Fashions and Furbelows

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17189, 5 November 1923, Page 9

Fashions and Furbelows

Notes by Special Contributors

OUR PARIS LETTER. (From Paulino Courlander). PARTS T>REvSS SHOWS. In Paris it is not so very difficult to get an invitation to the Foreign Office to meet* visiting Royalties, and it is not at all difficult to get invited to the Presidential receptions at the Elyseo. But invitations to dress shows of the great houses of the Rue de la Paix and its immediate neighbourhood are sent out with a refinement of selection that makes them a much prized event of the moment. Only the most valued clients are invited to sit in the circle of earnest critics gathered together to see the new creations being swept across the

room by apparently disdainful and incredibly thin young -women. There is a much larger proportion of men in Paris dress audiences than in London ones. Dress is taken very seriously here by both sexes, and the Parisian is a-s sound a critic as the Parisienne. and even harder to please. It is altogether a. very solemn business and the utmost decorum is observed : scarcely a whisper is heard and everybodv seems aware that here is a new crisis in their lives. This year is especially exciting and one feels something of tho gasp that comes when the same number lias turned up several times running at the tables, for we have had so little change in our outline for the Inst three seasons that surely this one must bring something quite different.

XEAV FEATURES. So far. the early models have been disappointing to those who thirst for novelty at any price, and reassuring to those who do not feel disposed to readjust their entire wardrobe. Tho chief features that strike one in the new fashions are a certain squareness of shoulder, the frequent recurrence of broad box pleates both on skirts and frocks, and the variety of trimmings. GOATS AND SKIRTS. The skirts are very much the same length as last season and their width varies considerably, according to the general character of the model. A three-quarter coat with spreading basque is worn with a very narrow skirt. On the other hand, a bolerolike coat requires a shaped skirt with rather more width. CIRE BRAID TRIMMINGS. Wide flat box pleats, from shoulder to hem. form hack and front of a very successful afternoon gown model. As we have already noted, navy blue is one of the sea-son’s colours. Black eire braid is used a great deal for edging flounces and hems, and navy blue coat frocks have block satin accompaniments in the shape of panels : sleeves,

collars and cuffs.- or underskirts. Narrower pleats ami tucks are still in favour and so also are the loose side panels, sashes, belts and shoulder . So. you see. you need not abandon <our »ast season's creations entirely. A new hat and a jumper blouse, of one of the delicious fulgurant silks will quite bring your costume into line—always supposing that you have been wise enough to keep to the classic style of tailor-made. A NEW-OLD COIFFURE. It is interesting to note just now, when up-to-date hair-dressing favours a “ fluffed-out ” arrangement of the chignon, a similarity to styles of coiffure portrayed in these old silhouettes. The artists who produced charming ex ample* of pen and ink on a white ground added ingenious delicate touches to .soften the outline of the portrait, using a light treatment- for the jewellery worn, the lace at the neck of tho wearer, the hair and it.s ornaments. RIVAL OUTLINES. “There seems to bp a perennial battle of the skirts. Last season it was the length that was being fought over, this season it is the width. So said a Paris fashion expert yesterday in discussing what some women (and many men) regard as the menace of the hobble-skirt. “ But in my opinion there is little doubt that the width of tho skirts this season will depend chiefly upon our proportions,V she added. When hobbleskirts were last in fashion they were accompanied by pinched-in waists ; now waists have vanished, and if a walking frock had not more width at the hem than at the waist it would not, in a/verage circumstances.**, be unduly narrow. As a matter of fact the tight effect at the ankles is, in most cases, “ effect ” only, gained by cunningly arranged pleatings and draperies. Out of the many outlines under consideration at present three only merit serious attention. 1. Tile outline which indicates tho natural lines of the figure without being tight auvwhere ; 2. The outline which shows all • the fulness drawn to the back t.o give a “bustle"’’ effect, the front being quite plain : 3. When all the fulness is drawn from hack to front giving a classical suggestion. The newest hobble has the tightness at the knees as well as the ankles. THOSE FIRST GREY HAIRS.

The first grey hairs a woman notices are (remarks an English writer) always a source of worry. They seem to bring home to her more than any line i«r wrinkle could do the fact that she is passing from youth to age—a ptospeet that no woman cares to face. Act often these first grey hairs are less due to advancing years than to the use of a shampoo which lias been too drying at the roots. Shampoos containing soda and ammonia are extremely liable to turn the hair grev, and should never be used. If the hair begins to turn grey before one is well over fifty it is a sign of a debilitated constitution. and a tonic containing iron, together with a good nourishing diet, will often arrest the greyness. The woman who is turning grey prematurely should include in her diet spinach. bean?, beetroot and take watercress at one or more meals every day. for the latter is a simple and most efficacious way of taking iron into the system. Where the scalp is inclined to be too dry a little yellow vaseline should ho rubbed well into the roots of the hair two or three times a week. A little jaborandi tonic should be applied on alternate nights, and whenever the hair is washed an egg shampoo should he used. AN’hen the hair has become so grey that there is but little hope of checking the greynoss. a harmless and inexpensive hair dye can be made at home. Take the skins from ten large potatoes and put them in an iron saucepan with sufficient soft water to covet them. Boil slowly for twenty minutes. Leave till cold, then strain and bottle the liquid. Apply to the hair with a small sponge, fixed to a little handle, and dry before a fire or in the open air. This treatment should be given about once a week, and will be found very satisfactory.