Evening Star Newspaper, March 1, 1931, Page 59

abrics in Great V _ N At the left, a dress of ivory-colored taffets, banded with black velvet, worn in “The Barretts of le Street.” At the right of it, an ivory-colored satin costume, worn in the audience. They have sevéral kindred features. Seated, a dress of green moire, with green velvet bands, worn by Miss ‘Cornell. Portrait of a young woman w showing an old-time mode revived American Taste Clear- ly Met by Features _ of Dressmaking Col- lections — Quaint Bow Trimmings Are Effective —Suits o f Patterned Cire and Figured Taffeta— Color Combinations Shown by Many De- signers —Wedding Gowns May Be Chosen From Among Many Models. OLOR everywhere, printed fab- rics in infinite variety, quaint bow trimmings with the dis- | tinct flavor of the past—these were among the interesting features of several of the recent collec- tions shown by Parisian designers. At almost every dressmaking house there was evidence that the designer had given thought to the use of color and to the possibilities in the combin- ing of unusual shades. Normal Hartnell, the young English- man who is famous for his even! frocks, court presentation gowns an wedding dresses, showed many effective evening ensembles which depended for much of their beauty on the colors used in them. Dark brown and light blue were used together with delight- ful results, An evening coat of per- venche blue georgette, trimmed with grly fox fur, was worn over a pink rock, while a short dark blue evening wrap, ending at the waistline, accom- led a dress of mulberry red, a color back to us this season from the middle of the last century. At London Trades were shown many light-weight woolen costumes. Here color contrast was seen in blouses and skirts of different shades or in dresses ‘with one-plece effect and a bodice of a contrasting color to the skirt. Unlined coats of wool, either full length or short, were lhcl‘lm with these. * % % ‘A S for prints, there are enough of them everywhere to gladden the earts of American women always hful to this type of material for T particularly suc- f them, making | the ith dark hair seen in the audience in hairdressing. One dress on which tiny blossoms the f: r, being fitted at the waistline longer in the back than in ue of rose-colored silk with tiny black dots. Over this was worn a full-length coat. Mainbocher, a new designer, whose| clothes seem particularly suitable for American women, also made a point of prints. All types of clothes, from sports dresses to evening gowns, were made of printed fabrics, and evening pajamas depended largely for distinction on the beauty of prints used for their very wide trousers. Patterned cire and patterned taffeta were used for a number of interesting suits with unlined coats. An amusing dress of printed silk had a lum of white pique caught at the side with a large bouquet of flowers. An af oon dress of flowered georgette was trimmed | with a long handkerchief scarf at the neckline, knotted at the back, again at the waistline, and again at the hips. The double cape of beige wool worn | with this dress was lined with the | printed georgette. | * x K % | | Y ONDON TRADES, in showing a col- lection which included @ number of | particularly lovely evening gowns, fea- | |tured many printed designs. These | were noteworthy because, instead of the small patterns favored by so many of the designers, large, spreading figures were used, and most effectively, an evening gown in a gray and green all- over design being particularly striking. jacket, trimmed with a tiny scarf col- lar of mink. ‘Tiny bows placed, with the hand of an artist just where they did most to emphasize the clever cutting of the frock, trimmed many of the formal clothes at Nicole Groult's. "Orange bows were most effective on an ivory white | frock, with the same color used for the | hem and the facing of the decolletage. * Bow trimming also was used on an evening ensemble of brilliant green, with & short sable-trimmed coat. This dress was outstanding because most of the formal clothes at this house were of plain satin in delicate colors. * kK % NO word of th houses would be complete wif t mention of the wedding gowns shown by Norman Hart- nell. One may choose one's bridal gown here from a variety of models. One of faille silk, shown with a maid of hon- | or's costume in the same fabric, was | quaintly old-fashioned, with puffed slesves, and smocki used for trim- ming. A white satin gown with a verg definite basque effect was trimmed wit] an embroidery motif of goid leaves. And brides may carry purses this seascn. if follow this er's dictates, Xocl;l, | | This was worn with a hip-length, velvet Paris Fashions PARIS, February 20.—The opening of the Auteuil races on Sunday was noteworthy for the black suit worn with jackets varying from waist length to hip length. Many of these suits had important looking white fabric collars and were worn with white turbans with fine black veils and 10-button-length white gloves. ‘The success of Worth's brown evening dresses, worn with match- ing suede gloves and Greek san- , at the Bal de la Couture, was re-emphasized by their ap- pearance at the Sunday dinner dance at the Ritz. Celestial Nose Wins Approval Is yours a celestial nose? In other words, is it a turn-up nose or, as the French would say, a nose “re- trousse”? One old writer on the subject of noses assures us that when he calls this type of nose celestial he does not mean that But the celestial nose has had many admirers and, though it has hardly ever been regarded as exactly beautiful, art- ists, novelists and poets have sung its praises. A Prench writer tells this story as a historical fact. cent, who was Sultan of the Ottomans just about the time that Columbus was busy discovering the hemispnere on which we live—Solomon had a favorite sultana named Roxelane and Roxelane had a turn-up nose. She was born a slave in Russia. The Sultan purchased her, but she never would have become lmug married to him, and never would have e sultana had it not been that her nose was slightly retrousse. This pleasanc relief from the noses and the straight or flat or aquiline noses the other ladies in his harem. And so, says the writer, the nose in France is often called a nose “a la Roxelane.” ‘What does the tilted nose mean? Some students of features say impert- inence and inquisitivencss. Onc old au- thority says that this type of nose is contemptible in a man, but not so bad in a woman, because, after all, a little impertinence is charming in a woman, and women are all inquisitive anyway. One never sees a tip-up nose in an- clent Greek or Roman art, nor yet in the works of the old masters of Italy. However, in eighteenth-century France ts began to from the old classical traditions and a new type of woman came into fashion. Watteau, one of the greatest artists of that period in France, went 5o far as to paint mod- els with retrousse noses. Dumas described a minor ®haracter 'lvhom he regards as beautiful, thus: “Dark hair, blue eyes and a nose slight- ly turned up, admirable teeth and a complexion marbled with rose and opal.” This is a type very much admired in modern France. Tennyson, too, admires this type of nose, which he speaks of in one of his | poems as “Heaven tilted.” Long jacke'ts as Separate Coats By this time you will have made im- portant discoverles concerning the wide variety offered in the sength of coat or jacket. There are the trim full-length coats that may be worn as separate coats over a one or two plece dress if you like, and there are long coats that show only about an inch of the skirt beneath. Patou of Paris has made the wise suggestion that the long coat worn over a figured or plaid skirt or | dress should always be long enough to cover the dress skirt completely, but that with a monotone skirt one of the almost full-length coats may be worn. The sult with a very short jacket has much to be said in its favor. It is new and youthful and easy to wear. Some~ times these short jackets are short enough to suggest boleros; sometimes they extend to the waistline, and some- times they extend to the hi Occa- sionally they are distinctly shaped at the waistline, with flaring peplum be- low. Bave for distinctly sports purposes, one sees fewer belted suit jackets this season than last. 3 Rough tweeds are appropriate to the distinctly tailored type of suit. 3 finer woolen materials used for the more elaborate suits are usually of du'l finish, often showing a distinct twill. You will see fine reps, wool crepes and, newest of all, a very silky serge that is decidedly smart, in rk blue, ips. sh: Solomon the Magnifi- | " ¥ “The Barretts of Wimpole Street.” Autumnal Brown Is One Smart Color, With Gray and Shades of Blue Also Popular — Decided- Black Are Seen, in Spite of Persistent Opposition to This Type. BY MARY MARSHALL. HALL I or shall I not buy a suit?” ‘That may have been the question you asked yourself last year or the year before, or at this season any time within the past 10 or 12 years. You realized that suits were useful and there were times when they answered the purposes of smartness and convenience better than a dress and coat. You also probably | realized that the well dressed French | woman always considered a little jacket suit an essential part of the Spring wardrobe. But there was perhaps still some doubt in your mind as to your own personal need for this type of cos- tume. ‘This year there is no question about the necessity for buying a Spring suit. You simply must have one or two, or possibly three, if you do things on a generous scale. The questions that you will ask are these: What color would be the best choice for my first Spring sult? Shall I buy a suit with a long coat or a hip jacket or jacket that comes just to the waistline? Shall I buy a skirt with matching or contrast- ing blouse and jacket? What sort of | blouses shall I wear with my new suit? Shall I decide on one of the new two- skirt suits? How much of a flare should ;n:”;km show eand how long should t [ 2 TH! question of color. is probably the first you will have to decide, be- cause it is the one that has the most direct bearing on the slection of the other articles of your wardrobe and be- cause when you go forth to buy a ready-made suit the first question you are asked by the solicitous saleswoman will probably be one concerning color. You will have a wide variety of smart suits from which to make your selection if you have decided in favor of blue, because the coming Spring is going to be a decidedly blue season. There is darker-than-navy blue, if you want something that is at the same sophisticated and conservative. Many of the dressmakers and suitmak- ly Smart Suits in| The old-fashioned mode of dressing the hair, so like the present-day styles, and the lingerietrimmed neckline as worn by Miss Cornell in Suit Becomes Necessity and inclination & spick-and-span sort of person, willing to take pains with every detail of your costume, black or very dark blue looks simply dull and dowdy. * K k% TH:l regulation shades of navy blue, as well as Guardsman blue d skipper blue, will be more often n and are not quite so exacting, though they, too, demand good grooming. There |are brighter shades of blue that may appeal to you. There is something re- | freshing and invigorating about these more vibrant members of the blue fam- ily, but for that very reason they are not such a wise selection for the suit that you intend to wear day after day throughout the Spring and on cooler days in Summer. Unless, of course, you want to be spotted as “the woman in blue.” In spite of the persistent effort to break away from black, you will still be able to find a number of decided}i smart_suits of this hue. And bla carefully worn is undeniably smart. Our own best advice is this: If you have made up your mind to buy a really in- expensive sult, don't buy a black one. How about a brown suit for Spring— a rather warm, Autumny shade of brown? The idea seems absurd, and its very absurdity has had somethin; to recommend it. To wear & suit of | this color in Spring is a departure from the obvious and the expected, but several of the influential dressmakers here and abroad have shown brown | suits for resort wear this Winter and a number of smart women have worn them with undoubted success. So if your saleswoman offers you & new sult of a warm cinnamon tone try it on and see what you think of keyinrfi your Spring wardrobe to this Autum: tone. * ok ok ok ONSIDER also the pros and cons of gray, which has made its ap- pearance in most of the good collec~ tions of suits for Spring. Don’t waste your time making plans for an all- gray Spring ensemble because nothing is more difficult than matching grays, and nothing is much more trying than the effect of a number of jarring grays worn together. The gray suit this Spring will be used as the foundation for colored accessories is seen in the company of blue, of rose, of green and of ‘yellow. . A variety of blues. Black, brown, gray—those are the colors that you Wi to consider for that first, practical Spring suit. Yellows, ns, rose tones, pinks, are represent in the lighter-weight suits now sold for resort wear—prototypes of the suits fou will be interested in several months ence; but that is another story. (Copyright, 1931.) Child’s Tray. Buy a plain tin tray for 10 cents. giving it coat of ) & eoat of never tire of food eaten from & decorated in this way, THE SUNDAY STAR, WASfII GTON, D. .C, MARCH 1, 1931—PART THREE. ariety of Designs Used by Parisians ‘Again the relationship of many of the present-day costumes to those of the nineteenth shown in a dress of wine colored georgette with a deeper red jacket, seen in the audience on night and Miss Cornell's costume of burgundy-colored silk, with cascading ruffles and the sleeve, at the waist, Gay Petticoats Slashed skirts, showing a gay- hued petticoat beneath them, bring to present-day styles a dis- tinet flavor of pre-war days. These slashes, however, instead of being a necessity to make a narrow skirt practical, often ap- pear on wide skirts. The edges of the slash overlap so that when the wearer is not in motion the skirt hangs demurely without even & hint of the gay-hued slip. But when she moves the brilliant contrasting silk shows. Skirts Are Cut On Good Lines A woman seldom chooses a suit be- cause of the skirt. After she has per- suaded herself, or allowed tHe sales- woman to persuade her, that the color is right and has seen for herself that the cut of the suit and the collar line are becoming and has discovered that some subtle note of trimming or finish makes the suit look much more ex- pensive than the tag shows it to be, she mlkul hehr ?y o f.hzmg: room, vaguely hoping that egf be nothing wrong with the skirt and that it won't need any compli- cated sort of alteration. 1t is usually only after she has worn the suit several times that she realizes that the cut and line of the skirt are really quite as important considera- tions as the cut of the jacket or coat. As far as length goes, the woman of average height should wear a street sult 13 inches from the ground and a sports suit an inch shorter. The very short woman should reduce these figures slightly and the very tall wom- an may wear her skirts a trifle shorter, 50 as to achieve the same fnml re- lation between actual skirt lei and distance from the floor. Chanel is ap- parently the only important French dressmaker who has shown any suit skirts shorter than this. ‘The new skirt should fit closely over the hips. Anything like a bulge in the .back below the waistline simply won't do, even if you have made up your mind to reduce your girth by ex- ercise and diet. All the new suit skirts flare slightly, but the smartest of the new suit skirts do not ripple. The flare is achieved by restrained goring or by means of pleats. You will find skirts with wide pleats at front and back and a slight flare in the gores at the sides, and you will find skirts with wide or medium-width tucks at the sides set on to the skirt at hip depth so as to maintain slender lines at the upper part of the skirt. The tendency among the best French dressmakers seems to be to keep skirts as flat as possible at back and front, with a flare at the sides only, and in choosing the sult skirt this is an idea that you will do well to bear in mind. Little Things Make Biggest Difference A note of patriotism is to be found on some of the new daytime dresses for Spring. A dark blue dress shows a nar- row belt and cuffs of bands of red, white and blue of a brighter shade. Pleats are tremendously important. They are cleverly used as & means of Fflwducms the restrained flare below the ps in some of the new chiffon eve- ning dresses, and some of the silk crepes for afternoon show group arrangements of narrow and wide pleats at the sides to restrain the fullness below the hips. In the new suits, jacket and skirt may match, but they very frequently do not. The fashion began earlier in the season with the plaid or checked skirt worn with a plain-colored jacket. ‘The newest expression of ihis idea is a plain skirt with a jacket of checked or mixed material. ‘The redingote costume is usually an example of the silk crepe or chiffon dress worn with lightweight woolen coat. Less usual, but very smart, are the new costumes consisting of lightweight wool- en dress worn with silk jacket. Beige Gloves. Beige again! Don't be misled into thin that we are in for another beige era, because we are not, and any- thing of the sort would be far from Another type of hairdressi are woven into a_coronet brai g seen in the audience. Strands of pearls and twisted around the head. A garland of gardenias makes the shoulder strap of the dress. Scenes of 85 Years Ago Bear Strange Resemblanceto Those in Audience— Old Colors, Frocks With Drop Shoul- ders, Tucked Sleeves With Puffs at Wrists, And Plaided Fabrics Are Found—Gloves And Parasols. Many of the romantic features in the fashions of 1931 may be ROMANTXC!SM is revived in dress. observed in a current New York play. Miss Katharine Cornell as Elizabeth Moulton-Barrett, and her sisters, in scenes laid in Elizabeth's sitting room at 50 Wimpole street, London, in 1848, wears charming dresses, the details of costume in the audience. this we have some of the ing of, the stage costumes side by side with dresses worn. in the audience. Where is the relationship apparent? What are the features in dress of those days revived by present-day designers? The colors of those times. The drop- shoulder in evening dresses. The tucked sleeve in daytime frocks swell- ing to a puff at the wrist. The latter type of sleeve was featured at many of the recent Paris openings. white undersieeve that peeps from be- neath the edge of the short-sleeved coat of this season. All these had their origin in the middle of the nineteenth century—the so-called crinoline period. the modes of those times that have been Details of taken, so be said that details lead are all truf may in the 1931 mode. And, referring to the crinoline, that bone of style contention of those days—who so bold the most daring of ers as to give it a est approach made to it—and it is, after all, a somewhat timid approach—is seen in the petticoats, lace-trimmed ones, and white at that, revived in Paris a few weeks , and even now on sale in shops in country. R IN the days of crinoline there ? as who Barrett, of the play, the sister of Eliza~ beth, and, shown beside it, a dress of ivory satin worn in the sudience. The placing of the frills on the latter dress is very much in the nineteenth century mood. So is the decolletage. Plaids, in the limelight at the moment as a feature of present-day style, were reflected in an entire dress of red and green plaid silk worn cn the stage. The Redingote, too, of that Fenofl, was there. Henrietta wore one featuring & tiny o, ‘nd arranged o & mass 2 neck, an a mass ringlets. The variety of hairdressings seen in the audience on the opening night of Miss Cornell's play was remarkable. Several of them are illustrated here. Especially interesting is one with strings of peirls woven into & coronet braid. * 'WINGING from the stage to styles in general, and tracing them back to their