5 FEBRUARY 1965, Page 28

ENDPAPERS

Conspicuous Waist ?

By LESLIE ADRIAN

THE bi-annual ballyhoo

of the international fash- ion 'collections' has just worn itself and its re:' porters out once again. Messieurs Pucci, Forquet, Balmain, Cardin, Hartnell and Amies have amassed enough newspaper cover- age to have aroused the envy of Lady Docker in her heyday or do justice to an American President. The bewildered reader, the male who pays, the female whose shape may or may not conform, could be excused for wondering just how relevant to their state are the 800-guinea evening dresses, the 'Town suits'. at £250, the hats for £50 or so that may be worn twice.

Bewilderment sets in not just when you put the exhortations and predictions of the differ- ent papers side by side, but even those of the same writer. One lady's banner headline shouted 'Put your Straight Skirts on the Scrapheap' one day and two days later her copy said, 'Very pretty, the straight skirt, for very fine, sewn- down pleats were released into a four-inch flounce round the hem.' And, of course, the rag- and-bone man had called.

I enjoy the curt authority with which the fashion writers contradict each other as the days

go by. 'Spread the word—stilettos are back' rapped the Daily Express, while the Guardian reported 'low, set-back heels' (symbolism?). The Guardian was characteristically 'bored . . . with knees,' but the , hemline as reported in hall a dozen papers was variously above the knee or two to three inches below it. This is no way to crack the fashion whip over the multitudes.

Much better be unequivocal in the tone of 'Everyone likes a battledress suit' (try that one on the Marines), 'You can slice off your suit collar now,' You could whip up that swathed

turban right now from an Indian Paisley silk scarf . . .' (another raid on Dad's wardrobe),

and, of course, 'drift through the night in Dior's new transparent gowns.' This is easy acceptable stuff, leadership material. Not so cryptic utter- ances like 'The Bermuda shorts under lace tunics offered tranquillity simply because there was a double couverture.' Strangest of all was the model who wore 'a coarse meshed black lace cap suit and, apparently, nothing else at all,' but whose blushes were spared •'by a flesh coloured body stocking.' Sorry I missed that.

But, seriously, to quote a forgotten source, the fashion press do a grand job bringing the messages back from Paris and Rome to the High

Street, even if one little black dress at £66 looks much like another at £6 (Which? rather un-

gallantly undermined the 'mystique of high fashion' with this ploy in its January issue, and apparently there was no way of sparing the fashion experts' blushes).

St. Laurent found out the strength of the women writers the hard way last season, when his designs got a drubbing and the buyers from the big stores bought elsewhere. This time he took no chances and showed to the trade first, taking a leaf out of the well-thumbed book of the cinema industry but, presumably, not en- dearing himself to the fashion editors.

Not that those formidable ladies need my sympathy. The day is surely'coming when, in-

stead of private previews and inside informa- tion, the fashion writers will tell the couture houses what to make. At present not only do they derive apparently incompatible trends from what they see. (obviously they have personal preferences and vastly differing readerships), the clothes that they picture seem to bear no re- semblance to what the smart girl next door puts on or what turns the head of the man on the No. 11 bus.

Not that Veblen wouldn't have got the point of it all—and this year the waist is to be more conspicuous than usual, for the belted waist 'is back' it says in the paper. On my Tube train the office girls never realised it had gone. But I know they'll be relieved to hear the news. It's only in summer when they wear cheap—sorry, inexpensive—cotton that they can afford to chase the fashion rainbOw. One reason is the wicked mark-up between wholesale and retail. This is 90 per cent including purchase tax. In Ireland the wholesale houses rub along on a mere 45 per cent.

Still, I have it on ,good authority that the British get better fashions for lower prices than any other nation. Honourable mention should be made of Marks and Spencer, who now sell jersey dresses which keep pace with style trends, and of Wallis Shops, who diligently serve 'a market with more taste than money.

A word of warning for impecunious trend- followers—remember dresses that look dreamy

on professional models in the skilfully lit pictures can look rather different in the harsh light of day on a woman-shaped woman. (There are more tricks in fashion photography, etc. . . .) But back to Which? for a final word of comfort:

. . the "right dress" is as likely to cost six pounds as it is to cost sixty.'

The Nursery World's annual infant's Michelin is on the bookstalls again. And although the charges at some of the best kinder-hotels are beyond many of the parents in the age group to need it most, and some of the starred estab- lishments appear to consider that provision of a potty and a sleepy-talky transceiver justifies an astronomical tariff, the new edition is worth a florin if only because it is the only guide of its kind.