How the Directoire Gown is Modified for Party Wear.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLII, Issue 7, 17 February 1909, Page 61

How the Directoire Gown is Modified for Party Wear.

However stern the curriculum of the modern school may be, and no matter how thoroughly the young pensionnaire may be grounded in sums and science she has always time and to spare for the question of her school outfit. Few mothers realise how high the standard of dress is when judged by youthful critics of fifteen or sixteen, nor gauge the molehills of humiliation which the shabby little scholar magnifies into mountains when she compares her humble outfit with those of her more fortunate sisters. To turn a girl out well is never a case of money thrown away, and the sense of being bien mise will go very far in helping Eve’s daughters in the perfecting of their manners and deportment by instilling into their minds at the outset that they are persons of importance, to whose advantage it is to take a definite interest in the details of their toilettes. COATS OF NAVY-BLUE SERGE WITH RUST-RED COLLARS. Very smart are the neat costumes of navy-blue serge with long cutaway

coats, which are being prepared for school-girls this autumn. These are simply braided down the front or “frogged" with thick, padded •.-.it in cords, while the little collars of rust-?ed, orange or cherry-coloured, velvet give just, the right touch of relief to the costume. AVith these will besides, be worn large felt hats trimmed with an immense shaded wing which is cleverly draped and manoeuvred to encircle the whole hat ttnd provides the only trimming. velvet cherries as millinerial ASSETS. In Paris, too, an immense fancy .is being shown for large hats for schoolgirls made of Oriental-patterned silks in

terracotta and green with a design of Indian pines, the only trimming consisting of a huge black velvet bow placed on one side; while an equal fancy is being shown for large mushrooms of stretched Ottoman silk simply wreathed with great velvet cherries with woody stalks and velvet foliage. SO IT WHITE NINON FOR EVENING WEAR. No revolution in Directoire fashions ean be said to have taken place in the sehool-room, but there are modifications of thissstyle which are accepted with a great deal of pride and satisfaction by the young people who have the question of party froeks to consider. The evening frock par excellence for the girl of fifteen or sixteen is fashioned of soft white ninon, the skirt being slit up on one side over accordion-pleated ninon, while ecah side is finished with a deep hem-stitched fold. The little corsage is made with a wide baiter band of lace, which gives place to a deep guinipe of tucked tulle or chiffon. High collars and plisse frills of a less exaggerated type than those of their elders are popular for school-girls, while wrist-long sleeves are invariably worn, the fancy for short sleeves for girls—which was never becoming while the arms of the wearers were in the ansrular stage of development—having entirely evaporated.