Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-03-15
BY KAY RAY
Special Writer for The star

Special Writer for The star
MEXICO CITY. - When
you hear Of the Mexican
look in fashions. don't bother
to conjure up a mental image
of an Indian In serape.
Today smart adaptations
of the latest Paris styles
created in handwoven and
handblocked cottons or fine
alpacas and chalais woods
make up the south-of-the
border contribution to the
fashion world.
They are tangible evidence
that the newly nationalistic
Mexican dress designers are
making imaginative use Of
the fabrics In their own
backyard and no longer de-
pend principally on imports.
Mexico's handwoven cot
tons are as lovely in their
way as the handwoven STA
mese silks. The cottons and
the fine woods woven here
are finds to be treasured in
q transportation age.
inexpensive
Surprisingly. they are dirt
cheap by United States
standards. This will be a
distinct asset in the coming
drive to make the Mexican
look" in fashions as recog-
nizable - and as smart as
the Paris look" or the New
York look" today.
Undeniably the Mexican
fashion industry has made
tremendous strides forward
during the approximately Is
years Of its existence. This
els to be compared with the
: 50-yeai history of the United
States industry
A climax was reached the
first week In November when,
for the first time. the whole
sale manufacturers Of Mex
leo jointly showed their full
lines to buyers. ShowrooTns
at the swank Del Prado Ho-
tel displayed everything per-
tanning to fashions, ranging
from mems and children's
wear to zippers.
A hallmark Of the "Mexi-
can look" will be the off-beat
use of color and trimmings.
An example Of the latter is
Designer Lila Baths use Of
sequinS on a cocktail dress
made Of "manta." a hand
woven cotton with an attrac-
tive. uneven weave.
Striking Combinations
Striking color combinations
include orange with olive
green, taupe-gray with vio-
let-pink, strawberry pink
with deep red and pale lemon
with deep leaf green. An In
tense turquoise also is a ia
vorite.
Rita Butterlan Tillett. ex-
wife Of Jim Tillett. who with
his brother Leslie were the
first to make hand.printed
fabrics in Mexico, says:
"Mexicans have o vivid color
sense. When you live in a
sunny country. guess you go
for gay colors. I enjoy espe-
cially working with off-color
combinations that are not
commonly SEEN"
Valdiosera. 40-year-old de-
signer, sets the pace for the
nationalistic trend In Mexi-
can fashions-and goes much
further than most in this d.
rection. His creations are in
spired by the early Aztecs
and Incas. and they are
fashioned in handwoven fab
RIGS made by primitive In
dams on handIooms. Occa-
sionally he has modern
yarns. such as rayons or me-
ITALICS, woven on hand looms
at Toluca.
Made First Chemise
Known as a designer who
usually ignores trends from
Paris and New York, VAL
diosera declares he made the
first chemise in Mexico IS
months ago. and showed it
in Italy. However he states
his inspiration was the che
mise worn by ancient Aztecs
and Mayans. He did concede
the Empire line, although 1t
comes from Paris. is great"
for Mexican women.
His collections are keyed
to the colors of modern paint
ers. For example his line for
1859 will feature the yellow
Of Ruf1no Tamayo. Riviera
green and the brown OF
Orozco. For 1859 Valdiosera
will offer the Butterfly"
which resembles nothing else
as much as a japanese XII
mono. However Valdiosera
asserts his inspiration Games
from the Magyar "huipic."
He describes the butterfly"
look as resembling a rocket.
Miss Bath, who has been
called the Claire McCardell
of Mexico because of the
smart and casual clothes she
designs and shows here. in
New York and In London. has
her own factory for weaving
fabrics.
mo one can beat Mexican
fashions on originality. de-
sign, color and fit. We have
had to improvise, use what
Is available. For this reason
our things are SUPERIOR" she
stated. Our fabrics are