Zero Hour

Said Designer Marcel Rochas before the spring fashion openings in Paris: "I feel at zero hour, ready for a fresh departure." That was what Paris needed if it was to regain its place as fashion leader of the world. This week, glimpsing the first pictures of the spring fashions, U.S. women could decide for themselves just how fresh a departure Paris had made.

Skirts were tighter and shorter, as much as 16 in. from the ground. Padded hips were out; gone, too, were the waist corsets and many of the other foolish furbelows which had come in with the New Look. In some collections, like Balmain's, there was a nostalgic look of the '20s. The trend was to more simplicity. The object, said one designer, was "not to astonish but to please."

Nevertheless, there was still plenty to astonish. Some designers--notably Balenciaga--showed dresses, including evening gowns, with split skirts worn over torea-dorlike pantaloons. For the hot-weather trade, Schiaparelli featured an evening dress with a transparent blouse under which only a black brassiere was worn.

Despite the obvious eye catchers, dressmakers hoped that U.S. women would agree with Designer Jacques Heim that Paris was casting aside "the masquerade fashions prevailing since the war [and returning to] beautiful, wearable clothes."

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