When the Queen chose a crinoline for the Palace banquet, she set a seal upon a delightful evening fashion which has rapidly increased in popularity during the past months. That hers was a real crinoline and no mere full-skirted compromise, such as many a more timid follower of the mode would adopt, was shown in the fifteen yards measurement around the hemline.
The true Victorian crinoline was whaleboned, as was the Queen's, though the modern whaleboning is supple and allows skirts to swing aside instead of being crushed in marrow doorways and crowded rooms. Hundreds of pearls, specially tinted to the tone of the silver-grey satin, formed large plaques on the skirts and also embroidered the pointed corsage which had an off-the-shoulder neckline, finished with soft mauve satin and tiny sleeves.
Black, in spite of its advantages—itis smart, it is practical, it is slimming, it does not date—has been ousted from its usual first place in this winter's colour chart, Many women will, however, remain faithful to black as it is always a safe basis for limited incomes and an easy background for many changes of bright-coloured accessories.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.