in position indefinitely, unaffected either by heat or by cold. From the aesthetic point of view, the rubber tiles serve a most useful purpose; they are made in so many colours and effects that, by skilful combination, it is possible to work out all manner of good designs to suit various schemes of decoration.

It would be amusing to design a room with tiles representing marble inlay and woodwork simulating a veneer of the same stone. Stools and tables oi cheap deal might then be treated with the preparation that dries with a roughcast surface, so that the whole effect would be .independent of anything pertaining to carpentry, suggesting rather the stone-mason and his craft. Such a treatment would be admirable for a roonj of. sunny aspect, or for a landing that is to be ”-ed as a lounge. The tiles might also be used as a dado.