Evening star., 1932-10-16

n II OST of the new dresses are dis
M tinguished by the effect OBJ
N tanned from little trimming;
4 i that is, the greater effect you
get out of the least trimming,
the more distinguished will your dress
be. If the dress be of satin trimmed
in velvet, for example, the less velvet
employed the better; if there is a
WOODEN coat trimmed in fur, the less
fur used the better. Here is the note
that fashionable women are all striking
with their new wardrobes, and it is
mark of the moment, so to speak. This
is a theme on which the current Varia-
tions are played. Anybody can load a
dress with volumes OF velvet, or a coat
with abundance of fur, and get effect.
but getting equal effect out of very
little gives couturiers an opportunity
TO show their art, and also women an
opportunity to show their taste, for it
Is under some restriction like this that
real SmartneSS is best revealed.
An ensemble for Riviera wear illus
trates this trend. The skirt of the one
piece dress in fancy greige woolen is
tightly nodded around the hips, but
right in front box pleat from just
above the knees down gives plentiful
fullness. The sleeves are tight to just
above the elbow, then become volumi-
nous and end tightly, but blousing. The
belt is of self-material coarsely stitched,
but the hat, collar, bow at neckline and
lining Of the pleat on the front Of the
skirt are all in the same marocatn,
hand embroidered in red silk diagonal
lines.
X X
THIS gay nlarocain is the life and
soul of the party. but surprisingly
Nf yc N he tc
small, the crown ti~ltly hugging the
head. with tiny brim, the neckline is
completed with a narrow, turned-up
collar and bow of the same, while un-
der the pleat there is so little of the
marocain that only when the wearer is
walking do you perceive it at all. The
underside of the hat brim is stitched
woolen like the dress.
Where would you wear such dress?
It will be the type suitable for general
all-around wear on the Riviera or
wherever else the climate is fair this
Winter. In America it would be the
ideal type for Palm Beach, which is
the equivalent Of Riviera. This model
has been made for a special Riviera COL
lection that has not yet been shown,
but for others it does not yet exist. for
the finished model has not come from
the ateliers.
Couturiers make what they call the
"toile," which means the muslin;
that is. the original model is executed
in a soft. inexpensive cloth, so that If
it is spoiled the loss is of no conse-
quence A dress must often undergo
many changes while being designed, and
we can experiment on the toiles with
out fear of running anything. Some
times q dozen toiles have been made
~, RI
dress. Some couturiers have made 200
toiles for their new collections and then,
when the time came to make the actual
models in expensive fabrics, decided
that half of these, for some reason. were
not up to their standards, and approved
only 100 as fit to go into the work
rooms TO be copied.
You can get a perfect cut and per-
feet fit with the muslin, then you
sew this by hand. When you are
satisfied with the result from every
Standpoint, you take it apart, and, as
from a pattern, cut out the dress, put
ting the fabric for the dress over the
muslin pieces and making sure you will
subsequently have the same cut and
same fit.
This. of course. is the ideal way to
make a dress at home. too, rather than
using patterns that. after all, come out
in series like manufactured dresses. II
YOU want to be distinctive and originally
dressed, you should try to become your
own designer.
Read the fashion books, yes; but be-
yond being influences merely in gen.
eral sense, do not copy what you see in
them. You do well to design your dress
under Partisan influence, but put some
of yourself into the design also, as this
is your surest way of having something
different from anybody else.
Many women are afraid to begin
making their own clothes, some because