Mode 1929

Opened importantly last week the spring and summer salons of many a great Parisian couturier. Since these are no vulgar "fashion shows" a discreet preview was permitted only to authentic amateurs and smartest clients. Soon the elect observed a series of Parisian points sure to mark the orbit of La Mode 1929.

1) Hips remain sleek but relieved toward evening by billowy puff effects and prodigious furbelows. 2) Waistlines are rising to the normal waist, are frequently accentuated by belts. 3) Skirts have fallen irretrievably, with several Patou street models a full six inches below knee length, and many evening gowns with demi-trains. 4) Evening bodices are slimmer, with decolletage lower behind, higher in front. 5) Trig jackets--many reversible--are especially smart for city and sports. 6) Summer fabrics, very simple for day wear, with a startling revival of bright ginghams and even calicos. 7) Hats are even smaller and sleeker, many brimless and exposing the forehead. 8) Colors, brighter, with contrasting red and black in the ascendant, plus many new shades: pewter, menthe, lucifer, Capudne, Lelong blue and green. . . . 9) Fads red hair, tennis trousers for women, pajamas at luncheon.* naughtily named knee length nightskirts: "Dream of Me," "Alarm Clock," "Midnight Tonight," "Turn Your Head. . . ." French mannequins this year have dropped exaggerated posturing, are seeking to resemble la type Americaine introduced in 1924 by Jean Patou when he imported a dozen U. S. young women and an English brunette now famed as the actress June. Nephew Erskine Gwynne of General and Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt promptly snatched and married in Paris svelte Patou mannequin Josephine Armstrong.

*Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney motored up from the Bath and Tennis Club into the heart of Palm Beach last week, and lunched pajama-clad in a public restaurant.