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Ladies' Mirror, Volume 4, Issue 11, 1 May 1926, Page 20

What Paris <§ays THE creators of fashion in Paris are always optimistic, and it is, therefore, not surprising that they forcasted a bright spring. Their advanced styles reflect radiance and utility. Kasha would seem to be one of the most popular materials in its varied kinds : plain, thick, plisse, patterned, striped and mixed with artificial silk, with every bright colour. One of the latest and most beautiful Kasha is interwoven with artificial silk, making a coloured pattern which has the appearance of being seen through a mist. The plisse Kasha are very durable and make up most effectively. Fine jersey materials, which are very chic, promise to have great vogue. Here is an indication of a young Parisienne in the springtime of 1926. A little beige Kasha plisse skirt with a jumper top of Kasha with a silk stripe in it of the same colour, while over it is worn a long coat with a border, collar and cuffs of the striped Kasha. The stockings are fine silk of the same beige as the skirt, and the shoes are beige kid trimmed with a darker shade. Gloves, too,

are beige in two shades, and the hat is darker altogether and in a soft suede material. It has a brim with a smart line and a soft crown. The trimming is a beige quill smartly thrust through the suede at a sharp angle. The bag matches the hat. COME personal opinions from the k - / leading Paris designers of the mode have been culled from recent interviews and make interesting reading for our readers. Jean Paton, who can usually be counted on to provide a sensation, refused to reveal it beforehand, but says: "In the spring we shall have many ensembles and I shall leave

the length of my skirts unchanged. Why make an alteration? " Fullness will depend upon the type of dress. There will always be enough for movement in godets, pleats or gathers. When the dress is made to wear under a coat, the fullness will naturally only appear in front and a little towards the sides. When a gown is made with a view to being a complete costume in itself it is quite possible that it will have fullness all round. " I shall continue to make the waist-line high, because this has always pleased my customers and I consider it the logical sequence of the ultra-short skirt."

T UCIEN LELONG is enthusias--*-j tic about the possibilities of kinetic design in dress. This is what he says about it: " In my opinion the sheath gown is quite dead. It was out of tune with modern times. The spirit of to-day is speed, life, animation. I expect the silhouette to become even more animated than it now is. I think that in it we have created a real period style of our own. " So in my house you will find gowns with skirts short and full, waist supple, and lines simple." CAPTAIN MOLYNEAU is insistent upon the silhouette style, and says: "In the spring I shall adopt a straighter line, but it will have just as much movement. There will be fewer godpts. Fullness to give freedom will take the form of pleats and inverted pleats. "I shall give the jumper look to one-piece dresses for sports wear in order to avoid the hiatus that can appear when the jumper rides up, displaying the skirt yoke. The line of this type of dress, however, being perfect, cannot change much. Continued on page 21

" My new collection will emphasize two extremes—tweeds and chiffons. Dance and dinner frocks will be of chiffon or lace in the majority of cases. I intend to use a great deal of pale leaf green, which is becoming and attractive, and a very good skin colour. I shall continue to use hyacinth blue because I have always had great success with it. -[yrONSIEUR O'ROSSEN, who ■*--*• specialises in tailor-mades, intends to be more severely "classical" than ever. He is returning to the straight line with a pleat or two. " I shall make short coats with a slightly fitted waist, and that loose-

zzzzzz::.. ZZ rzzzz: : IBlHilESiniKnilßHjailEliKlUlßliSllil ncss above it that is the hall-mark of good tailoring," he said. " There will be a few long coats in my collection, but they will be straight. The godet will disappear, and be replaced by an occasional knife pleat to give freedom of movement. " My suits will be chiefly in grey, black and white mixtures, and blue, to make a change from the brown tones that have been fashionable for so long. " Both single and double-breasted jackets will be worn, and the waistline will be slightly long, for the firstclass tailor-made differs very little from the lines of a man's suit. The straight skirts will be as short as those of last season. " I am making one innovation that 1 think will cause a sensation. Since the mode has become so masculine,

I am making dinner jacket suits for women to wear in the evening. "I foresee the day when dinner jackets for women will be as gener=al as they now are for men." " Shall I make longer skirts? No, certainly not " For evening gowns, I shall use a great deal of bead embroidery, while fringes will be a favourite trimming. They give grace and suppleness to the straight silhouette, and make it floating, airy and light." MONSIEUR JEAN CHARLES WORTH emphasises i the youthful note in his predictions on the spring fashions. "There is no revolutionary change in fashion. Everything has come gradually as a natural consequence of what has gone before. " The spring silhouette will retain its present slim lines, with a certain amount of fullness in order to give grace. The ideal of the modern woman is to retain a sporting aspect in every phase of her busy life. The costume adopted for these occupations is loose, and made of soft material. It is comfortable. But whatever her shortcomings—and the modern woman has had her critics in every ageher present-day dress is extremely chic. " Two and three-piece ensembles will be very much worn next spring. Some will be plain, while others will mix two or three colours or materials."

(§lim to cutout figures

THIS is a period in dress when models are being designed principally for slim figures, but all do not represent this type; consequently, it may be well to give some hints as to how to adapt the thin woman's model to stouter figures. "Let us begin with the decolletagc. Most models have a boat-shaped or rounded neck line, which is not helpful to the stout woman. This 'can quite easily be remedied. Keep the slip line quite straight across the front and cut the overdress into a long V. This, at once, gives length to the figure and does not affect the general scheme of the model. The thin woman will have a perfectly close-fitting bodice, but this is, of course, out of the question for a pre-war figure, and that little requisite amount of fullness can be given by the minutest gathers on the shoulder. Those tiny tucks on the underarm seam are enormously helpful as well. The waistline must be very carefully adjusted— that little more (or less) how much it is " (and means) to a fat woman can hardly be realised until you see her in a badlymade and then in a well-made frock. Stout women usually have the idea that merely lengthening the waistline will do the trick. More often \

than not the waistline needs raising a mere trifle to get a straight effect and a straight back view is really of the greatest importance, i ' I 'HE new materials show many ■*■ interesting weaves and finishes —the general tendency being towards soft worsted or cashmere fabrics, pliable and clinging in quality. There are hints that broadcloth will again be in favour, and beautiful effects in tweeds and homespuns will be seen, the English manufacturers having developed some that have all the softness of tricotine, yet the sturdiness of tweed. Needless to say, the New Zealand woollen mills are keeping well abreast of modern requirements, and are turning out some really attractive and serviceable materials which make up admirably. The frock of the ensemble has graduated from the simple, straightline dress to one of more interesting design and cut. This new charm renders the dress so complete in itself without a coat that it is quite the appropriate thing for any formal afternoon occasion.

'Winter features in the Ensemble Gostumes The ensemble costume, with its charming repetition of fabric, colour, and design in the dress, coat, and lining, has lost none of its wellearned popularity, and remains the

most popular feature of the mode for winter wardrobe. Never before have women adopted a type of costume which so expressed unity and completeness. Study and thought on the part of the designers have produced some beautiful designs in costumes and fabrics, which makes the choice of a becoming ensemble now a simple matter. A selection of materials may be made from a wide range of fabrics. The dress and coat lining may be of silk or a lighter-weight woollen fabric than the coat, matching or harmonising in colour. The combination of woollen materials for the ensemble, while attractive and comfortable for cold weather, presents one difficulty, that of drawing the coat on over the woollen garment. Many women prefer the silk dress and silk lining in the coat, which may have an interlining of flannel to give the necessary warmth and still allow the coat to slip over it easily. However, the new wool dress fabrics, created especially for ensemble frocks, have such a beautiful sheen and silk-like texture that this difficulty is now practically eliminated.