Fashions and Furbelows

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17566, 17 June 1925, Page 9

Fashions and Furbelows

NOTES BY SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS.

OUR PARIS LETTER.

(FROM PAULINE COURLANDER.) Fashions are very merciful in their moderation this year, and we have every reason to look forward to wearing becoming clothes. The long, «lim waist to the hips is seen on almost every frock, but it is saved from monotony by all sorts of diversions that break the rather fiat lines. BREAKING TIIE LINE. There is the narrow inverted pleat ' from shoulder to hip, partly fastened down by a row of buttons on each side, but left open towards the hip to reveal a lining of a contrasting colour. There is the deep, open decolletage, with small revers, which leaves room for a blouse or waistcoat that can be varied according to the climate. This naturally encourages the blouse cr waistcoat, and so re get a great variety, from the most gossamer of muslins with tiny tucks and frills of Valenciennes, or lace with needlework embroidery, to quite substantial silk or brocade ones. One secs hardly any low necks on outdoor frocks. A double turnover collar with a ribbon tie is a favourite and looks almost as neat as the high choker. Most of the collarless frocks

are worn with narrow scarves to match either the hat or frock. COLOURS AND CLOAKS FOR TIIE EVENING. Fewer hats than ever are worn in the evening. Formerly it was considered necessary to have hats especially designed to go with evening dresses, both, on the Riviera and in Paris. To-day we leave out the hat, but we have, instead, a coat or cloak that lias the appearance of being specially designed for the dress v.-hiclx it accompanies. Very often a satin or crepe satin frock will have a very simply made coat or cape of its own material. Soft colours are more worn than robust ones in the evening—mauve, almond green, peach bloom pink and hyacinth blue are there in lovely shades. MATCHING FOOTWEAR. Shoes are exquisitely made, but much more inconspicuous than they for some time. The gorgeous brocade and tinsel sandals are going out of favour, and we now have satin • or soft kid shoes and silk stockings to match the frocks in colour. Small paste buckles are still allowed, and these contribute to the general harmony, for diamonds are once more the favourite jewel, and are set in platinum of almost invisible fineness. Pearls are always worn by Frenchwomen. though the beauty of real pearls has been rather clouded by the exaggerated and very' unbecoming choker collars of “ dressmaker’s pearls.” These are not quite extinct even now, and one may still buy—and apparently one does —strings of phenomenally large beads tinted the exact shade cf one's frock. Flowers are less copious for evening frocks than they have been. Masses and masses of glowing, real Lowers make a trail of clematis or roses on the hip of a lace or brocade frock look rather faded and decidedly artificial.

NEW WAY OF SUMMING.

The “ slimming ” mode of the moment is electrical. The too-solid woman sits on a chair, beneath which are passed currents of electricity. These affect the body of the patient by causing freer circulation of the blood through the tissues, a condition which is speedily followed by the dissipation of superfluous fat. Half an hour’s treatment every day for a week followed by a fortnight's treatment every other day, and then by a once-a-week treatment will, it is claimed, cope with even the most obstinate case. Then comas the potatoes-and/milk diet. For three days a week boiled potatoes and warm milk form the sole diet; for the other four days the menu may proceed on ordinary lines. A couple of months of this diet is regarded as being necessary for the average The important part of these cures is knowing when to cease them ? Many women continue them too lenig, so that they produce the effect of actual unsightliness. Necks become scraggy and cheeks hollow, a condition which clearly indicates that the system has been tried beyond its appropriate limits. The great art is to slow down when the cure is complete.