Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 109, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 May 1920 — Gay Toggery at Dances in Paris [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Gay Toggery at Dances in Paris

The popularity of the dansant and the revival of the tango in Paris have had a remarkable influence on dress, writes a French fashion correspondent The smart places where people gather for afternoon dancing have be-’ come centers of fashion. There are those who do not go to dance but simply to study the clothes, not only for the styles themselves, but for the wealth of beautiful color that is expressed in many of them, for this dancing craze has been the means of Introducing unusual colorings of Spanish origin into our clothes. ‘ Jabot dresses are still a very strong feature in Paris fashions; one sees an endless number of them at afternoon dances. The jabot skirt, when topped by a simple little bodice, makes a remarkably pretty afternoon dress. In fact, nothing could be more attractive than such a model when developed in a soft, clinging fabric. But all have-not these modest corsages. There are extreme ones having sleeveless bodices almost as decollete as an evening gown. , One worn recently at a tea dance' in Paris, too extreme to be worn by American women as an afternoon dress, would make a charming informal dinner frock. The original is developed in black satin and silver lace, the lace forming the jabot cascade down the sides of the draped skirt. A straight piece of the lace goes about the figure to make an under portion for the surplice bodice of black satin. Old Favorites in New Patterns. A great many beautiful new fabrics have large designs printed in bright colors. The fashion for having frocks made to match coat linings, which prevailed during the past winter, no doubt had a great deal tb do with the development and elaboration of silks that were similar to the materials which we have been wont to employ as linings for wraps only. Many old favorites have returned to us in new guises as a result of the extensive use of these silks. Chiffon is one that has followed the lead of gay patterned silks. . To read of a chiffon frock in which the material printed in a large design of two colors is combined with chiffon In two solid tones might give you the Impression of a decidedly bizarre gown, but one has been developed in just this way and the result obtained by such a combination Is simple and quaint. The marriage, as the French say, of two colors, navy blue and white, is wonderfully worked out in this design. There is just enough of the deep blue in the upper part of the skirt to accentuate this note without making the dress dark. Where the printed fabric, which is white with a large blue design, joins the plain one, lace entre-deux is .used for outlining the edges of the points and the oblique ends of the panels. Chiffon Finds Fountain of Youth. The straight line figure is preserved through the draped blouse, which is made entirely of the printed chiffon and has a fichu collar of pure white chiffon, also elaborated with the entre-deux. This dress is quite as charming when developed in emerald green and white or cerise and white. In days gone by we thought of printed chiffon as suitable only for elderly ladies’ afternoon dresses; probably because this fabric* was made in sub-

dned colors and rather prosy designs. But this making of chiffon in big patterns and brilliant shades has given it a new lease of life, so that now printed chiffons are .quite the rage. Jenny, whose models, while always beautiful, never were lovelier than they are this spring, uses quantities of printed chiffons combined with plain materials. In one instance she _ ~ *

Sleeveless dress worn recently at an afternoon tea dadtee in Paris. It is developed in black satin, the skirt having a Jabot drapery of lace.

unites bright red foulard with chiffon having a large black and white pattern. This dress has a long-walsted blouse joined to a tunic skirt with entre-deux, very much after the manner of the model just described, a point of difference, however, lying in the fact that the blouse, which is of the chiffon, Is cut in a pointed design and applied to the foulard skirt. By using a long smock blouse Mme. Jenny cleverly gives the effect of a chemise dress. Lovelier Dresses Than Ever Before. There is a large rolling collar of the red silk draped about a rather low-cut’ neck on the chiffon blouse. It is really wonderful the way these very , bright—almost gaudy—silks are being combined with figured or plain silks as well as chiffons and made into dresses lovelier than any we have ever had.. Even serge dresses have become frivolous to be in keeping with the gay dresses seen at the fashionable thes dansants. While these dresses

have for a long time been somewhat enlivened by embroideries and trimmings of colored leather, the introduction of lingerie effects into them is something which we have not seen for many a season. The woman who liked above everything else in her dress effects that were becoming and feminine regretted the passing of the always flattering lingerie collar. Many said, when It became the mode to wear dresses with severe necklines, quite unadorned ex cept for the occasional use of embroidered bands or a bit of dark fur, that women would not adopt a fashion so lacking in flattering aids to beauty. But that most women are willing to follow the prevailing fashions is attested by the fact that lingerie collars were nowhere seen in assemblages ol women who made any pretension td being smartly dressed. Their absence was a comparatively brief one, however, for now lingerie effects have returned. One of the smartest of the new serge frocks, which has white organdie as its trimming, was seed at an afternoon dance. The color of the cloth was very dark blue and displayed to excellent advantage the fluted organdie trimming which took the form of a flaring Medici colla that continued down the front of the dress to the wastline in the form of a vest Box Coats, One-Piece Dresses. Box coais are not confined to reg ulation suits. At the Maison Worth as well as at other great Paris houses the box coat has been incorporate into the idea of a three-piece suit—that is to say, the one-piece dress has a straight box coat to be worn over it Instead of having a contrasting .vest these are open in the front to reveal the full length of the frock. Ever sc many of these coats which match frocks have high, straight collars buttoning closely about the neck. These are unusual on loose coats that de not close at the front, v Every woman who loves simplicity and comfort in dress will be delighted to know that the best houses art still featuring the straightHine frock. A typical Parisian model is made ol white tussah silk almost'on the line? of a coat dress, with the ope side fastening. This closing shows a binding of black satin, which continues in a straight line to form a finish for the high, close-fitting collar. The skirt portion is slit at the front to show an underskirt of black satin.

Afternoon dress of printed blue and white chiffon combined with solid blue and having a fichu of pure white. Real lace entre-deux is used