1960-08-06 — Page 10

THE CHINA MAIL, SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 1960.

WEEK-END

The outline that

could eclipse Paris

I

THE LONDON LINE for day. Michael's curvy little brown suit with wide dropped shoulders and a gentle skirt.

DRAWINGS

May Robb

BY

By JILL BUTTERFIELD

THE London Lady, praise be,

THE

·looks like a lady no more. In three days the leading mem- bers of the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers have given her, for the very first time, a strong suggestion of sex appeal.

They've taken her out of that dated, tradional old uniform the man-tailored tweed for country, the smooth, dark worried for town.

They've sung the dirge for the soft, swaying, ball dress, They've given the little black dress a new meaning. And they've given them- Leives a new lease of life.

Admitted, much of the glamour - of Paris is still missing. I longed for one really daring decolletage, or one beautiful bare back,

But these are the details -- Insignificant against the fact that these last few days have seen the rise of three top British designer- stars-Cavanagh, Michael, and Paterson,

Working in almost complete accord, they've produced for the first time in years a strong London line that's not only it tune with the mood of the moment but is wearable, womanly, and really waniable.

SKIRTS are the biggest news- they're fuller, softer, and a fraction shorter than Last year. Еред Michael, the leading disciple of the whiplash-line, gives his skirts new casinets, Hardy Amles's skirts are cul on the bias to swing softly, and Matt used wide, unpressed piesla.

JACKETS are wide, often with low-sel sleeves and curved Paterson cata his shoulders, jackel hems to curve higher at the front.

COATS are big but not bulky. The top trio favour 2 fullish or flared skirt falling from a lowered waist-line,

EVENING DRESSES, often straight and narrow, come Into their slinky, sexy own.

London Express Service).

THE LONDON LINE for night. Stiebel's slinky black chif- fon dress evocative

of the 1930's.

Note the shingle creeping back.

BARBARA GRIGGS OFFERS A WORD ON ENGLISH ETIQUETTE

Do you always do the right thing?

AN you wear a red dress answers to these and dozens of an older married woman comes

CAN YOU wet Ballt should

to

simi er

ticklers and taboos at into the room; but what instinct is to warn her that the port their mother's knee.

you tip the maid after week- But thousands of people Lo- should never be passed to the

ending with friends-and if 50, how much?

day, fresh from boarding right? school, gay university days and

dear John (complete them

And informality itself can be life in bed-sitiers or flats of the occasion of further embar- Is the wife of AD Hon. their own until marriage, were rassment: I have, in my time, plain. Mrs on the envelope never systematically taught the been introduced to

or is she the Hon. Mrs.

rules and run their social lives and Sophie Blank

introduced strangers), Possibly without a second's with breezy infurmality. hesitation you can reel off the All the natural good breeding afterwards to my own friends as correct answers respectively and manners, in the world can- Mr and Mrs John Blank, and (a) a most emphatic NO; (b) net always save them from learned a minute too late that YES, from 75, 6d. to 2; and making the kind of social gaffe they were in fact Sir John and (c) she is the Hon. Mrs. that can cause agonies of em- Lady Blank.

Possibly you may hesitate, barrassment.

Our grandmothers, strictly Instinct, after all, tells an un- reared at home, learned the married girl she should rise if

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NONSENSE

There are, of course, people

to whom the whole thing is is lot of nonsense and matter of consummate indifference any-

way,

They reply to formal invita- ! tions with a telephone call, light: cigarettes between courses at grand dinner parties, turn up at a strictly black tie party wearing an old sweater and trousers, and everyone loves them just the same. (They are usually among the most charm- Ing people one knows anyway.) And there are, of course, people who learned all the rules along with their alphabet and ero rever in any doubt at all.

For the swarming thousanda in between a spirited and sensible guide book has been published, which should save them from many en embarrass- ing moment or hideous gaffe.

It is called "A Manuni of Modern. Manners" and its author, Judith, Countess Law towel, has, I think, done a very good job in bringing etiquette up to date..

But she has left out the answers to several 64-dollar questions I can think of, and included a mass of vague general advice about how to live with your in-laws, how to get on at a cocktail party and so That most people will rightly

Otherwise it's azi. there--how to entertain royalty (very use- ful), how much to tip, prace- dents and forms of address, formal letter-writing, the: loj

Anyone who cares desperately but does not wish to admit thei Ignorance, shoud retire to a corner with this book and read it all up discreetly.

Manual of Modern Man- nere. By Judith Listowel. (Odhams, 21).

**** (London Express Service),

PARIS

WOMANSENSE

Balmain designs for the beanpole girl with a big bank account-

had a distinctly English flavour. For both

of the leading designers showing recently had their eyes fixed flatteringly on the English woman and the English pound.

PIERRE BALMAIN showed with contrasting hem or a ruffe first. Balmain's models have of fur at the bottom of the skirt a cool, mature beauty, and mast of Balmain's clients have a cool fortune tucked away some- where.

The girl he designs for is strictly a woman who knows how to wear the wealth of fur. glitter, and glamour he sur- rounds her with. And knows how to pay for it, too.

A ruffle

But from the moment one realised that the sigh of admira- tion which went up from the udience was not for the coat being shown but for the dog in the srms of the model showing the British contingent felt at

home.

For the pear-shaped woman there are more accommodating, clothes-wide skirted evening dresses designed to hide pretty wide hips, a handful of suits with the gentle, hung-straight skirt which seems to be the rage of Paris.

And Balmain tises colours designed to atter a warm Eng- lish complexion-peat gowns, black, soft beige for days, and every shade that glows in the light of a chandelier for evening.

contrast

Many of his fabrics come from the famous British mills of Archer and Sekers and many more are the kind ye have been wearing for years-weeds, tar- tans, camel hair.

Balmain designs for the traditionally English type of

With due regard for the chilly figure. For the tall beanpole corridors of country houses he there is the latest line-straight brings back the comfort of a and cylindrical, often trimmed stale for evening.

A

glamorous gown, reflecting the no-waist- line look of the 1930's—a look that is now

pery much in vogue.

THE

GAMBOLS.

From

JILL BUTTERFIELD

and

Robb

-*** Parla, Tuesday-

With knowledge of the kind of wind that can bluster through an English winter, he gives his top coals a lining of contrasting fabric or, more often and more luxuriously, of fur,

But despite this Angiophilia. the Balmain collection. face it, was designed in Paris, So his models wear wiidly im- practical pale satin shoes with everything barring a tweed cost,

Where his decolletage dips, it bares the back to the waist, and when his models put on their Jewels, they do not stop at the one piece that is "ttle and good": they wear the Bob bangles, baubles, and beads.

Pierre Balmain is undoubted- ly the Rolls-Royce of the fashion world. He might not move with the speed of a Cardin or a Dior. but his clothes confer a definite dianity and a certain prestige en their wearer. And, what is more. they are built to last.

British buyers will be at the Balmain collection later this week on the look-out for the kind of line they translate into ready-to-wear clothes. I do not envy them the task of bye. ing to turn this superb work- manship. this lavishness. this luxury into cut-price, off-the- neg fashion.

Sizzling

But British buyers will ind NINA RICCr's sizzling col- lection cram-jam full of the kind of clothes that will WOW every girl under 30.

For Ricci's designer. Beldan- barn Jules Francois Crahay. also designed for the English- but for the kind of girl who picks her clothes in her nearest large town, buys them from her wage packet, and wears them for fun and just a season,

Although he calls his collec- tion "Young and Rich." a clever eye and a careful hand could adapt almost any number in the show. I christen it “Young and Universal" For there are as many variations of line and look as there are girls to wear them. His gentle skirted suits are often trimmed like Balmain's, with hems of rich fur.

Young and pretty are his necklines for evening.

Young and fun are his accES- sories which give the zingt and Whe dest of ych the whole production.

Tinkling

I loved his tiny, cheek-hug- ging cloche hats, his necklaces made of what looks like golden ping-pong balls flung along o fine gilt chain, his placing of a bunch of mock mistletoe high on the shoulder,

And the 120 golden. bells which tinkled inside the hem of e smooth black coat was ย touch that could only happen in Paris.

In short, this collection is Young Paris at its most chic. But, fashion apart, this is the way. I would like to look this winter.

At Nina Flect wanted to Iwaltz away in the lot.

London prezz Servict).

CLAUDE ST CYR, WHO HATS THE ROYAL FAMILY, DESIGNS A TWEED. CHEEK-COVERING HAT AND MATCHING FRINGED STOLE.

FOR THE ENGLISH. WINTER. THE BALMAIN LINE AND THE BALMAIN LUXURY. A STRAIGHT SHEATH DRESS. OF FINE BLACK BROADTAIL WITH A MATCHING JACKET BOTH TRIMMED WITH BANDS OF BLACK MINK.

Barry Appleby

THE HOLIDAYS DONE

AME

FEEL SO BRIGHT-EYED

How Do You

{ AND BUSHY-TAILED

FEEL, GEORGH?

WELL, THAT'S THE LOT

HARD UP

THEY LEFT DURING TUL SECOND REEL

COOK BETTER MEALS

WITH GAS

Making a wish! Hying

It's bound to cooDE LIND

For service sublima and food divine'

" are there all the time Jaspecially for you)