Evening star., 1944-01-23
Backstage With Fashions

Od(NSld
Very few of the women who
constitute the great buying pub
lie (meaning you and your
friendO ever get the chance to
sit In at the birth of a new FASH
ion. This fact was brought home
to us the other day when a cas-
ual acquaintance said, on our re-
turn from New York, "You must
have had a fine time in New
York seeing all the shows" 4"
what shows?" said we, remem-
bering that in last weeks tour
of the fashion openings we had
barely had time to have the usual
three square a day. why, the
ones you wrote about. 1t must
be such fun to do nothing but go
to shows for whole week."
Suddenly it dawned on us that
the dear lady thought we had
been dashing hither and yon see
ing ready-to-wear versions OF
"Oklahoma!" kiss and Tell"
etc. In other words. that we were
getting our fashion news in
sugar-coated pills.
T'ain't so, fair reader, faint so!
Just to prove it to you've
thought we'd take you with us
to cover" one of last weeks
fashion showings. Just pretend
you are going with us to see
Traina-Norell's collection as one
of the out-of- town fashion edi-
tors, guest of the New York Dress
Institute. This shindig is sched-
uled for o'clock at night because
there's no time during the day to
squeeze 1t Inland those who run
the schedule know that no news
seeking editor would want to miss
the designs of Norman Norell, no
matter what time the display. At
10 minutes before the hour, we ar
rive at one Of the big buildings on
New York's Seventh avenue, the
street that belongs" to the ready
to-wear industry. AS we get off
the elevator, there are two doors,
one marked showroom" the
other "stockroom." We open the
swinging doors of the former and
walk in. Rows Of chairs are set
out, and facing them is a recess
in the wall with two doors flank
ing a large center mirror, giving
. dramatic stage effect.
It's now 8 o'clock and Miss
Hart, the attractive, blond young
woman In charge of the show
room comes out to greet us. Our
reporters eye notes that she is
wearing one of Norell's slim red
wool jersey chemise dresses,
that she affects the young-look-
ing shingled coiffure Mr.. Noren
advocated early last summer.
Then-a husband two pretty
models wearing slim print dresses
and carrying matching parasols,
enter simultaneously, one from
each door, pausing together in
front of the mirror so you get a
double-take effect. Miss Hart
laughingly announces, Steak and
butter are not rationed at Traina-
Norell." The models separate, 60
ing to different ends of the room
and we get a chance to observe
the prints Of the dresses. One is
patterned with juicy-looking sir
loins, the other goes In for golden
pounds Of that 16-point stuff.
The models announce the num-
bers Of the costumes they're
wearing - and we're off. One
after another, the models enter,
pause, prance down the aisle and
pirouette while your eyes race to
capture the details of each cos
tune, and your fashion nose
shifts sensitively on the hunt for
news. Note-there's no music, no
fancy lighting, no plot-just one
set Of clothes after another, COL
lection after collection-until
soon the fashion novitiate feels
she will surely drown in a sea of
style. A day OF this and your
head is swimming with side
drapes and scallops, bustle-bows
and boleros, slim overblouses and
underslung hip effects.
Getting back to Norell, you'll
see pencils flying as the fashion
press realizes that there Is news
In Norell. He shows the slim
box coat, hipbone length, the
waistlineless overblouse, the
knee-high skirt and headhugging
cloche which harks back to 1925,
to the Iris March of THE Green
Hat" and to the day when
Gabrielle Chanel was the de-
signing star, In fact, part of
the Norell collection is called the
Chanel revival" There is news,
as we'll, in the revival of the
MILDLY blouse, that schoolgirl
classic-good news, too, for many
women for the line of the
turned-up cuff is preserved with
out the usual bulk, because Norell
skirts begin where the MILDLY
ends. This one-piece dress with
the two-piece look, which pa
triotically saves fabric, is the
keynote construction of the
Norell collection.
There is news, too, In the thin
Roman-striped wool jersey which
makes suit-tops and faces the
revers Of box jackets of natural
jersey-also in the white wool
jersey used In glittertop sleeve