The World of Fashion.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 21, 22 May 1912, Page 69

The World of Fashion.

By

MARGUERITE.

THE general style of the gowns is something between the empire and the princess robe. Tunies, draperies, high waist belts, fichus and revers form the trimmings in them all, just as one sees everywhere, and the charm of them lie more certainly in the colour schemes and in the beauty of the materials. Chiffons, marquisettes, nets and voiles of cobwebby daintiness are responsible for the exquisite evening gowns of the season. Some of the chiffons are brocaded in velour—a marvellous effect. Others are printed in either dainty pompadour or rich Oriental colours. One bordered design that I saw was printed in fifty Colours and shades. Quite the most effective idea in chiffon—while the creation of a Parisian dressmaker—may be easily copied by any woman clever with the needle. It is simply printed or stencilled chiffon, with the designs outlined with tiny crystal beads. Some of the beautiful Paris model gowns are simply trimmed with fichus, surplices and draped tunics of this beaded chiffon. JB The New Tunic. It is quite obvious that the advance "eouturieres have no intention of permitting the tunic to be abandoned. Every day new ideas are exploited in its fashioning to render it more attrac-

There is a great .charm about the evenmeuee and gold lace, with a gold tissue the belt and at one side of the skirt waist green tulle is wound. Half the of lemon tulle, very cleverly and lightly always •becoming in close juxtaposition

five. Charmingly simple in line, and built in accordance with the latest inodes is the frock illustrated. Tunics of Greek Net. To those women whose expenses just now put a ban on much extravagance, "doing up’’ becomes the sole refuge. A .review, as a matter of fact, of the wardrobe, invariably suggests numbers of ways in which an evening frock may be increased. An old silk or satin dress, wide in the skirt and made with long or loose sleeves, can be metamorphosed with the help of a tunic or a complete veiling. In fact, the die o of three years ago, which was made ample at the hem, is more readily convertible into a modern frock than one ■of the last eighteen months. In two years’ time, probably, we shall be bemoaning the fact that the dress of today has no use beyond the making of sachets and patchwork quilts. A net tunic or overdress is more lasting than chiffon. A veiling of broadmeshed Greek net, edged with a little embroidery of beads and bugles, will •completely change an old evening gown, the skirt of which has been narrowed in the gores, while a new bodice —cut in kimono form—of net may be supplied, bordered in the same way as the skirt. EJkick velour will probably be the most important fabric of the season in ecats, because it will not only be used

ing frock which is made of lemon chartrain lined with emerald green tulle. Into tiger lilies axe placed, and round the bodice is made of lace and the other half posed over ffesh-coknired tulle, which is to the arms and shouldere.

for afternoon eoats, but also for evening wear. However, the most luxurious evening coats are of brocades regal enough for wear at the brilliant French courts of long ago. Juliet caps are among the novelties, just brought out from Paris. These caps are not cheap, for they consist of strands of pearl beads woven into a coarse network and joined at the intersections with rhinestones, or they are of fine net embroidered with pearl or crystal beads or thickly pailletted with gold, silver or iridescent spangles. Yet it is possible for the amateur to make one of these Juliet caps and have it look precisely as it should, by shaping the crown by means of gores, ribbon-stayed on the under side. The Juliet, as one may see by the pictures representing the ill-fated heroine, fits closely to the head, is posed a trifle toward the left ear and is suited only to the girl who has a quantity of waving hair or hair which can be made to wave. J 8 Fashion in Fans. Fans have undergone considerable change, and those shown for the coming season include a variety that will make an appeal to many tastes. It is expected that two fans will find special favour, the new design in ostrich plumes and the lace one on a pearl mount. Ostrich feathers, in the up-to-date models, will be uncurled, and the shape of the mount is long and narrow, forming a point. The suitable frame for a white feather fan is goldfish shell, which is the technical name of a yellow Japanese shell, whose colouring is peculiarly well suited to throw out the tone of snqw-white plumes. Pearl, in a variety of shades, tortoiseshell, and bone are the correct materials for fan mounts, and their effect is frequently enhanced by carving or by gold scroll patterns inlaid. j* Flower Frocks. The debutante of the coming season should she choose to do so, may, as her great-grandmother did before her, deck herself with flowers when she arrays herself for the dance. It is the typical whil ? frock of nearly seventy years ago, with its festooned flounces supported by lilies and white roses, that her mother would order for her, and in it she would resemble the prettiest of damsels Winterhalter painted, as fresh and sweet and modest as the viBlet. Her hair she would dress not with the painful neatness of those times but in the simple braids and coils then fashionable, more carelessly disposed. Pearls for her throat there would bo and for her wrists more pearls, small ones wrought into broad chains. On her feet there would be shoes as pretty as Cinderella’s and only a little more sub stantial, made of satin to match her dress, with pearl rosette ornaments. J* Wired Sleeves. A new introduction in evening frocks which is a modification of the old style is represented on this page. The original is not a white but a p.iie coral pink tulle dress, with a waistband and flat bow at the back of a darker shade of coral. Tucked into the belt is a bunch of roses, which fail in trails, partly beneath ami partly outride the veilings or material. Of the sleeve's something must be sai l with particular emphasis—namely, ithnt they are lightly wired to cause the gauzy folds to stand away from the arms. By no detail of dress is Fashion’s trend more unmistakably indicated than by the mode in sleeves, and as we have already got the bell shape and leg of mutton patterns before us, as well as a modi-

fixation of the deep gauntlet with a puff above it. we have proof positive of the introduction of mid-Victorian designs. It is because -the new sleeves are so much wider and more important looking than the old ones that a rather slighter waist measurement is required.

One of the models suggested by a Winterhalter painting of nearly 70 years ago.