BEST DRESSED WOMEN IN THE WORLD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19268, 3 January 1931, Page 20 (Supplement)

BEST DRESSED WOMEN IN THE WORLD.

(Written for the “Star” by PRINCESS CATHERINE RADZIWILL.)

Dress to-day is no longer what it was. For one thing, it is no longer the special privilege of the rich to be fashionably attired. Women in all classes of society have learned how to dress well and are giving to this problem a good deal of their attention. Perhaps this has banished to a certain point the individuality in clothes which, before the World War, was considered the right thing; but, on the other hand, it has added to the general elegance, so that we see at present a great many more nicely groomed women than we did formerly, in spite of the fact that the majority of them wear cheap copies of expensive Parisian models.

There are, of course, a large number of well dressed European women, but none whose clothes are quoted in general conversation as something out of common—as were, before the war, those of the late Princess Orloff or of the Empress Marie of Russia or the late Princess Pauline Metternich. Queen Mary is one of the best dressed women in England. The Queen has certain fads in dress—she never adopted the short skirt, nor bobbed her hair, and her hats also are always made more or less after one and the same model. But, on the other hand, she holds to the opinion that a queen must always be dressed well, and even richly. She has marvellous jewels and knows how to wear them. Her evening dresses are generally magnificent, and when she appears at Court in full regalia and train she looks really superb and most regal. Princess Mary is in regard to dress a perfect contrast to her mother. She loves smart and distinctly modernistic clothes and is inclined to adopt every new fashion. Her sister-in-law, the Duchess of York, always seems to have come out of a bandbox, the hall-mark of ultra-smartness distinguishing her clothes.

In London society one of the best dressed women is undoubtedly the Duchess of Portland—who, in spite of being a grandmother, has retained the beautiful figure and handsome features which, when she was Miss Dallas Yorke, won the heart of the young Duke of Portland, considered at that time the greatest match in England—the young Duchess of Sutherland, and the Marchioness of Londonderry. Lady Astor likes nice dresses, chooses them well and wears them even better, although she is never the first to adopt a new fashion, being rather conservative in her tastes. She always gives one the impression of being well groomed, ladylike, and tastefully attired, but more simply than extravagantly. In Paris everybody is uniformly well dressed, but there is no brilliancy in clothes as was the case formerly, except perhaps among the newly rich, of whom so many have come to the front since the war. The young Countess Pierre of Cosse-Brissac is about the greatest elegante in the younger set of that last refuge of old French nobility, the Faubough Saint Germain; but the Duchess de Doudeauville, with her two daughters, the Princess Sixte of Bourbon and the Duchess of Mouchy, are supposed to be among the best dressed women in Paris; while the Princess Murat is a leader of fashion among the matrons, who always watch what she wears at the races or other functions, in order to imitate her. The ladies in the Rothschild family, especially the pretty and clever Baroness Edouard de Rothschild, have kept to their old habit of always buying the be «t. of everything, and of never changing their dressmakers. With them always are Worth and Doucet, with Paquin occasionally thrown in, who make their frocks, and Caroline Reboux and Camille Roger their hats, while Redfern has the privilege of furnishing them with their sports clothes.

The Queen of Spain is always very smart, sometimes perhaps too much so, being the first to seize a new fashion when it appears on the horizon. Her clothes are never anything less than magnificent, in contrast with those of her daughters, who, more or less simply dressed, never get out of sport dresses if they can help it. The Queen of Italy has never specially gone in for dress, but is always well gowned. Her daughters, on the contrary, adore clothes and insist on wearing everything certified as modern and smart.

So many American women dress well that it is difficult to say who is the smartest. Mrs Cornelius Vanderbilt, although always conservative in her tastes, ranks near the top. One of the always richly and welldressed American matrons is Mrs Edward Stotesbury, whose taste is unimpeachable. Her wonderful jewels, and especially her matchless pearls, add to the general impression of wealth combined with exquisite taste which she produces. Mrs Hoover is what one would call a well-dressed woman in a quiet way. She is absolutely conservative in everything she puts on. Mrs Coolidge, being younger than Mrs Hoover, was far more elegant when she lived at the White House. (Anglo-American N.S.—Copyright.)