Folly and Ugliness in Dress.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVI, Issue 9, 30 August 1911, Page 70

Folly and Ugliness in Dress.

AKE OUR.DESIGNERS ANO ARTISTS ASLEEP? FREAKS OF FASHION IN LONDON. IX>NDON, July 7. The artistic being who can find anything admirable, or beautiful, or even sensible and comfortable in the fa.-hions of the present time must be strangely tolerant. Look where one will. in the '.Vest End, in the suburbs, in the streets and shops, the main feature that strikes the observer must surely be the lack of originality and charm displayed by to-day's fashion. - Foulard is widely sported, a pretty graceful material of itself, but made sometimes in patterns that are wilfully hideous. Navy blue and brown, for instance. covered with open white rings, that constitute the wearer a sort of target smothered with innumerable bull's eyes, is worn by short round people, and al! sorts of “arty" shades, with tiie same unimaginative designs, appear to find ready sale, judging from the numbers of inappropriate gowns one meets abroad. THE TUNIC dies hard, and is now at its worst stage and far away from the long and graceful lines of its debut. For some reason

or n me black spotted net over flowered foulard i- eld to be beautiful, and a 1 am; ;, u am effect i.- the result. Black n-t. - irel ir to a black or white foundation, or a on '-colour underdress. an I worn a ith figured lining of • vet il . - ii ! in • daytime, it look- anything out artistic. H \TS I must di-pose of in a few moderate " ords, or my fellow New Zealanders will think that it i- my own appreciation of licauty that is oui of joint! But —even speaking moderately hats are really hideous in the main. The fashionable eloan hat is undoubtedly piquant on a small and daintily featured girl, whose prettiness its brimlesa eccentricity throws into a sort of Puck-like prominence. But worn, a. it is, every

day and everywhere. by plump mid UeageJ devotees of fashion, with eollarle*’ gown* beneath it, and with no Inick iuur permitted to stray into view, it is valg.r.. ugly. and stodgy in the extreme. CIRCUS The clown crown (called Uy some the ‘'Catch Joe; .” style from the injunction of the clowns in a eireusl seems to have us in it? tyrant clutches. for, even though some of us sport a brim, and a wide one. we appear determined to have, surmounting it. a cone shaped crown of trulv absurd dimensions, and for this, when made in Panama straw, of course, we are asked an enormous price. Underneath such an ungainly erection the daintiest bit <»f femininity-looks a .pigmy, and her more robust -ister a freak. WHY IS IT? On nearly everyone’s lips at any big assembly i- the same cry. "Did you ever see such a generous display of ugliness in gowns and hat"? 1 ’ and yet. day by day. the same state of affairs is allowed to have things a'J its own way. It is as if some elf of ugliness had joined hands with a spirit of mischief and an imp of expense, an I. lulling beauty and grace to sleep, had taken command of the millinery world. The sleep of stupidity will probably continue through .July and August while sales hold sway of the land, and then, perhaps, there will be a revolution. Soon may it come! THE BUTTONHOLE WAR II is one of the newest conceits for men. A tiny little watch, circled with red enamel, is set in smooth gold, and this with small clips, is n.xed into the buttonhole of the coat. Smaller than a thumbnail is the face of the watch. For women there is a companion to this, a watch within a pendant-. A fine silver chain holds a pear-shaped “drop” of grey enamel, worked with tiny seed diamonds in a floral design. The bottom of the drop is cut off. and the face of a tinv watch shows. Indeed and indeed, surely we live in a silly age! SASHES play a very important part in the accessories of dress this season. They are worn in everv conceivable wav. with large or small bows and no ends, with ends and no bows. and. in fact, any way that appeals to indiv. hial fancv. There is, l>esides, no law as to where thev should be tied; the front, sides, or hack are all equally fashionable A verv new sash arrangement that is decided!v freakish is to have a broad flat sash ribbon starting from the waist at the back. an I falling down perfectly straight to the edge of the sk’rt. where it is then looped up and fastened under a fold or a frill of the dress LARGE RETICULES that have drservedlv been dubbed “ridicule®” bv the outsider are .still to be met at all functions—exaggerated "trifle*.” with rich embroidery and valued at several pounds, that appear to dwarf the owner, whose attenuated skiru* and weird hat seem to complete a trinity of fol tv a*. th** lug having entered a door, the lady follows. Nowadays these elaborate accessories are even to be met with in the mornings in shop*, held by women in sensible •erge. Some of the smaller sizes are ▼ery dainty and pretty.