The World of Fashion.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLIX, Issue 4, 22 January 1913, Page 69

The World of Fashion.

By

MARGUERITE.

/qTUMMER has come, and with the sunshine streaming down upon us conies, too, the thought of tub

frocks for the morning, and muslin, and chiffon, and lace frocks for the afternoon!

For tub frocks there is nothing more attractive than the same old linen; linen of white, blue, pink, green, ecru —• all colours. A coat and skirt of, say, blue linen may be worn with a blouse of embroidered white linen or of batiste.

A green linen suit is always wonderfully fresh-looking with a blouse of white, and a pink one is pretty with a blouse of ecru.

With a tailor-made coat, of any material, neckwear is to-day a matter of greatest importance! A jabot of snowy, well-goffered lace will give an air of newness to an old and oft-washed suit, but the truly sporting girl will discard lace and show a collar of the same material as the skirt she wears.

A white linen cross-over one-piece frock is attractive with touches of coloured gingham, or flowered cretonne patterned with tiny rosebuds; but smartest with touches of striped washing ribbed ribbon. Besides the serviceable and severe tailor-made and onepiece dress, there are the soft cotton voile and the airy-fairy muslin frock. The Charm of Muslin.

An elderly woman looks very well in a black muslin spotted with white, and if her complexion is good, she may appear to equal advantage in a white muslin striped with black. A touch of green in the hat, or a little bouquet of green leaves tucked in where the bodice fastens, does not fail to give a dainty finish to a black and white costume.

A delicious little yellow muslin frock for a girl may be made as simply as you please, but with two narrowish flounces sewn on below the knee, and these

nicked up at regular distances with buttercups, which are fashioned of the yellow muslin itself, and joined together with green china ribbon. The same should adorn the two soft frills of muslin that encircle the shoulders, and the tucker,'that is a pretty finish of the neck, should be sewn with tiniest flowers and ribbons of the same.

Petals of artificial roses may adorn an “old time dress” of pale pink chiffon, fashioned in the same graceful way. Flowers of every kind, made in every material, are modish worn on every kind of dress. You may twist these together so easily at home with little pieces of muslin chiffon or of silk (silk patterns come in specially well), and it is such an amusing occupation. Only a little fancy need be brought to bear upon it: Five petals—two short and three long —of mauve ribbon for a violet; mere specks of pointed red ribbon for a pimpernel; and so on and so forth. Only, remember never to wed bright, ordinary colours with “weary” ones in a bouquet of these flowers. Of the virtues of white voile for women of different ages I cannot say too much. It is a material which does not readily crush or look messed, and does not require frequent ironing. In a word it has taken the place of less practical and less attractive gowns for summer wear. Voile, like most summer frocks, is nice if you wear it V-shaped at the neck with a smart, small collar. In the evening a delicately embroidered voile is charming for a young girl if edged with swansdown, and swansdown, by the way, is once more becoming fashionable. Mull is in evidence for entire frocks as well as for collars. Have a simple frock of mull, then, for the evening.

The Glass Button Craze. The craze for crystal buttons is becoming alarming. Every other dress one

meets shows a trimming of these pretty buttons. In moderation they are charming and make a most effective addition. A very pretty frock showing a restrained use of crystal buttons was made for a fashionable wedding. This was of pale pink ninon over taffetas of the same colour, with a single row of crystal buttons down the front. The skirt had a deep hem made of bands of ruched taffetas, with a lovely piece of embroidery consisting of pink roses and green leaves, in between. A deep collar of the ninon, embroidered with trailing roses and edged with a ruching of taffetas, almost covered the bodice, and the short sleeves were finished with deep frills of fine spotted net. A large flat hat of coarse ecru straw, trimmed with roses and a pink cavalier feather, accompanied this frock. Beach Frocks. Blue serge ig the children’s greatest friend (and the mother’s, too) at the seaside. A short pleated skirt worn with a navy blue jersey makes an ideal costume. Petticoats should never be worn, serge bloomers being infinitely more comfortable.

The tunic dress is another pretty and practical idea. For this any material that does not show sea marks and sand marks can be used, but serge and galatea are the most suitable. A simple little tunic frock designed for the seashore is shown in the sketch. The skirt is cut up at each side so that it can be easily tucked up under the waist-belt when paddling. The model was in dark blue serge and was trimmed with bands of blue and white galatea. The sleeves were comfortably short, and a simple band of silk, gathered on to elastic, formed the waist-belt. The bloomers, of the same serge, were gathered into elastics at the knee, so that they could be pushed up high when fishing or paddling. The other little girl in the picture has on a one-piece bathing dress of blue serge trimmed with scarlet braid and tied round the waist with scarlet girdle. These two dresses would make a perfect outfit for the beach and would last the whole of the six or seven weeks’ holiday. rs -