Evening star., 1932-08-14

-HE keynote of the current fash
ions is uncomplicated feminin-
ity. That Is, an exquisite, suptle
feminine note carried TO the laSt
extreme possible without enter
ing upon complications. There are IN
tricate handmade details, almost as
difficult, painstaking and precious 10
real lace, and these would De TOO eA,
pensive to put on dresses at a petIoa
when the prices Of models must ne kepC
down to rockbottom. Infinitely Ilne
t,Jcking and pleating and the manlfolo
delicate details that distinguish an
elaborate mode have been rendered In. =
possible because they are not reauy
practical. and this Is season Wnen
ali superduities have been pusheo ASIDE
TO make place for necessities.
THE goal of designers now is TO make
necessary things beautiful, and TINS Is
,,ot IInIike the task of the man who
mist, marry a woman who has money
and at the same time inspires MS love:
lust as YOU would say that a mat
should not marry for money, you mlghC
say with equal reason that oIeSS
should not be created just for Its beauty.
But it is possible sometimes Tor a man
to place his love Where there also 10
money. thereby getting the two ele-
nnents he requires, and in the same
manner, 1t is possible, with artfuI ana
. arduous patience, to evolve oresS tnat
. Is simultaneously beautiful and practlcai.
r y X 4
DRACTTCAL features are most I'M
= portant, but the master designers
: distinguish themselves by beautnylns
and embellishing these practical quail
ties so that the wearer derives all the
advantages from them without really
being aware of the fact. and only per-
ceiying their beauty under which tlne
sense of comfort luckily runs.
They are comfortable and respond TO
+he demands of a practical life. There
is no tra-la-la about them, as We say
in the Paris dressmaking world. Ira
la-la" in French is the equlvalent OF
putting on airs in the American
. phrase am told, only we DO not say
the woman makes tra-la-la, out tne
: dress. The expression, "Cette robe talt
tra-Ia-la" is current all over Paris.
(Translation, THAT dress makes ira
. la-la.')
THE beauty of these creations is in
cidenta and the result Of Sec
ondary consideration. 1t is all well and
good TO eXclaim on observing a dress
, that it is wonderful, ravishing, marvel
: ous. glorious or what not, but this can
: be said of thousands of dresses that
are never worn and only serve TO be
looked at, and this is not genuine
compliment. The only proof OF a
frock's value is the wearing of it, and
the more 1t Is worn the better it Is.
If an American buyer brings it back
to America and the manufacturers he
represents take it and reproduce it by
: the hundreds and women all over the
American continent wear 1t, / may very
well remark that the manufactured
COPY lacks much OF the charm Of the
original handmade model. Deep down
in my heart I know. nevertheless, that
the supreme compliment has been paid
*x
HOW many times at the showing oi
l. a collection I have heard eXclama,
tions about the beauty the originality
the genius displayed in this or thai
dress or coat; but this is not what de
signers want We like TO see then
worn, for then We know that In add
ton to the beauty there are also tn
wearable features without which ores
is only a picture. We know then tina
our work has stood a certain test, tha
1t is beice passed on, that it CORE
spends to this keynote I have defined
that it is a beautified necessity.
That is why couturiers always prefe
selling to private clients rather thai
to buyers and commission houses. w
like to see the clothes we have create'
tried on the women who will wear ther
and thus know that they will be worr
Our ioy is not in making the dress mere
ly, nor having it admired or bought, bu
In seeing 1t worn. Only then do W
know for sure that 1t Is both beautifu
and practical. ....A o.
copyright. .s32)