Evening star., 1932-12-04
Fashion Novelty
Found in Fabrics
For Winter Davs
BY SYLVESTRE DORIAN,
Director, Paris Fashion Service.

PARIS, November 26.
TINE characteristic line Of current
Paris fashions Is excessively
plain, but straighter and more
i slenderizing. because 1t is not
cramped and has none Of the
awkwardness that comes from cramp-
ing and tempting women to make
themselves look ridiculous by trying tc
get rid Of bulging in one place only to
make 1t bulge out all the more notice
ably in some other and less expected
place.
The tendency is toward slightly
greater length all the time, continuing
trend that has been perceptible each
saSon, and while American buyers have
favored this, French women accept 1t
less willingly, and the truth is that
American women as a class are now
wearing slightly longer skirts than
French women are, and the difference
is striking to one who returns freshly
from a visit to America.
The shoulder line continues to be
very wide, with tendency toward the
sleeve being taken in from the back
near the neckline, and voluminousnes'
above the elbows. The waistline is ir
its natural place, but trimming effects
in front give this heightened appear
ance. Hips are adjusted and tight-fit-
ting. The slight fullness of skirts is
brought toward the front, except for
evening gowns. These have skirts OF
long symmetrical bands, with spiral
effects giving fullness near the bottom
only.
AS have frequently pointed cut,
"A most Of the novelty in fashions
nowadays resides in the fabrics, and
the weavers have done more creative
work during the past several seasons
than the couturiers.< Materials were
never so important, for II they re-
manned the same, the mode would be
practically at standStin. You VIII
say that velvets and felts are as old as
the hills. Surely. But there are new
kinds of velvets and felts that bear re-
Semblance only in name to their prede-
ceSsors.
The same Is true Of woolens, Of
tweeds. You will notice many brown
woolen coats going by you in Paris, but
you know Immediately whether one Is
a new wooden or not In the brown
ground fakes of yellow in different sizes
will be perceived, and you will know
this is a new weave. The tweeds may
be SO soft that touch would suggest
silk rather than the coarse fabrics that
alone used to bear that name.
The fabrics are all-important, and
your new clothes will look new largely
in proportion to the novelty Of the
fabric, for many model made two
years ago, executed in one OF this sea-
sons fabrics, will look perfectly up to
the minute, so far as style Is concerned,
so little has the silhouette changed.
The artificial silk industry that gave
us last seasons crepes, and other nov
city materials with more or less prom
inent reliefs, has strongly influenced
the fabrics this season, woolens as we'll
as silks. Not only velvets, woolens,
wide-ribbed jereys, silk crepes, but all
the fabrics have been softened and mel
lowed to bear resemblance to silk, and
the amount of artificial silk that has
gone into their manufacture would be
near to infinite.
y X
ON day as well as evening dresses an
" attractive skirt is formed by cut
ting the self material into fine bands
from the hips down to form q fringe,
and trimming is obtained for various
other dresses by the same process.
One Of the new fabrics initiates
ermine, but Is thinner and more soft
and supple, which has facilitated its
use for SO many purposes. 1t Is made in
all colors, but the white is most pop
ular, and it is cne of the grandest nov
elites of the season. In contrast on
black garments it is especially sumptu-i
Gus looking. 1t can be used anywhere
real ermine would be used, and In many
more ways. Ttlrbans and toques of 1t
are being made for the next millinery
collections, coats and capes exploiting
1t are already visible in current COL
lections and Is trimming 1t promises to
play an even more important role.
Goats worn In Paris have much fur
The rolled-flH collars are not high,
however, but rather tend to descend, Ii