DRESSES AT COURT

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21155, 30 September 1938, Page 12

DRESSES AT COURT

SOME DARING DESIGNS Budding debutantes and Court dressmakers alike are waiting for a nod from Queen Elizabeth herself to answer the burning question whether thd new reign is to let down the necklines of gowns worn at British Court presentations. The Court, society, and, indirectly, every English girl who wears a “party dress,” leaped to attention when several young women being presented at Buckingham Palace made a daring break from the conservative styles handed down from the reign of the late King George V and Queen Mary. Several of the more comely debutantes made their curtseys before King George VI in startling gowns with “off the shoulder” necklines—one of them a square-cut affair lower said the “Daily Mail,” “than any seen at Court since Victorian days.” This was early in the week. On Thursday night several others had planned to appear similarly gowned, but a quick order from the Earl of Clarendon, the Lord Chamberlain and official arbiter of Court etiquette, resulted in their curtseying with modest additions which toned down the daring effects. At least seven debutantes wore scarves about the shoulders, and at this, the last Court of the season, there were no raised eyebrows. Now the problem will rest until next year. It is a test of how closely the new Queen and the new Lord Chamberlain are going to stick to customs prescribed by their predecessors, and a challenge from the new Court dressmakers to the old guard. • The Queen, in mourning for her mother, did not see what caused the startled stares as the young ladies paid their respects to King George. The most daring creation was a breath-taking gown in white with a close-fitting brassiere top and shoulder straps of narrow midnight blue lace. The “Daily Mail’s” woman commentator said it was “so designed that it resembled a beach costume with brassiere and skirt.” The low back of another claimed attention. The new models stirred a lively controvOty in Court dressmaking circles. One old guard dress house said it would not dream of making such a model. But a representative of the younger school saw nothing wrong.

“This Puritanism is making England ridiculous,” she said. There the matter rests until early next year when the official Court dressmaker takes sketches to Buckingham Palace. The approved ones will be put on view for the “guidance” of dressmakers and debutantes as well, with written regulations. The Court prescribes certain rigid rules for dress. Trains must not be longer than two yards; veils not over 45 inches. Gloves must be of specified length. Feathers usually are the most annoying. They mandatory and must be worn at the back of the head, slightly on the left, with the centre feather a little higher than the two side ones. But the critical eyes at the Palace fell below the feathers.