OCR Text |
Show Novel Colors for Milady's Motor Outfit This Spring Designers of Women's Wear Have Delved Into Forests to Secure Appropriate Shades. i Fashion has annexed a new kingdom since motoring became so widespread. It is a kingdom bounded by the question, "What is the proper apparel to wear in the automobile?" Rut it is a limited monarchy, mon-archy, for fashion's dictates may not be founded on mere caprice. Comfort must bo considered In the decrees, and this is especially true of winter styles. This season, taking up motor styles for women first, coats of natural raccoon, beaver and wombat have taken unusually well this year, not only for the warmth and protection- they afford, but because of the fine lines on which they are cut. Among the best sellers of all, however, have been coats made of the fur of the little animal called nutria. To the good qualities of the other furs, this one brings the added virtue of warmth without weight And the cost of nutria coats, though not small, is less than that of some of the others. Full Cut. The best-styled motor coats of fur are noted at once bv the comfortable fullness of their cut. They hang free from the shoulder In graceful lines, that are often broken at the waist by being gathered In with a belt, either full or half. Some of the half-belt arrangements r decidedly de-cidedly novel, belnr so made that the belt can be worn either In the front or back, as suits the vagaries of the wearer. Nearly all of the best coats have pockets, some of which are edged with a contrasting con-trasting fur or decorated with a single large fur button. Long Coats. To Insure full protection. 'onB coats have been designed and have found favor with the public. While these lengths vary with the heights and tastes of the purchasers, pur-chasers, leading retail shops report forty-five forty-five and fifty inch coats have sold freely free-ly so far, and that there Is every reason to look for a continuance of their sale until the season closes. Another point that is mentioned favorably favor-ably is the way the designers have treated the collars of the coats meant for use In a car. Most of them are cut deep and full, which allows them not only to be worn flat when desired, but permits them to be turned up hlsh In the back to pro- ! tect the neck and ears. A number of 1 novel fasten ines have been evolved, not tiie le.ist attractive of which Is a short cross-over or surplice effect. Novel Colors. "Designers of women's wear have gone far afield in their search for novel colors with which to enhance the charms of the feminine motorist til is spring," said a dealer. "From the restless sea they have taken Its green ; they have invaded the wine marts and brought forth chartreuse. In the mountains tiiey have brought to llsht the hue of gold, and the forests have been made to yield a shade that Is to be called spruce blue. French blue and beige are also to be seen, as are mustard and turf brown. The sunny hillsides hill-sides of Italy have been forced to yield citron. Kven the toothsome periwinkle i has not been allowed to escape unnoticed. As for the fabrics that will clothe the j lady of the car when furs become super-' super-' fluous, they are many. And well to the top of the list will come again that favorite fa-vorite cloth of the fall Bolivia. Burilla cloth will vie with the others for first honors, while a high place for heather mixtures is assured. Diagonal velours, a new fabric known as 'loopine,' and a variation of the Bolivia cloth idea., an attractive at-tractive fabric that has been marketed under the namo of 'Anzac Bolivia,' will also rank high in popular favor for motor coats. Style Keynote. "The style keynote- of th most popular spring coats will be fullness, which means comfort as has been the case for the last two or three seasons. While there will be novel arrangements as to collars and sleeves and a variance from last season's sea-son's use of belts and pockets, it Is difficult diffi-cult to point out In detail Just what these changes will be, especially so since the designers are still struggling to produce the motorist's trinity in garments style, comfort, and utility. This much can be said of the popular lengths, however they will not differ greatly from those of the coats designed for street wear." Raccoon Coats. The feature of the men's end of the automobile apparel business is said by all odds to be the great demand that has developed for raccoon coats, in spite of the sharp increase in price that has come about, a thing tiiat had been thought would hamper their sale. As a result of tins demand there is a marked scarcity of raccoon coats, not only in the shops, but in the hands of the manufacturers as well. A further result Ls that coats of this kind, which two years ago could be had for $55 to $65, now cost S95 and upward. up-ward. A really good one would retail in the neighborhood of $250. In the cheaper goods some of the his shops are offering long khaki coats that are lined with sheepskin from shoulder to waist and set off by wombat or raccoon collars. One of the little features of these coats is the knitted wristlet that is set In the bottom of the sleeve to keep the wrist and lower arm warm. Not only are these coats used by a certain class of chauffeurs to a considerable extent, but they have taken well with persons who want something warm for outdoor sports wear, where great activity ls not required, at a reasonable price. To their sorrow, some of the. buyers for the leading apparel shops are finding that colored liveries for chauffeurs are more or less rapidly becoming things of the past. Plain fur coats are replacing the dark colored outer garments that used to be trimmed with fancy frogs and things. The chauffeur suits are for the most part made of Oxford gray whipcord or serge, both of which are materials that stand the wear when a chauffeur has to tinker with the internal mechanism of a car or wrestle with a refractory tire. The old idea that a paid driver of a car must be adorned in Impressive raiment, a relic of the days when the transition from coachman to chauffeur was in progress, is dying" out |