FASHION NOTES

Taranaki Daily News, 14 October 1933, Page 7 (Supplement)

FASHION NOTES

THE FROCK WITH VARIATIONS. END OF SEASON MATERIALS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) London, Sept. 10. Some ideas expressed at late dress shows may prove of interest to women who have to consider carefully how much they can afford to spend on a new outfit. The model, for instance, which is capable of two or three “quick changes” should make its own economical appeal, and it can, of course, be reproduced in any chosen colour scheme. The dress is a slim affair of nut-brown satin, with a slightly pouched, lownecked ’bodice which has small fluted epaulets over the shoulders. Waistline normal. Skirt made with a pointed hipyoke and a slight flare from the kneeline. In fact, a dress such as you can buy or have made up anywhere just now and be sure that it is right. As it is, sleeveless and with moderately low-cut corsage, the gown is correct for theatre, dinner-party or dance wear. If you want to put it on in the afternoon, you first don a tiny blouse of brown and beige check satin or crepe, short-sleeved and cut fairly close to the throat. Then you appear to be wearing a very “last minute” pinafore frock. To make the dress still more useful, there is a little hip-length jacket of the lighter patterned material, with modified leg o’ mutton sleeves, a Norfolk look about the front, and a belt at the waist. Clad in blouse, frock and jacket, with a hat of the jacket material banded in plain brown satin like the frock, you are ready for any kind of out-of-doors occasion, whether it be a shopping expedition, a series of calls, or a journey to keep a business appointment. The ensemble could be carried out in blue, with blue and white accessories; in black, with black and white; in grey, green, any colour scheme you fancy. It is well worth consideration. ANOTHER “QUICK CHANGE.” Then you can have a really well-cut frock of silk or some thin woollen material—say in grey or beige. Alone, it makes an admirable afternoon gown, with graceful deep cross-over bodice, small round-necked georgette vest, three-quar-ter lerigth sleeves, and a strapped waistline, the ends of the straps tying at the back. With a three-quarter length coat of rather darker material, full and broadshouldered, and a hat like the coat, the dress is right to wear out-of-doors on a chilly day. Without the coat, but with a clever little fluted cape, and a droop-ing-brimmed hat to match, it will see you through a garden party, a racemeeting, or any smart afternoon alfresco affair.

There is a charming material to cheer us at the end of the season. It is a kind of soft silk canvas, and it comes up specially well in the rather dark blue which is the speciality of a certain famous French designer. You will find it equally attractive for a more or less formal frock or for a trim little suit ■ Another material that finds favour now cannot claim to be “new,” but is having a wonderful come-back. Ottoman silk it is, showing wide ribs, and it is used for tailor-made suits, for frocks and coat ensembles, for coat frocks, and, in white, for evening gowns. Moire is used for the same purposes. So is silk alpaca—another new-old favourite. WISDOM OF THE WHITE TOUCH. Most of the suits and frocks now being shown have dainty touches of white about them. Maybe only a white pique, muslin or leather flower perched on the shoulder. Maybe white collar and revers, white bande inlet into gauntlet cuffs, or perhaps a lovely white frilled net berthe on a stately-looking black gown. Lovely, this last! And sponsored. by a very well-known leader of fashion. The net is edged with narrow fine lace, closely pin-tucked for about an inch in from the edging, then finely kilted. It goes all round the deep square-cut corsage of the bodice, and .stands up quaintly and effectively like small fans over the shoulders. A broad white leather belt on a dark coloured frock, white buttons fastening another up the back, a high white cravat with a neat “sporting” suit—these are only a few of the ways in which the becoming white touch may be SPOTTED MATERIALS. PREFERRED BY DECORATORS. Spotted wall-paper of a neat type is again fashionable for use in the bedroom. The one with small black spots placed fairly close together on a creamy ground looks specially dainty when a well-designed border is added to mark the line of the cornice, the. skirtingboard, and the door-frame. French decorators have always liked the spotted wall, well knowing that it makes an admirable background for chintzes, needlework pictures, and decorative mirror-frames. Copies •of old-fashioned chintzes, revived from the original blocks and printed by hand, frequently show the pinspot ground dotted with moss-rosebuds, Iffies-of-the-valley, or mignonette sprays. There is a certain formality about the spotted grounds which renders them very appropriate wherever furnishings of the 18th or 19th century are installed. They make Victorian mahogany look positively attractive, so well do they show off its points. To come to more modern ideas, cretonne patterned with “icing-pink” spots on a parchment ground is the very thing for an up-to-date sitting-room furnished with bleached oak. Blue spots on white cretonne suggest something marine, so the material js well suited to the seaside bungalow or the river houseboat.

The great advantage about spotted linen for curtains lies in the fact that the folds mean no less of design. Also, in cutting sections for loose covers, no waste is incurred in the fitting and matching of the pattern, while any odd scraps can be joined to make the frills. Spotted muslin has the faculty of givr ing a room an air of freshness and coolness. It makes ideal short curtains for the apartment with a sunny aspect, and looks delightful as a dressing-table petticoat, a bed-spread, and covers for coloured cushions.

Prince’s Heir Born in England. The birth of a son to the Princess of Khairpur, whose husband is heir to the throne of the 6000 square miles State of Khairpur, in Northern India, took place at Brighton, England, last month (states a correspondent).

The Princess (who is only 20), is known as one of India’s loveliest women. If the baby succeed: -j the throne he will have an income of nearly £200,000 a year. The news caused great rejoicings at Brighton and in Khairpur, where the 200,000 inhabitants had prayed for months that the child would be a son. There was a brilliant fireworks display on the Brighton seafront in celebration of the birth. “I am overjoyed by the birth of my son and hejr. As the baby was born in England I am doubly pleased,” said the Prince to an interviewer. “It will help, I hope, to cement in some small way the frici p that already exists between your country and my own, a friendship which all of us who have the interests of both countries at heart are anxious to maintain.”