FASCINATING FABRICS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 March 1940, Page 2

FASCINATING FABRICS

NOVELTIES IN WOOL. FRENCH SHOWINGS. The richness and variety of the French fabric collections for spring. 1940, is almost unbelievable under present conditions. Not only do they show no indication of having been pruned down in deference to wartime conditions, but they, quite literally, have not been so completely magnificent in many seasons. Like most startling phenomena, this state of affairs has quite a simple explanation, and one that is at the same time an interesting commentary on the designers themselves. That the collections would have been excellent in any circumstances is due simply to the fact that the designers were evidently working right at the top of their form. They have carried on zealously, and now are rewarded by the enthusiastic appreciation of the Couturiers, who are enormously dependent on the fabric designers for the very substance of their own creations. Substantial orders have also been placed by buyers in the United States, South America, and neutral countries in Europe. New and unexpected effects in weave and texture, particularly in the woollens, is the most spectacular feature of these new fabric collections, with special emphasis on fine textures, sheer weaves, and feather-weights. The woollen designers appear to have gone all out to dispute the summer fabric field with the silk designers on their own ground, and all the novelty in the Wool collections is in this angle, while in suitings and coating material weaves are more or less classic and quite conservative.

FANCY NAMES. A sheer crepe called “Punch” deserves to head the list of tenuous new wools. It has the crepey texture of georgette and is only slightly heavier, while possessing all the resilience and draping possibilities of jersey. A superb range of colours includes numerous shades suitable for evening dresses; pale, clear azure-blue, dovegrey, champagne, turquoise, gold, scarlet, Very thin, fine twills called “Twilla” and “Swil,” incorporate a small amount of silk. Here also, the liasse comprises evening pastels as well as an excellent range of authentic Scotch tartans.

“Crefix” is a slightly heavier pure wool crepe, with a grainy pebbled texture, and another excellent crepe of about the same weight, very springy and spongy in texture, owes its characteristics to the tightly twisted and slightly curly yarn. They hope this one won’t be too popular, because it is very difficult to weave!

Still in the same category of wools appropriate for evening clothes is a really magnificent worsted wool faille —it has the same crisp texture and rich subdued lustre of a silk faille, and would make superb evening wraps and wide-skirted picture dresses. Wool ottomans. too, are recommended fof evening wraps.

“Feather-weight tweeds” for summer are continued, with a range of lovely pastel plaids as well as the more classic suiting stripes, crossbars and herringbone weaves. Fascinating are printed thin wool squares to be worn as scarves or made into charming little blouses. Plaid and crossbar patterns are more generally popular than stripes, except for herringbone stripes, of which there is a profusion in all sorts of grey and beige mixtures, and in combinations of black-and-white, navy-and-white, and brown-and-beige. The leading silk house frequently carry a few woollen novelties. For instance, “Flaminsol” crepe, that is 80 per cent wool, remains very- popular, and this season theer is an attractive new crepe called “Romella,” that is 85 per cent wool. A beautiful fine worsted poplin is called “Zingara."