MODIFIED WASP WAISTS

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21100, 30 April 1940, Page 5

MODIFIED WASP WAISTS

THE FEMININE SILHOUETTE What has happened to the silhouette? It’s the burning question. Spring announced with a flourish and fanfare that even the conservative among us would shortly be taking a deep breath and lacing in our waists. But have we? Shall we? Will war put the damper on our feminine ardour? England and France have had to eschew wasp-waists after a short and thrilling taste of them. America carried on, blackouts and women’s land armies being mere words in the cable news to them. We in this country, drawing as we do our fashion inspiration from both sources, are likely to reach a compromise. We shall not go wasp-waisted, like the Americans (who, to tell the truth, are calming down a little themselves and moderating their ideas of the silhouette), yet we do admit the waist as the focal point of the whole silhouette. We strive for small waists and all that pertains thereto—the full, high bosom and curving hips which dwindle the waist by comparison. So although our foundations are not the cute little hour-glass shapes with the old-world lacings which caused such a sensation in the States, they do definitely show the tiniest waist we’ve seen in years. All this, of course, is acceptable to us because it fits in with our present ideas of keeping feminine and attractive for our war-conscious men.