LONDON AND PARIS FASHIONS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVIII, Issue XVIII, 1 May 1897, Page 557

LONDON AND PARIS FASHIONS.

COMBINATION of adjectives, f g or‘exquisitely luxurious ’ can MBim alone describe this season's W ■ modes; but snch a wealth of _■ colour and scope in the matter ■ of shape are allowed us as 1 regards millinery that it is a neither difficult nor expensive * n These days to be perfectly Krejegjßtfy and suitably attired. Amongst t he latest materials of which our chapeaux are fashioned I may note black, white, and coloured chenille plaited in very cleverly with ‘ woodshaving ’ straw, that peculiarly shiny fabric which was christened pa ille de satin during the summer. Then, again, there are the new speckled felts, imitating somewhat closely certain makes of Scotch tweed, emerald green and a particular dull shade of turquoise, together with a subdued tone of red, being the favourite backgrounds to a faint speckling of black. I have already inspected other models in tan and brown, sprinkled with a kind of white ‘snow-flake’ pattern, but these do not approach for chic the first-mentioned styles. My winter nouveautS is made of the new turquoise blue felt, speckled in rather a shadowy way with black. At the back it is raised very high over successive loops of cream satin, that are kept in place by a pair of paste brooches. Some very rich turquoise velvet is draped round the crown under a blue bird’s head aud a fan like arrangement of jet-black wings. The paradise featheis are cream, to match the cache-pfigne. By the way, it is strange to note that while the French have been revelling in this kind of ethereal plumage—a very expensive article when real—we are only just commencing to realise its beauty as an adornment to our smartest millinery. At present the imitation of the bona-fide feather is so excellent that the difference can hardly be detected unless by someone who is a perfect connoisseur. But to return to the remaining trimming of our model. The brim is bound with blue corded ribbon, and on the right of the crown is rather a large paste buckle. What an amount of cream and white is employed, to be sure, on all the

new winter shapes! Sometimes, as in to day's design, the ivory note assumes the form of bewildering loops and plumes, while on many of the latest chapeaux delicate cream lace is draped and brought up into a side bow, duly wired to stand erect. Chrysanthemums, sewn so closely one after the other that they look as if they were huddling together for warmth, form girlish wreaths round some of the fresh hats, and the crown, draped ‘ a la Tam o’Shanter,’ is far from being out of fashion. All kinds of peltry bid fair to be universally worn this winter, and, really, nothing can possibly look cosier or more suitable on a bitterly cold day than nice fur wraps.

There is indeed, something poverty-stricken looking about those who refuse to don furs, because, perhaps, their limited pin-money will not allow of their buying

real seal or sable. Together with chinchilla and astrakan, the most fashionable skin at present is ermin —that right regal peltry that looks so supremely charm ing when introduced moderately on a winter mantle Here is a pretty example of a dull red box-cloth sacque coat, cut with the latest in ‘tailor ’ sleeves and nicelytrimmed with ermine. A kind of yoke is formed by an embroidery of black silk cording and gold metallic thread, and down the centre of this worked breastpiece hangs a long ermine tie with six black tails. The high collar, which stands out becomingly from the throat in the newest much-approved style, is lined with the qneenly fnr. A muff »n suite is carried, and some very narrow but thick ermine cuffs make a very cosy finish round the wrists. The three-quarter cape, fashioned en visits, holds a considerable place in the esteem of up-to-date womankind, but this shape is certainly not so delightfully youthful as the sacque when it is cut to perfection. At the first glance, some ot the new Paris capes that are cut somewhat longer in front than at the back and sides, look as if the wearer had made some kind of incomprehensible blunder. And yet this particular kind of model is quite the thing to don just now. Another pet garment on the other side of the Channel, where exaggeration in dress never appears altogether so vulgar as it does in England, is a double-breasted black astrakan coat, with gigantic cuffs and revers of the same fur in white. The contrast is violent, to say the least, and the addition of appliques of the dark astrakan on the snowy background hardly tend to tone down the appearance of the jacket, especially as these applications are brilliantly embroidered with crystal beads and silver sequins. Of all the tones of red and purple, the new wine tint may be rightly considered the most ladylike ; the colour looks simply charming when carried out—as in my third sketch—in soft vicuna cloth, with conventional black silk braid both on skirt and corsage. Here the bodice assumes the form of a closely-fitting Zouave, fashioned roundly and in one with a baggy vest of

turquoise blue bengaline—that silk which never seems to wear out. The little coat is daintily hemmed with a deep band of claret-tinted sequins mixed with just the slightest suspicion of gold beading, the rucked baby ceinture being composed of material to match the waistcoat. Although a good many beautiful things are combined to make this gown sweetly becoming, it would seem as if no effort had been lavished on it, so exquisitely simple does it appear.

Heloise.