Fashion Hints for Islands Women
pp. 63-64 · Read in the full issue
By "Therese"
STYLES to-day are simple and chic, and wherever intricate draping appears it has an air of simplicity that shrieks expense, even though it may have been achieved at little cost by clever ingenuity.
Lightweight coats of wool georgette or jersey are definite needs for the hew season. There are so many styles from which to choose, from the severely tailored to the softly feminine, and all are charming. They turn dresses into ensembles and are as successful at the formal afternoon party as at the informal dinner.
IF your holidays in Australia are to be filled with goings and comings from morning to night, you will need at least three kinds of daytime dresses besides dinner and evening gown£ There’s the bridge or tea type, very new and chic because of its low-slung waist line and its trimming of a gold clip on either side of the neckline. This frock will be in black, of course, and will be one of the greatest standbys of your wardrobe.
The second is the sports type—a little newer and definitely smarter than last season’s shirtmakers. It has long sleeves bloused at the wrist and is ideal for self-patterned crisp wool. An inset V front buttons to the neck with con trasting buttons and ends in a well fitting shirt collar. The skirt is two piece, slightly flared and with enough width for comfort. The belt matches up with the buttons.
Last but not least comes the all-round type. It is sure to flatter you if you make it in the sheerest wools to bring out that soft front fullness. And with each of the frocks there are special shoes —a high cut court of suede for the bridge playing frock, the Oxford with alligator trim for the sports frock, and the high-tongued tie for the all-rounder.
A CLEVER way of enlarging your wardrobe with very little outlay is by the addition to a foundation frock of separate bits and pieces suit able for the occasion.
A frock of the new green in wool georgette made with V-neck with revers, gathered shoulders, slightly widened shoulders, a subtly flared skirt and tie in-front belt can be altered in the twinkling of an eye by buttoning a caba chon of lace on either side of the V neck. You can fold the revers under and fasten them down with twin bits of dressmaker jewellery. Twist a plaid scarf in at the open neck and use more of its material plus that of the dress for a reversible bag. Then pull a two toned wide ribbon bow through the slits in the revers, and you can make high necked play with handkerchiefs; stick one in the slit and use the other for a collar. Really, there is no end to the service that one foundation frock can be made to give if you use ingenuity.
ONE of the biggest questions in the winter mode is “What about skirts?” Are we to go back to the straight and narrow? Will the swing
skirt demand continued attention, or will there be a compromise? The answer is “Compromise, of course.”
Evening skirts will go on being many and various. Tailored skirts will keep slim, but with sufficient width for com fort; for afternoon wear a good deal of skirt fullness will be seen in both coats and frocks.
Designers have tried out lots of new ideas on the skirts —panniers, bustles, and pleats stitched and loose in many ways. The waists are invariably slim, with almost a return to the wasp waist of the gay nineties. Bodices are swathed, tucked, pleated and plain, and each has its own particular favourite skirt. Skirts are slightly shorter for day wear.
The tailored sleeve with slightly pleated or rounded shoulder is almost universal these days.
NOVEL ideas of trimming: Turquoise grosgrain edgings and rosettes make delightful accents for black; plaid ribbon as gay as you like goes with plum; slit a long colourful scarf at its pointed ends to make pockets, then place it around your neck and catch it in at the waist line with a belt; when you feel in need of a change, tie the same scarf round your waist and tuck a hand kerchief in one of the slot-pockets.
Accessories are still of great import ance. Gloves must be chosen carefully from the wide choice available —pig-skin gloves give the correct cachet to tailored suits, suede and kid do their duty for afternoon wear, and the wash leather gloves are serviceable for all occasions except evening, when finer skins are required.
Hats are madder than ever and never
cease to surprise—a tiny piece of felt, a huge cluster of ribbon, a twist and a quirk, and hey presto, a hat is born.
Toques are popular and deservedly so, since their usefulness is never-ending.
Bags in patent, suede, leather and kid all come in the most fascinating shapes, and very often are accompanied by matching belts. Some of the bags sported these days by the B.Y.T.s are almost big enough for week-end kits!
Mr. John Good, who has been overseer on a plantation at Pondo, New Guinea, for some time, arrived in Australia by aeroplane at the end of March, to enlist in the Australian Air Force.