By Ouve Dow crowd something to stare at. There were: evening dresses with bustles of enormous satin bows into which For some days past all the fashion did o be worn this year. The been in Paris learning
biggest attraction has been a show a young Spanish designer, Cris-Balenciaga. Men and women to have fought for an ena football crowd. Balenciaga; an exile from Spain owing to the war; has been making history n the originality of his the skirts behind were gathered up to stand out several inches, wasp waist dresses with the hips widened out by wire frames—but are we to tight lace again?—and striped silk e stockings with pink and black zebra stripes going round the legs.
Even without going such lengths as this, some of the designs are daring enough. In spite of Royal regulations for Courts, backless, strapless, self-supporting evening frocks are still to be worn elsewhere. Some are described as having little more for the body than a front, heart-shaped at the top. If you shy at these, you may go to the other extreme with dresses which reach right to the neck both front and back, but have no sleeves. Trains are definitely discarded for ground-length skirts perhaps an inch or two longer at the back than at the front. But in the main evening skirts will just touch the ankle. These may be worn with a petticoat of the same length to produce a swirling effect when dancing.
All sorts of new colours will make their appearance, bleu sud (much like peacock blue) Chinese blue, blonde henna, clerk henna, several shodes of rose and a new black called poodle black. Where is Charles Graves with his handkerchief of latest shade "crushed mouse"? Sprigged muslins have come back again from the distant past, lace-edged flounces for skirts, glazed chintz with enormous floral patterning for crinolines. So altogether, if you have plenty of money or a trustful dressmaker, you may have lots of fun this year.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.