In fairy tales no one ever wears a jacket or even a cape. Both have the crude modern note which no self-respecting story would wish to possess. It is perhaps the crave ing for romance which, almost a blow, has turned the smart military cape of Vast year into a cloak—no less.
Where a' cloak differs most from a cape is round the shoulders. Here it is gathered or yoked /in, instead of falling in straight folds of fall ost cloaks have a deep yoke; some reach down almost to the middle of the back. They are cut in rounded—shape, so that the dip over the shoulder is not very deep. The cloak is then gathered or pleated in, and often it is bunched up in front as though it had been gathered up in the band to give it.a tight appearance ound the bottom. Round the neck frills appear in great diversity. The average shape is really cloakish. That is, it has a rather hug-me-tight appearance and should be warm.
Tue Bittows oF a ReyNoups Croar.
Some are all frills. These are not at all pretty, but they have a smart appearance if cleverly cut. The danger is, of course, of their degenerating into the mantle pure and simple. A dark blue cloak is-made from top to toe of dark blue accordion-pleated taffetas, arranged in about six tiers. The dress underneath is worn' very short, and high-heeled shoes are necessity.
The chief difficulty with the cloak is the arms. These insist on emerging somewhere, and—horrid to relate—only find an outlet by means of two slits, exactly on the model of the old' waterproof belonging to the Charlie's Aunt period. The general tendency is to constrict the arms, tying in the elbows and leaving the rest of the arm to becom: a flipper. A rather different kind of cloak has an academic suggestion. The yoke is not all round, but merely across the back. There depends from it a long flowing drapery which flies out rather becomingly behind, billowing as Sir Joshua Reynolds' cloaks always billow. In front, however, two straight-down pieces are caught in by a strap across the waist. Thus, while the back retains the cloaklike suggestion, the front is tight and comfortable, and cannot blow about. Some cloaks, fasten across the front rather as the old golf cloaks were wont to. do, only, instead of mere straps, there are solid pieces of stuff worn a crossover blouse.
'A few cloaks—day-cloaks—are already showing a hood, and, indeed, these are among the most becoming. Very eighteenth-century in cut, they seem to ask for volum~ mous' clothing underneath. For the present, however, they also are bunched up in front to give the tight appearance round the ankles.
Sasp-Cotour anp DeLpHrsiuat Cloaks are being- made of all sorts of materials, from wool to. the flimsiest brocaded chiffon. Cloaks for hard wear are being made of camels' wool, very plain and straight and uncommonly comfortable. As a throw-on garment after games or in a motor these are hard to beat. Also the colours. are charming, the prettiest perhaps being sand-colour and delphinium blue—the dark kind. It. 1s often convenient not to have to put one's arms in something, and for repose the cloak really comes into its own.
Satin looks very well in the street, and is, of course, just the thing for dinner or theatre. Some of the evening cloaks are seizin the opportunity of the wide roun yoke to make the cloak of two materials. Chinese embroideries can be used for the upper part and for the arm-slits, the rest being black or purple or deep blue. cloak has one great advantage over the cape—it does not have to be cut on the round and consequently consumes less salt and hangs evenly_without trouble.
"Everyone will remember the old opera cloak with its high collar and shaped shoulders and bunches of frills and laces to set off both. There is a tendency Smong some of the French cloaks to reintroduce these fussifications. There is always a public with a weakness for them, and on some faces they certainly have a softening effect. It must be remembered, however, that the tendency of the cloak is already elderly and_may, very easily become unduly fussy. Tt is most necessary to keep it to very definite lines and characteristics, and for evenings a good piece of lace makes a capital finish and is ornate without being overwhelming.
'Aw unpretending man in' Hongkong thinks that a proletariat is a thing to catch wild horses with. He may be right. Or should it be wild asses?
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.