LEAVES FROM A FRENCHWOMAN’S DIARY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 73, Issue 115, 17 May 1930, Page 2

LEAVES FROM A FRENCHWOMAN’S DIARY

OUR FASHION LETTER (By Collinc Rouff) Many women have sacrificed a good deal of time and temper to growing their hair because they were told that short hair was going out of fashion. n umour was right in a way, fo'r very short hair has gone from our midst. The Newest Coiffures On tho other hand, long hair, done up with pins, has certainly not “arrived.” Only a very few women have “done-up hair-”- The rest grow it long enough to wave softly down over tho cars, while at the back it is beautifully shaped to the head, tapered down to a tiny peak on the nape of the neck, and brushed sideways, not straight down. The side parting is more usual than the centre one, but this is a matter to be decided by the shape of the face. The full, short face looks best with a centre parting; the longer, thinner face with the low side one. If you are young and quite without “birds-fcct” at eyes and nose, you can look charming with a ringlet over each ear, and tho rest of your hair made into little fluffy curls half way up the head at the back. But don’t be persuaded into letting it get long enough to hang round your neck beneath your hat. That is no longer done. Straight or Curled?

This is a question all women ask themselves, about their hair, when it is not left to Nature, but is a matter between themselves and their hairdressers. Franco is the land of straight heavy hair, whidr can be made to look lovely when it is beautifully burnished, and cut straight, with thick locks slightly turned upwards over (he ears. But it is very seldom that you see a woman with straight hair nowadays, so much has permanent waving become tho fashion.

The woman with a tiny head has close, even waves, like a Greek goddess, while the one with a larger head chooses a looser; more uneven wave. One famous coiffeur waves only the hair at the sides, leaving the back of ■the head quite smooth,, with tho hair brushed across from sido to side. One thing is certain—tho “careless,” untidy head has gone, and waves and curls must “stay put.” This is why some marvellously scented setting lotions are to be bought now.

Evening Hats There is a decided movement in favour of wearing head-coverings in the evenings. Many of the lovely frocks at the shows were set off by. the rich hats and caps worn by tho mannequins. At one house, they were little helmets of diamante which covered all tho hair and were cut up on the forehead in half moon shape. The glittering caps looked a little insipid, and would only become a woman who had either a marvellous complexion of her own, or was prepared to make one artificially.

There were also helmets of glittering jet paillettes. I liked these better, especially on one lovely fair girl who wore a thick wave of honeycoloured hair flat against each chock. One of the newest theatre caps is like an Arab turban, with a closelyfitting crown surrounded’by a twisted fold and a frill falling round tho back of the neck as if to protect it from the fierce glare of the sun —wMcidcntally, at the theatre it protects the neck from the fierce draught. These chic caps are made of finest gold or silver lame. Another shape is one that fits like a bathing cap. but has a flat knot of the material close against the face. For Restaurant Wear The hats I have just described are, of course, for formal dinner and theatre wear. Others arc designed for more informal restaurant meals, and are made of finest horsehair lace, filmy as a cobweb. They are turned up off the face, like day-time hats and, also like a good many of the day-time

models, have full soft frills at the back. I saw a black net frock, with a deep hem of lace, worn with a hat of crinoline lace dotted all ovei with small chenille spots; a narrow rose velvet ribbon was threaded through the pattern round the base of the crown and tied in a loose knot with ends hanging down to tho waist. The rose note was picked up again in the rose velvet lining of the short black velvet coat.