Evening star., 1952-06-27
By EIeni

By EIeni
NEW YORK.-One mans ides
of a new look" threw the
fashion world into tizzy
] several years ago. Another's
may we'll throw the garment in.
dustry into a tailspin and perhaps
into producing clothes that will
make American women happy
rather than provide. them with
fashions that have to head first
for the alteration room.
According to Charles James, a
man who makes sense, what is
mostly around today are clothes
that are not designed for the
shape of the woman inside. Now
doing a special line for Samuel
Winston, Mr.. James is putting into
practice the theories he !. has
worked out for his custom Glen
tele that includes such fashion
| figures as Mrs. William Randolph
Hearst. Mrs. William Paley and
Mrs. Millicent Rogers.
First Of all he would condense
sizes. The size 18 he feels is usu-
Ially a size IA that has spread out
of shape. His clothes, designed on
a special form created by him, fiji
closer to the body, allow a woman
to raise her arms easily, and poss-
ess revolutionary fit. He challenges
the Bureau of Standards on the
average measurements of women
Manufacturers, he claims, being
guided by it produce no two sizes
alike. The dilemma of improper
fit then lies in the way clothes are
cut for American women. The
dress form he has evolved is in
the Brooklyn Museum as are many
OF his designs. They are a tribute
to a designer with vision and the
courage to stand up and say he
thinks something maybe all wrong
with the loose sizing" that so
many mass produced designs
possess.
Whether designing a ball gown
in the grand manner or a charm
ing cocktail dress. one is struck
by the movement and the shape
James design has. His two most
important silhouettes this season
include a "bugle" and one called
an onion root" Full skirts are
shown but they are shaped with
narrow cores at the sides and flat
ten the back and front. This is
his Queen Anne" skirt. A master
of color harmony, he expertly
combines textures and colors as
in an autumnal shaded ribbon
lace short gown with an earth
toned one shoulder chiffon bodice.
Fur lace is a new fabric intro
duced by him. In whatever fabric
medium he speaks, be it satin,
chantilly lace or heavy silk his
clothes are distinguished by their
dignity, their difference and, above
all, by their designers complete
indifference to what everybody
else is doing"
A very common complaint in
France voiced by designers is
that American manufacturers are
much given to "butchering" their
designs when translating them
into cheaper copies. This may
account for the number of French
and Italian designers now de-
signing directly for Seventh ave-
nue.. Thus they realize satisfaction
in knowing their designs are Just
so" and naturally a greater per-
centage Of the profits.
Pierre Balmain is one of the
latest Of the French designers to
do an American collection. To us
the clothes ranging from suits,
daytime dresses, coats and soignee
and continental looking evening
concoctions look like new editions
Of past successes. We're not say
ing they are bad. Only that we
realize few Of our designer friends
across the sea are going to toss
out new fashion trends to a mass
produced market when they have
their own interests to protect in
heir home custom markets. We
liked the Brittany shawls Bal
main shows in two faced woods or
N wool with satin. Also the
fake suit" idea of a dress with a
Jacket. Then, too, the entire
eweled evening bodice topping
ong skirts. And his variation
If the halter-necked evening
GOWN as opposed to the strapless.
Somehow We like very much
what Oleg CaSsini offers the
woman in the way of
ashton. He is young, most at
,ractive man who has lived in a
'ery cosmopolitan atmosphere
Ind whose designing reflects the
,aste and the circles in which he
has moved. He also knows how