Evening star., 1944-01-16
Designing Women
NEW YORK.

NEW YORK.
Sometimess we get frightened
when we think how puttylike
women are in the hands of dress
designers. This fact impressed
us anew this week as we covered
the fashion front as the guest of
the New York Dress Institute.
Yesterday, for instance, we view
ed the collections of four design
ers, each of whom has a different
idea of what woman should look
like. Why, a woman's whole life
could be changed by picking up
the wrong label!
Take Nettie Rosenstein, one of
the most famous of New York's
fashion authorities. She believes
q woman should be feminine and
alluring, so she designs dresses
that will show off lovely body
lines, and make beautiful those
that aren't. Subtly nodded and
draped bodices melting into stem
slim midriffs glorify la belle
poitrine and create an illusion of
loveliness where there is not much
of beauty or poitrine.
Curving or cartwheel revers
and turnback petal collars are
just two of the ways she makes
shoulders look wide and wonder
full. Through playing up should
ers and underplaying hips,
through subtle manipulations of
fabrics, Miss Rosenstein always
manages to create tiny-waisted
effect. Among the diminutive
suit jackets she is featuring. the
waistcoat jackets or waistcoat
illusions were especially lovely,
with their points giving longer
line in front. The boleros reach
the waistline and are slightly
shaped.
The blouses shown with these
suits add to the femininity of the
picture. They are softly detailed,
one with a bow tied under a
slightly Barrymore" collar, an
other with a ruff1y jabot and a
third of jersey having a high
surplice neckline, this one shown
with a knockout navy cutaWay.
Probably the prettiest of the
blouses is one with new flatter-
ing and flounced drawstring
neckline. This same lovely fem
mime style is used in print dress
which reminds us that Rosen-
stein prints are not only lovely,
but they're fine conversation
makers (as though anything could
be more feminine). For example,
there's a cane-Seat motif, the
artists palette pattern and Chi
nese jungle medley.
For fashions that will stop all
conversation, We give you Rosen-
stein evening fashions. Follow
ing up on her famous first in
peekaboo fashions, she shows
many ladys midriff, one with
only a mere wisp of black mar
ganza studded with stars to stand
between a girl and her public.
One of the come -hitherest of the
short dinner dresses was a little
black number with scooped-out
neckline and black ribbon neck
lace to hold it and you together.
Going on to the second de-
signer, there's Ben Reig. He ap-~
parently likes women to be ladies,
judging from his fashions which
have an every-inch-a-lady look
about them. These clothes speak
softly-never shout, if you know
What we mean-and so they're
hard to describe. His suits are
slim, trim and well-bred. They
have abbreviated jackets, the.
newest dipping slightly in front
and the skirts are slender stems
with center tuck back and front.
Our favorite among the suits was
shepherds check wool with
buttoned placket in the front of
the skirt. Touches of handWork
like tatting edges on Mexican
cotton blouSes or Irish crochet
Cthe real thing-We felt IT'D on
a two-piece gray wool dress add