PERSONALITY IN DRESS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 18820, 7 March 1931, Page 11 (Supplement)

PERSONALITY IN DRESS

HINTS BY EXPERT. Personality is one of the most important factors in guiding a clothes designer. Every woman has a distinctive individuality with subtle complexities of temperament which are to be duly considered by the modiste says a dress expert. And now a word to those who may be feeling dejected because most of their last year’s models seem to be a total loss. If they are fashion-wise they will realise there are many ways of modernising their old things. Take, for instance, those last winter frocks of satin or serge that are still perfectly good but a little too short. They can be brought smartly up-to-date by the addition of one of those threequarter tunics in satin or lame that will lend them a dressy and distinctly modern air. If a pleated frock be of net, georgette, or some other fabric it may be used as the tunic itself and will be worn over a tight satin slip showing 6in or 7in below the hem. If the skirt is too short it can be lengthened by a hip yoke which will never be suspected under one of the smart hip-length slip-on tunics sponsored by the leading dress designers. They may have these in velveteen, supple velvet, or the thick de-lustred satin that looks like suede. Or they may prefer one of those fine silk jersey tunics to match their suit, one that buttons up to the neck like a soldier’s coat.

BUNS AND PLAITS. Like skirts, hair is rather longer just now, but not so much longer as the skirts (writes a correspondent). Mannequins, here and there, have a very small bun, set low down, so that a hat may not interfere with it, but it is surprising to see the majority in Paris with shorter hair than is at present the case in England. Here and there the shingle is frankly maintained. This is generally on very young mannequins, and those who wear the most youthful dresses. Sports suits are generally shown with short hair. Others have allowed their permanent wave to grow longer all round, so that there is no shaven appearance at the back of the neck. The ends are then curled up tightly, and form a little edge to the hair. Some give the effect of really longer hair by having a wave which crosses the back of the head diagonally. The hair is brushed across from one side, and this looks as though the ends were tucked in somewhere, though this is not actually the case. Here and there plaits are worn. These are made very flat, and they are drawn to and fro across the back of the head and covering the ears. They have to be compressed as much as possible, and can only be worn with an already small head. This kind of coiffure, which has a mid-Victorian suggestion, is worn with the long evening dresses, of which the folds are gathered in at the waist. The vogue for curls on the neck has never really established itself, as being still too romantic for pre-sent-day taste. Blue hair—that is to say, white hair dyed blue—has a certain vogue, but it is less good in the daytime than at night. Little buns at the nape of the neck imply a good forehead. But foreheads are coming in again, and so the less good may pass muster soon, and buns of a subdued size may become very fashionable indeed. FATE FOR UGLY WOMEN All ugly women should be drowned, said Dr. Josiah Oldfield, the prominent food reformer and advocate of fruit diet, in a lecture to the Women’s Institute at Newbury, Berkshire, England, recently. He continued:—Uglineess and beauty are so much within the control of every individual, that for a woman to create a repellant face is a voluntary crime against society.. Every time a woman allows herself to get into a temper, or even to look cross, she is impressing lines of ugliness upon her face, and every time she smiles benignly upon life or pours out a compassionate thought upon others, she is adding some curves and colouring of charm and beauty. “The charm of being beautiful,” Dr. Oldfield said, “is within the power of every English maiden, and the cult of the vanity bag, with its little mirror into which she smiles half a dozen times ad.' is a suitable stepping-stone to the possession of life-long beauty.” NEW HANDBAGS. A useful handbag, for either everyday occasions or sports wear, is made of leather in various colours, in the shape of a satchel. The strap at the top of the bag may be fixed to a long braid band, which passes across the shoulder, for golf nr other sports, while for ordinary occasions the strap is fastened in a short loop for the hand or the arm. Some of the newest har.dbags are large enough to contain all the necessary accessories, and are also fit led with a cigarette case, a tiny enamel lighter, and an enamel compact powder box. The bags are flat and square,, and when the top flap opens, *-it reveals a flat mirror, which lifts up to show a cigarette case. The space at one side of the flap holds the lighter, and that at the other side contains the powder box.