FASHIONLAND.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10106, 18 March 1911, Page 4

FASHIONLAND.

Demoralising l jMscts of Sales.

[Fkosi our London Correspondent.] January 28. The bargain sale began, suggests a writer in a daily paper, when some of the' rude forefathers, who knew no hamlet other than a cave found that they had collected—or purloined—more beads and arrow-heads and skins and flint implements than they could immediately use, and when" they summoned the neighbours to chatter for the surplus. Be this as it may, one thing ahout sales in London is very evident, and that is the demoralisation for which these semi-annual affairs are responsible. London shop windows at tho end of January are a disgrace, and a stroll past some of the biggest West End shops just now must be a grievous disillusionment to the visitor from abroad, who looks to see the spick and span up-to-dateness for which the shops of the metropolis should be famed. I had this week to subject myself to a rigorous self-examination to see wnether the careless and ugly state of tilings I saw did not, perhaps, spring from my own unhealthy mind. But no, I found mvseif quite normal, quite good-humoured, quite ready to bo pleased and to give admiration.

But how could one admire a mustardccloured costume, marked at eleven guineas, in one of the biggest shops in Oxford Oircus, when the nap of the cloth was so dirty that the " creation " looked like a piece of soiled chamois leather? How admire a hat at 35s when the white bow that lay on the black velvet brim was filthy, a black velvet toque with sodden-locking and tarnished silver lace, or a blouse so grubby that it was hard to imagine it over spotless, a bedraggled skirt marked down from five guineas to 4.25, and not honestly worth forty-two pence to the woman of daintiness? There must be buyers for this kind of goods, and moneyed buyers, too, or tho shopkeepers would hardly dare display them, but who can such buyers be, and what must they look like? One shop that prides itself on being creme de la creme in all that is artistic and charming, displayed shamelessly in a window a cruslied rose du barri f;own of silk with embroidered bodice hat did not even fit the dress-stand, so slovenly was its make! Yet that was marked in plain figures £ll 10s Sale Price, and one presumes that some buyer pays that price aiid wears the garment. • No* only the soiled goods offered, but the price set on their undesirableness fills: me with astonishment. If the goods were abnormally cheap one could understand that there are people who will have tawdry finery if they can and so would purchase them; but how can one aver that a silk petticoat at 10s lid, for instance, is cheap, when the very pegs on which it hangs are sticking through its silk, and when actually in the window is an underskirt shamelessly parting with its frill, so caroless is its workmanship P In spite of prophecies that the tunic, is doomed, a new fashion for this" graceful overdress has been devised within the last few days. This is Magyar style, the tunic and sleeves being all in one i&nd. of different material from the gown veiled. Thus, sleeves and tunic of black luce over a'gowh of soft blue would be very smart-looking. This garment is being already made to conform to the short-waisted effect introduced on all new gowns, and some pretty examples I saw this week were of soft tinted ninon edged with black marabout. Home dressmakers will be glad to hear that there will probably be a levival of the pinafore style in the spring. Since Frenchwomen will have tight skirts they have solved tho shoe difficulty, that yet remains a hideous bar to the general adoption of such a style in this country, by donning very smart shoes or loots with coloured heels. There is one thing to be urged for the hobble skirt, and that is that it waa short and so kept one's footgear clean, though it cannot be denied that it made the wearer's feet seem abnormally large. The walker in London in the sodden weather, to which we are treated generally during the winter months, finds that not a short skirt or even one well held up will protect her boots from the constant splashes thrown on them by motors and carts. For this reason it seems strange to me that women bootblacks, for women, are never seen.

The Parisian woman of fashion now has buttoned boots made entirely of black or dark coloured velvet, and some have patent leather lowers with velvet tops. The first, however, are the newest. These are intended for walking, and are provided with low heels, and the buttons used on them are large and in many cases of a contrasting colour. A fact, perhaps not generally known, is that'" the frenchwoman seldom wears enormously high heels, but instead slips a false heel made of cork or indiarubber into her evening shoes or slippers, which gives her height.

The latest conceits in footwear shown in London are evening slippers of gold cloth covered with black and white lace and ornamented with tiny buckles and round rosettes.

There is a tendency to depose satin charineuso—prime favourite among the rich materials of last year—in favour of soft dull fabrics, and many of the new gowns now being made are of crepe do chine veiled in chiffon or ninon.

It is extraordinary to note how little the coat and skirt is seen at present in London. Long coats prevail everywhere., and beneath them r one-piece dress is generally worn. This is only a phase of mid-winter, however, it is safo to predict. Coats and skirts are too firmly rooted, in our affection to be dispensed with. The new spring model millinery is extraordinary. Out. of fine straw all sorts of weird, shapes are evolved, so neatly that one might almost hold an afternoon hat party and give a prize to the one who guessed, first what .her fellow guests' headgear represented. The latest shapes are in the form of fans, sugar loaves, skull caps, even inverted canoes. Some have a tall point of straw standing out apparently aimlessly at the back. The straw of which these are composed is really beautiful —very fine and of close mesh like, a good panama. Very dainty little roses and buds of shaded straw are now being used as hat trimming. It is difficult sometimes to iron between the buttons' on a blouse without breaking them loose or leaving a puckered edge. A good plan is to havr a .very thick, narrow pad of flannel to slip under th» right sicL» for the but-