LONDON AND PARIS FASHIONS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume X, Issue 7, 18 February 1893, Page 166

LONDON AND PARIS FASHIONS.

SEASONABLE COSTUMES AND MILLINERY. (SEE ILLVSTRATIONS PAGE 164.) The fashions of the hour are sufficiently variable to meet the requirements of all forms and personal peculiarity. To dress well one must first acquaint themselves with the limitations of their own figure and complexion, and select styles and colours accordingly. If one is in doubt what would be becoming in colour, it is always reliable to depend upon the colour of the hair as an inaication. A woman with brown hair can wear almost anything. A sallow brunette should avoid fawns and browns. The illustrations this week are very cA»c. The first is a costume in blue cloth ; the collar, deep cuffs, skirt and corselet are braided in silver. No. 2. Jacket in Arab Venetian cloth, edged with black and lined with silk ; a Watteau back ; deep revers of black silk, falling pelerine and collar of fine Cluny black guipure. Toque in drab, trimmed with white moire ribbons, crown covered with white guipure ; brim studded with black jet sequins ; black ostrich plumes. No. 3, costume in biscuit vicuna. Skirt shaped and edged with narrow beaver fur and gold galon. Blouse bodice d la Busse, fastening at the side and trimmed with fur and gold galon ; waistband in gold; full sleeves. Hat in fancy mottled straw to match ; Tam O’Shanter crown with band of maroon velvet; biscuit feathers and gold colour velvet bows, narrow strings, and biscuit coloured lace.

No. 4, costume in thin summer check ingrey. Plain-shaped skirt; revers, collar, and waist-band in blue grey cashmere ; very full sleeves ; vest in cashmere —white embroidered in silver, with silver military buttons. The deep cuffs are in blue-grey cashmere,* with ornamental buttons to the elbow. Toque in fancy straw to match, diamond-shaped crown, with full blue grey velvet puffed edge ; bouquet of tea roses and small oranges.

People who may be supposed to know predict that before long we shall have a revival of the crinoline. M. Worth is known to be working hard to bring about the bulgy alteration, and skirts are being made so full that means of expansion will have to be adopted just now if ladies are to walk in any comfort. Besides, the present fashion in bodices, with its wide sleeves and sloping shoulders, is very much like that which accompanied the crinoline in the early sixties. It is possible, however, that we may be spared the reappearance of crinolines in all their ugly inconvenience. The moderates of the mode are talking of some arrangement of whalebone, or a single hoop. The days of the blouse really seem to be numbered. ’Tis true, ’tis pity, for they were easy, airy, elegant, and everything else that is agreeable. But it is’ ever the same — tout casse, tout lasse, tout passe ’ — and since the law of contrasts holds never more good than in what is very curiously called ‘the world of fashion,’a tight-fitting bodice is to succeed the loose and nonchalantlooking blouse. The material of the sleeves belonging to this garment are to be of the colour of the skirt, and the bodice itself must be of a different colour, harmonising or contrasting. For instance, a tartan skirt and sleeves —big sleeves of course—in which bottle green is the predominating colour would look well with a bodice of bottle-green velvet or very dark red cloth. High collars of rich passementerie extend around the sides and back of the neck, and continue in long points down the front of the waist. A space of about three inches between the edges of the collar and fronts is filled in with some diaphanous material. The edges of the passementerie are held in place by stick-pins. A becoming costume for a miss is of cashmere, the edge finished with einbroidery and a very fine box pleating of silk to match the material. A corselet and deep cuffs are also of embroidery ; the collar wide, pointed, eash belt, and a band across the front at the upper edge of the corselet, are of watered silk or ribbon. A few costumes in combination materials are shown. A stylish dress is of black faille. The sleeves and a- full gathered ruffle at the waist are of brocade with alternate stripes of plain black and fancy colour. Bias ruffles of

black, bound with the fancy material, make a deep finish around the lower edge of the skirt. The waved bang still continues in favour. The parting in front is shown in the best styles and if the hair is natural. It is impossible to arrange the false front so that the artificiality of it is not apparent; therefore in false waves most of the bangs are continuous across the forehead. A handsome costume of striped camel’s hair is made with the collar and waist in a continuous section. The stripes run up to the edge of the collar, which is lined with silk and interlined with heavy canvas or buckram. Pretty and stylish coats cover one-third of the length of the skirt. They are closely fitted at the back, slightly loose in front, and have very wide lapels faced with silk or velvet and turned-over collars.

A stylish and pretty neck finish is made of a band of ribbon or silk, to which is attached a deep frill of lace which falls over the shoulders. A ribbon bow is placed at the closing.

A good many years ago ladies wore bands of ribbon tied around the back hair and knotted in a bow at the crown of the head. This fashion will again be in favour. A cape-wrap of black silk has a deep collar with four rows of twisted cord set on, giving the effect of four capes. A wide turned-over collar also has an edging of the cord. The bag coat is a thing of the past; indeed, its present was .so short that one might wonder why such an absurd fashion was ever started.

New passementeries are made of three or four kinds and colours of braid, arranged in true-lovers’ knots and arabesque figures of all sorts. Young ladies wear a straight, high, linen collar and four-in-hand tie, with' a cutaway, double-breasted vest jacket. The double skirt seems to be increasing in popularity, and there are new models with three skirts.

A waist of mull or fine lawn has a collar made of a wide band of shirring, edged with a gathered ruffle. Parasol handles are shown in natural wood and in all sorts of eccentric shapes. Very large fans are fashionable. The Japanese fan in tints is best liked. s

It is said that large sleeve-buttons are coming into favour. Plain linen collars and cuffs are again fashionable.