Evening star., 1940-05-22
By HELEN VOGT.

II you can picture q combination
Of Scarlet O'Hara, Lillian Russell.
q South American rhumba dancer
and Spanish senorita. you might
just possibly get some idea Of the
evening clothes for summer. AL
these influences, and q few others
thrown in for good measure and
the glory Of the fashion world, are
represented in the dinner and dance
frocks now being shown. To pick
out the principle silhouette or fabric
would be like sticking your head
into q lions mouth, and though We
do so occasionally, this Is one time
we're not going to dash in where
the wing-equipped horde fears to
tread!
We can tell you this much, how
ever: There are certain outstanding
features being constantly shown
What will be adopted and what will
be discarded, only time will tell
and we'll be happy to relay times
message to you when 1t is all de-
cided The wearing of certain
styles will stamp them with ap-
proval, but it's little early to pick
the favorites, with the exception,
perhaps, of these few:
First of all, cottons. In street and
evening clothes they're positively
rampant, and in the latter category
they have the charm of the ole
plantation, sub. along with the de-
ceptive occurrences of q Southern
bellies debut dress. Full-skirted,
tight-waisted dresses of dotted swiss
are particularly attractive and cool
looking, some of them with frilly, off,
the-shoulder lines, and some made
simply, with tiny jackets, trimmed
with ric-rac. Eyelet, embroidered
piques are smart in their plain but
effective way, and so are corded
piques, different looking material
that should prove a favorite. Lacey
organdies are good, as are other
transparent materials such as NOUS
seline. Crisp nets, sheer chiffons
and form-f1tting rayon jerseys all
refuse to be ignored. Laces are ex-
cellent for certain occasions, while
sheer printed crepes and paper tat
fetas pop up with an amazing per-
sistence. About the only thing we
haven't seen is velvet, and we're
afraid to turn around for fear there
might be one standing behind us!
We have been asked often, recent
ly, about (a) shawls, CD bare midriffs
and (c) parasols, so If you'd care for
the humble and not too biased
opinion Of this reporter, here's what
we think: We firmly believe in the
trend to shawls, especially for eve
ming wear in summer when they
afford just enough protection with
out being too warm for comfort.
We've seen some in crepe, dyed to
match slim, well-cut gown, and
we're frankly partial to them. Re-
member, however, that you're not
going to be able, very likely, to drag
out that old shawl you had 10 years
ago. The new ones seem to be
smaller, with shorter fringe, If any,
and the majority of evening ones
shown 50 far are plain in color, sadly
lacking in the over-ornamentation
that characterized their ancestors.
As for bare midriffs, that would
seem to be matter of personal
choice, but there are plenty Of styles
to be found. In the rhumba dress
type with full rufned skirt and tight
bodice; In the slinky jersey variety
as well as in India striped cottons
with plain bodice tightly laced up
the front. Most of them are
equipped with wide girdies for COW
ering-up purposes, which helps mat
ters enormously. Say what you will,
there are certain places where you
will require a more modest frock.
However, for vacation wear, cruise
wear and ultra-smart occasions, we
like 'em-provided you don't bulge
IN the wrong places.
The parasols being shown with q
number Of dinner gowns are per-
fectly all right, too. But here is
another instance where the occasion
viii have to set the rule. II you are
Oh to . cocktail party before q
dinner you might like . frilly parasol
with your demure frock. You might
Like It ct the country club, and cer-
tainly for resort wear its perfectly
N right 4 youxs starting out saxly