LONDON AND PARIS FASHIONS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVI, Issue XXII, 30 May 1896, Page 642

LONDON AND PARIS FASHIONS.

/TOGETHER it really seems as if fashion, this season, could be hardly lavish enough as regards her wondrously-wrought trimmings, and those thousand and one dainty little details that work together to stamp the ensemble of a confection as artistically perfect. For instance, to soften the outlines of velvet or silk hat garnitures, Madame Modus has devised the delightful narrow silk chenille or floss edgings that are very fluffy.

and somehow add an air of completion to the bows on a large chapeau. This novelty is exemplified in my first picture, the crumpled velvet trimming being bordered with the chenille in question. There is really something charmingly smart and distingutßlOgcX this important ‘ Louis XV.’ shape, in medium toned tan felt, bound round the brim with a broad fingering of the same coloured plush. The plumes grouped most picturesquely about the crown are of a rich chestnut, shading gradually down to a very light

• dead-leaf ’ brown to match the felt. But one of the prettiest features of this hat is the well-studied contrast between the neutral shades and the rich glowing ' Bishop ’ violet of the velvet edged with the tan chenille. Nor has the designer exhausted all his taste at this juncture, for at the back, by way of cache-peigne, is a clump of velours tea-roses, in which there are mellow nuances that blend perfectly with the remainder of the confection. To break the hard outer line of some of the black felt boat-shapes, some of our milliners drape cream spotted net, so that at a distance it seems as if the wearer had raised her veil over the brim of her hat.

To still continue the all-enthralling theme of millinery, matinees have already become such a national institution in England that la belle Anglaise has now, after the manner of the gay Parisienne, her theatre bonnets and toques. Perhaps the most chic design for a capote of the kind is the * Bat ' form —one mass of glittering jet, with out spread wings on either side, and brilliant shinestones inserted at the end of two simulated feelers. The great thing, in planning this style of head-gear, is to avoid unwieldly shapes that obstruct the view from the people sitting behind one at the playhouse.

My second sketch is a very charming child’s pAletot and bonnet in bengaline silk and mouflon. It also looks extremely well in thick cloth, bright red or blue. In this case it need only be lined down to the high waistband, whereas the silk is lined and wadded throughout.

It will, indeed, be a very long time yet before the turn of the religiously plain corsage with narrow sleeves

comes round again in the ever revolving wheel of Fashion. En attendant any such sartorial catastrophe the dressmakers are doing all in their power to turn out their bodices as fussy, as frilled, and as generally frivolous and feminine as possible ; and there is a great run just now on chiffon sleeves composed of a multitude of tiny frills stitched on horizontally to the lining. In

other corsages I also note that bands of ribbon are being very much used on the sleeves, these broad stripes of silk, satin, or velvet being mostly finished off with bows on the shoulders and at at the elbows. Here is a good specimen of the mode in question, as applied to a smart afternoon blouse. In this novelty the primary material is a soft Indian silk of ‘handkerchief’ pattern, vivid crimson dominating in the Eastern design. Broad moirfi ribbon of the same strong shade of red, forms two bands on the sleeves, butterfly knots on the shoulders and trimmings

above the six-button gloves. On the hips the watered material forms a dainty kind of basque, thus giving a thoroughly up-to-date tone to the little garment The ribbon has, by the way, a narrow bordering of black satin, and this sable note introduced with moderation intensifies the perfect Parisian stamp of the blouse. * ♦ * ♦ ♦ * Now for a word or so the all-absorbing question of theatre cloaks and opera wraps. When the evenings get chilly one instinctively begins to ‘ think out ’ an evening mantle for the approaching winter. Here is the model of something essentially useful and cosy in way of evening wraps. A very soft make of electric blue vicuna cloth has been chosen for the principal part of this creation, the warm material being lined with a surah silk, shading from the cerulean shade to a glowing ton

of scarlet. Heading this is a double cape of ‘ bruised plush,’ matching the cloth ; while edging these excellently cut tippets is some narrow silver braiding laid on so as to form a fanciful border. The pointed jabot is made of pretty Maltese lace and meets at the throat a

very chic waved collar wrought in plush aud touched up with the silver trimming. *«♦ « * * Apropos, ‘ bruised plush ’ seems the best term with which to describe one of the latest novelties in winter fabrics, and perhaps it is this very bruised appearance which lends an additional charm to this old-world material, employed in some cases as a deep border to a cloth jupe. Those of slight proportions will welcome the new mode of gathering the skirts slightly round the hips, and will not regret to hear that, if anything, our petticoats are to be wider and crisper than ever. * * **•» * * Just a word on boots, by way of an appropriate finale! The smartest thing shown in the way of foot gear is the tan patent shoe, which has a character all its own. In certain makes the ‘ uppers ’ are in a dull skin, while only the toe-caps are in shiny leather. The spiked boot, which now hails principally from America, is rapidly 1 catching on ’ in England, and it is quite an error to imagine that this pointed chaussure, generally quite half an inch longer than the actual foot, is other than supremely easy.

Heloise.