The Necessity for Fashion.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLV, Issue 13, 28 September 1910, Page 73

The Necessity for Fashion.

DARE \\ E MAKE OUR OWN? THE ‘•OBVIOUS” TYPE. LONDON, August 12. Whether Garrick would have made an able critic of fashion in these days it is hard to say, but a piece of advice th.if he once gave is, at any rate, worth consideration: — Be not misled by ‘strange fa nI a -lie art. But in your dress le! Nature I ik. «»me part We've certainly been under the rule of strange fantasy often, hut whether •art’’ has been considered, mii.-h less nature, is another question, and i collection of the atrocities we poor feminines are eallc'C on to don if we're to be in the fore iun‘f of fashion ought to niak • an intere-tinil exhibit a hundred \>irs ahead for th-f

ladies of that bright day, though T dare swear some wild and wicked spirit will ftill be governing women then and forcing them into garments too large by yards Or too small by yards, or anything but comfortable and sensible. Now, 1 have a large hat, and |t is said to be very becoming—that is because it gives a shady effect to the face and lessens it age, 1 daresay! Is it comfortable? Certainly not, as its straw brim demands wire galore to keep it in its undoubtedly pretty shape, and is no light weight. CommonsCnse tells me to wear one threequarters the size and without wire supports, but when I put such a model on now my face seems to alter and grow horribly wider —the shady aspect has been lopped off, and I stand as I am, only worse, localise of the fashion. it is undeniably possible for a woman to be perfectly happy in an uncomfortable hat and hideously uncomfortable in ft comfortable one, and all because our minds are such that while we may be timorous of a novelty because we, in our own minds, consider it inartistic, we lose? sight of its peculiarities when it is stamped with the hall mark* of fashion and we’ve become accustomed to it. Should we be happy in a dress of lustrous brocade at 50/ a yard, made with puffs and gathers, with ribbons and ruffs, in this day, granted we are on the sunny side of fifty? Ah, no. Can we he happy in a gown at a tenth of that value in the height of present-d’ay fashions? Ah, yes. We be a strange sex, Queens of Dress. There are few women who, queens in most things, give such grace and distinction to whatever they wear that one does not note the details of their toilette; a sign (hat they are, 'at least, all in harmony. Such a one do I know, and often let my memory dwell on her, though she is thousands of miles away. She is merry, yet gentle, and, be it gioted, exceedingly dainty and charming

In natural colour, with pretty embroidered mauve galon, outlining la.vtj collar and <iiff>. gown finished with patent h*a I her bell in black or to match embroidery. The hat is made in Kallia canvas to match tin* tussore, and trimmed with mauve or black satin ribbon ami dainty little mauve silk r<*s e on brim. to lo ok al. Age, about forty four. She has dark brown hair, rippling with curls, ami lovely brown eyes, and she has an air wlu'ii wealing a flowered muslin frock with a soli fichu, a white frock embroidered in -.onie pale shade, a dove grey with discreet sugoesl i<»iK of flame colour, a d’ark coat and >kiil, a black satin with rich Ince; :is of some grande dame of old days in France.

Why? Because she is herself in whatever gown, and so much a fine character that her dress in but a further expression of her delightful mind. I can imagine the same woman utterly spoiled by inharmonious dressing. Was she untidy now—horrible thought!—did she spoil her sweet, grey tones -with white or brown or blue, did she plaster frills and fripperies over her old-world muslins, or did she dab odds and ends of embellishments on to her plain evening gowns, she would be not only commonplace, but worse—a discord.

There is this to he said for a fashion—it gives a definite aim and object to

a dress when in probably fifteen case£ out of twenty, without its rules to go by, women would present a somewhat nondescript appearance, as do many .who make a foolish boast of disregarding the imperious Dame’s suggestions. The “ Obvious ” Woman.

There’s no necessity for any normal woman to make herself a slave to any reigning fashion- don’t mistake me—and there exists the woman who, to a limited extent, can make her own fashion, such as the picturesque one 1 described, but there arc very many of us, who have no outstanding graces and charms, who will do infinitely better to at least keep an eye on the outlines of “le dernier cri,” than to wander on at our own sweet will, and spend money on garments in which we look out of date, though they be new and of the best material.

By far the commonest type of woman one meets in life—and by common 1 mean general is the “obvious” dresser, f, alone, know hundreds of her, and I'm sure my readers do; the woman who, getting a dress of China-blue, of brickcolour, of black, allow* her dressmaker to touch it up with white, and instantly turn it into an utterly, hoplessly, commonplace gown, though it be of the finest texture.

Then there is the square-yoke woman who lays out the front of her bodice in a Hot mentis, Hike a icottage garden— 4} hideous plan; and the one who has nearly every dress made in the same style, though 110 flight of imagination can convince one (hat it ever suited her; and the woman whose gowns have always a. belt, a horrible boundary line that cuts her into two and leaves neither a satisfactory top nor skirt; the One who wear* frocks when -he should be trim, and the one who displays her feet when she could be graceful did she but cease lo remind us of them; the one who spoils her dressmaker's handiwork by the villainous milliners that top* it oh, their name is legion, these “obvious” dressers. Ko much is a woman likely to become known by the habit of her dress that the art of dressing well should be an object of real study tu her. Simplicity

in dres« is generally a safe guide, and a nice attention to such details as neck and cuffs goes a long way. It isn’t in the least necessary to have a large wardroibe, and it’s perfectly possible to be known as a well-dressed woman on half-a-dozen gowns or less, provided always that those costumes aft ■what they ought to be.