HOW FRENCH CHILDREN ARE DRESSED.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8333, 3 June 1905, Page 3

HOW FRENCH CHILDREN ARE DRESSED.

(Woman.) An English visitor to Paris, when walking in the beautiful Avenue des Champs Elysees or the Jardin des Tuilerie6, is generally surprised to see how neat and simple is the attire of the little Parisienne. The Champs .Elysees is not only a promenade, it is also ! a large playground where children are permitted to join one another and enI joy themselves under the eyes of their nurses or governesses. | The old-fashioned idea that French ! children are overdressed is strongly rooted in the English mind. A great many people think that our neighbours' ohild is always dressed in thick silk and long feathers. Nothing, however, is further from the truth. At parties and other public functions the little ones are, of course, dressed up, but certainly not more than some of .our English children at similar gatherings. One has only to look in the windows of some- of our Regent Street firms to be convinced that if overdressing consists of frills, laces and ribbons, we cani not criticise others when assured that I these elaborate creations are made for our owu rising generations. SIMPLY DRESSED. Generally, the French children are simply but tastefully dressed, and herein lies the secret of their smart appearance. Their chief elegance is perfect boots and gloves, and above all harmony of colours. You seldom see a child with a hat and dress or coat cf the Bame material or colour, but there will always be on the hat something to remind you of the dress. DAINTY LINGERIE. Like her mother, the little French girl has an inborn love of pretty underclothing, but the luxury of her lingerie is strictly limited to the fine quality of the material and beautiful handstitching. No laces are allowed, unless it be a very small Valenciennes edging, a little frill on which three tiny tucks have been run by hand. Usually the trimmings are embroidered on the nainsook or fine longcloth, either in the shape of button-hole-stitched little scallops or of a more elaborate design. "Bloomers" are absolutely ignored, and even the working classes pride themselves on keeping their children strictly in white underclothes. SOCKS.. Of late years it has become fashionable in England to put . children in socks,. summer and winter, up to five or six years of age ; but the idea that it is an imported French fashion is also < a mistake, for although children on the Continent wear socks even up to the age of twelve or thirteen, they only wear them in summer, never in winter, when they are replaced by warm woollen- stockings. Coats and jackets are not in favour, and only worn for warmth. These are dispensed with as soon as spring makes its appearance, and demi-saison dresses are the order of the day. ■ Plaids in all their varieties of shades and sizes are always favourites, at this time of the year, as they require very ] little trimming beyond a yoke and cuffs i of some dark velvet harmonising with j the plaid chosen, and a velvet piping running between the skirt and the bodice. PRINT FROCKS. Later in the spring will come the washing dress,, made of "that charming j and useful material " print," which- in England is relegated to domestics' morning wear. These dainty prints, which have the immense advantage of being proof against the destruction of the washtub, are mad© up into a longwaisted frock, the long waist not exaggerated, the skirt adorned with two or three plain frills, and the bodice mounted on a yoke of some smart material, over which is put a large collar, made of embroidery or strips of muslin joined together by cat-stitches, and finished by a frill of Irish guipure. It is in these collars, which can be changed ad lib, that consists the extravagance of the costume, as they are often made of costly real lace,- although plain nainsook, with a little edging of torchon lace } would answer the purpose equally well. Plain leather belts are often preferred to sashes. BARE ARMS, NOT BARE FEET. In the hot days of summer, it is no uncommon sight to see children of nine or ten years old with bare arms in the street, or at least with very short sleeves. It certainly looks more elegant than the new English (or American?) fashion of letting our boys and girls run barefooted or in sandals under the easy excuse of hygiene, but no doubt without the sanction of comfort.