Evening star., 1948-01-20
By Elem
Fashion Editor,

Fashion Editor.
NEW YORK.-Fashion, that cute
little lady. has settled down. She was
quite wild one last fall, but it's
amazing how she has tanned herself
In preparation for spring. That
. '1adylike" feeling is here to stay If
the designers have their say so.
Each designers collection differs.
But this spring, amazingly enough,
we've spotted q rather strange alike
ness in many of the collections.
They all seem to have gotten in the
act with certain style themes.
There hasn't been spring collec-
Aon viewed this week that hasn't
had the extreme v neckline, the
apron front dress. the cape, the en-
pemble look, the swirling skirt. run
ming through it. Course it's not too
hard to understand. It's like q
house that Is settling In its founda-
tons, All the. spring coats, suits
and dresses are designed with the
idea Of getting the American woman
10 start using that figure Of hers to
advantage.
Golden tones are forecast for
spring and these are seen in every
collection. Print dresses will have
rivals in the pastel-toned dresses
that will start going back into the
vardrobes of American women.
Hackneyed ideas in style seem to
have fallen by the wayside and little
accents in wardrobe will play big
role-little notes like filmy, sheer
blouses worn with suits and petit
coats rustling under dresses Of
taffeta, crepe and cotton.
Fabrics for spring include old
favorites like navy serge and georg-
cite crepe. A new fabric was shown
the press by many of the designers
It Is called Manhattan and it is
crisp and mostly used for coating.
Silk chiffon Is probably the best
known fabric to come back into the
fashion field after rather a consider
able absence.
Now about some of the collections
seen. We saw Claire McCardell's s
yesterday and she's still as original
as ever. Years ago she declared
shed like to see the American wom-
an wearing a natural shoulderline
The day arrived last fall when the
natural shoulderline was taken up
by nearly every designer in New
York. McCardell designs for the
young woman. This spring she Of
fers q four -piece suit that is actually
two costumes In one. 1t includes
hounced petticoat, blouse, skirt, and
q little cape of jacket. Blouse and
petticoat may be worn together to
make q very effective two-piece
dress. McCardell's bathing suits for
summer promise to really set the
beachside talking. Strapless, they
are made up in gray toned jerseys,
some featuring push-up pant cuffs
and others made up in an elasticized
tube shape.
Her new fiared back short beach
coat can double as short raincoat
All of her playclothes have been
treated for shrinkage control, sun
fading, and chlorine fading. Huge
pockets, a McCardell signature, are
on the great majority of her new
spring line. The moulded waistline
Tor which she is famous is also evi-
dent throughout the collection.
Her skirts are full and her favorite
colors are navy and pumpkin.
Josef Walkers resort and summer
collection looks as If it just came
over from Ireland. Village Green
fashion is the name given to the
new clothes. They are gay, light
hearted and her pastel linens are
truly beautiful. The collection is
devoid of frills and furbelows. Bold
use of color and good lines are the
important things. Watch for Josef
Walkers white linen dress with the
embroidered scalloped hemline. The
skirt has openwork daisies on it and
the sca1loped hemline reveals a jade
green petticoat. A matching cum
nerbund In jade green sets off the
wf1tteness Of the dress. Jewel tones
are her big colors and they range
from Mrcon, cats eye, agate and
naoonstone. These colors are In her
linens, cottons, and silk shantungs.
Clare Potter feels that the shoul-
derline Is still an important issue.
She Is the one designer, we think,
who showed the shoulderline of two
years ago. In fact, 1t looked too
broad after seeing so many natural,
sloping shoulders on dresses for
about a year now. Shirtwaists are
big at this house and the linen
duster Miss Potter launched a year
ago is seen this year again. This
Is worn over q print dress.
Included in the fabrics Of this
house of classic and not fy-by-
night fashions are such fabrics as
irish and handkerchief linens, silk
shantungs, taffetas and crepes. In
answer to the demand for more fes-
tive and formal sundresses Miss
Potter has designed a number OF
eamisole-top dresses. The CANT
sole-topped idea is also shown in
her evening clothes. (And in just
about every other collection, we
might addD A short-sleeved jumper
type dinner coat with a slit back
panel worn over a hazel blue silk
shantung dress was really magnifl-
cent.
Joseph Halpert's collection, as do
30 many, features the shirtwaist
theme quite bit. Fine Feather
Prints" are a series of prints that
will be seen In a number of his
spring clothes. He uses two fabrics
quite a bit and the conversation
piece" of the collection Is the dress
With q taffeta bordered apron that
can double for cape. The dress
underneath is q basic and the skirt
Is rather full. Mr.. Halpert feels
that this collection is his answer to
women who want q dress that fits,
looks well, wears well. and is dress
that men will like. Important rea-
soning, we think.
Rounding out the collections we've
eeen are Samuel Kass' gypsy
dresses with their sheer balloon
sleeves and full skirts that will go
over rather well, we think, with
women who like a lot of color in