PARIS AGAIN

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 20067, 26 March 1935, Page 10

PARIS AGAIN

“BREATH-TAKING” IDEAS Buttons, buckles and dress clasps fashioned of rhinoceros hide have created little short of a sensation in the world of fashion. Paris was their origin, of course, for only the French would have the “hide” to think of such a daring and unique fashion innovation. When w’ooden buttons appeared about three years ago, they caused quite a flutter, as nobody, even the most hardened buyers, had ever thought that plain, unadorned, undisguised slabs of wood would ever be used for dress trimmings. But rhinoceros hide buttons! These have figuratively taken away the breath of fashion designers, and they declare that the creation of these marks a new era in the history of fashion. Bone and metal buttons have been used since the dawn of civilisation, and glass buttons, which were introduced about 2000 years ago, have had periodical revivals. Rhinoceros buttons, though, are quite unprecedented, although the hide has been used for walking sticks. These quaint accessories are an amber shade, and some have a rough dark, bark-like surface, which is the outer part of the hide. They are cut from strips of the hide while it is still soft, and they are then dried, becoming very hard. They are made in all shapes and sizes, but, as the supply ’S as yet very limited, they will probably adorn only exclusive autumn and winter costumes.