Fashions Up-to-date.

Observer, Volume XXXVI, Issue 38, 27 May 1916, Page 21

Fashions Up-to-date.

By Myra.

THE wrap coat I have illustrated this week is. a beautiful affair —warm', picturesque, practical, and so becoming. The material is dark raspberry-red velours de lame, with collar and cuffs of white hare. • at • The special charm of this coat lies in the fact that it might ;'be worn as a winter costume or as a wrap coat. The design is so uncommon that the whole thing looks like a dress of original outline. • ■ • The way in which the fronts of the coat are manipulated is worthy of attention. There is a large, rounded flap which crosses the bust, hiding the centre fastening, and which is then buttoned under the arm at one side.

; For ordinary wear this model ■ should be lovely copied in black ■ serge or velvetee", with the collar ! and cuffs in caracul or any other i fur. The shaped collar is exceedingily popular; it moulds the neck and I makes an ideal frame for the chin — I even if the latter be double. ' * ¥ » i Wrap coats of a picturesque order I are more popular than ever this i winter. They are made in Russian i blouse fashion, with wide and often ■ very ornamental belts, or they have I the quaint short waisted effect indi- | cated in my illustration. ! * • • I For "best" coats brocaded velvet ! is one of the most popular materials iof the hour. It is produced in all j the loveliest dark colours, and the I Parisiennes are particularly fond of j velours broche in a rich 'shade of j nut brown, combined with natural ■ fitch or brown fox; but, of course, j long coats made of brocaded velvet ■ are rather expensive, and then , they i are only suitable for occasions of • ceremony.

For everyday wear the new serge Muscovite, ,or a thick make of camel s hair cloth, is ideal. These cosy coats may be half lined with satin or lined all through with soft printed silk. r Shoulder capee are becoming more and more fashionable. They are toilet. All the best capes of to-day mould the shoulders; some of the effect eCCentriC m ° dels give a dolman » • ■ On tall, slight girls these capes are charming, but it cannot be de- ? *ey have a tend- cv to make the figure look a little stumpy m the case of a short, plump woman. Nevertheless capes are fashionable. And It ]S hkely that they will become still more fashionable in the early spring. J • • • S pp T n he , c - 1( f an ? c i° f - Paiis iennes is .seen chiefly in their hats and furs tfoth are mdispensible, and both can be quietly captivating. Hats depend upon their shape for style as usual, more, in fact, than in preceding years, as neither featfers nor aigrettes now trim them. Very mgli is the arrangement of the black velvet close toques, but high at the back only, the brim resting low upon the forehead. But iS Pans we do not have one style of hat only f OI . c^ cry d seeg gome novelty, fresh from the milliner's inventive brain, which is worn by those it becomes. The latest has close-fitting sides broadening at the top, slightly curling, with the sharp oclges hidden beneath a roll of fur • T™* ls in sauged silk upon a suit foundation. • • • Another .popular shape is what was called in former days the picture hat, with one side low and the other somewhat startingly hi*»h ?v, 01 T a i\, a suitable angle *to show the lightly waved hair and the lobe ot the pretty ear. Even here, howover, there is no attempt at ornamentation, not even a line of fur tile modern picture hat depending sole v upon its dimensions and the quality of the velvet. The best that can be bought is not too good to make one of the new black untrimmed hats—for those seeking elegance m their apparent simplicity. • • * Furs play a leading part this winter, and many are the practical women who are seeking and discovering a capable dressmaker who, tor a modest sum, cleverly transforms old furs into new. Astrachan —so long neglected—is again to the tore. Jackets with waists are taken from their camphor boxes, and, with two or three new skins, are renovated into the loosely-hang-lng coat, reaching either to the hem of the short skirt or some distance from it. Either length is worn to-day, according to the figure and circumstances of the wearer.