A MAID IN MAYFAIR.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 274, 19 November 1927, Page 24

A MAID IN MAYFAIR.

MODES JN MANNEQUINS.

TABLE DECORATION

(I' rom Our Lady Correspondent.)

LONDON, September 1

London dressmakers are .back from Paris with the autumn, and even- the winter, models. Such suppressed excitement, such rustling of tissue paper and smothered exclamations of admiration! Colours, they all say, are more than beautiful. Nobody will have anv excuse for looking dowdy, for there is not a dull tone in the range of shades which the dressmaking Big Five have decided upon. Turquoise blue is one of their selections." Sapphire is another, and there is a wonderful night blue which is particularly attractive in "satin and velvet. The popular beige has deepened to a sort of lioriey-brown, and in some of the fine woollen materials is exactly champagne hue. I The Dressmakers.

These colours, and the styles and length and waistline, are decided by the Paris dressmakers whoso names arc so well known to those who buy models, or copies of models,' at the big • shops. They arc artists witfl stuffs and embroidery silks, and they have evolved some important improvements to the line and design of last season. Really, there is not a great deal of change from the frocks and jumper suits we have been wearing and are wearing now. Skirts coyer the knee instead of displaying it, and most frocks will be made to suit tlie wearer—that is, the length of a skirt will vary with the height of the jfoman who is to wear it. fc Hats and Veils.

Last year at this tinae Paris was threatening to take the Vagabond hat from us. The brim was flattened and made stiffer, and the crown lowered, but •women had grown so fond of it that they refused to let it go. So this year, for tlie winter, we are to have it again, but with two brim 3 and a twO-colour band round the crown. The brim is by no means the ordinary double one. There are two layers, and one turns up and the other down. They are wired so that they will keep in place, and the top one stands up and is very attractive. The veil has returned, but not for th§ hat with a brim. It adds a dressy effect to the small and close-fitting hat. It falls from the brim just to the tip of the nose. Worn by the right woman it is fascinating in appearance. Groups of Mannequins.

Paris ha 3 developed the duplicate mannequin idea. Last year two models, one with fair hair and the fashionable slim proportions, and the other dark and a little fuller of figure, showed exactly the same gown. The idea was that two distinct types could see how the gown would look on each of them. This year there ' are four manneqins, and each shows the same frock in different colours. It ■will be interesting to see how far London follows this example, -for there will •be autumn dress shows directly. England has just as lovely mannequins as Paris, and more and more girls are taking up this particular way of earning a living as a serious profession. Men gci to dress shows in London a great deal more thm they used to, and there; are scores of parades now compared with the dozen or so which used to be held for the exclusive few. Mid-Victorian Women.

We have the authority of a French proverb for the saying that woman often varies. But not, it would appear, so much as is sometimes supposed. Beading yesterday the delightful Btudy of Disraeli, by M. Maurois, a charming book which hps received surprisingly little attention this country, considering it is by the author of "The Silences of Colonel Bramble" and the essay on Shelley, I find a passage of which this ib a free translation; "But in 1860 young girls seemed to have no other ambition than to be taken for Dames aux Camelias! They walked with their skirts raised as high as their knees, showing pretty legs, called the men Tom, Dick, or John, and discussed with their friends the latest scandals invented at White's Club." And 1860 was almost the middle of the mid-Victorian era. M. Maurois shows again a wonderful appreciation of the British atmosphere, and finds his way through the intricacies of our political technicalities with the certainty of a native. The Countess of Warwick.

Frances, Countess of Warwick, who lias scarcely had occasion to consult a doctor all her life has, I hear, been suf- ' fering recently from a rather trying form of ear-trouble. ■ Like most people who enjoy robust health she has found the role of invalid exasperating in the ■ extreme. Everyone will wish her an 1 early recovery, for though of late she ' has been most in the public eye in con- 1 nection with various Socialist activities, she is a woman of manifold interests. Apart from the work she has done in encouraging the daughters of professional men to take up horticulture, she is keenly concerned in the welfare of a home for'crippled children, is president of numberless societies, is an enthusiastic amateur gardener and horsewoman, and takes an' inexhaustible interest in everything affecting the well-being of all animals and all birds. Mew Field for Women.

Mrs. Guinness and the Hon. Mrs. Oliver Brett both employ the same lady on a job that opens 'up a new and attractive field of wage-earning for artistically-inclined women. The wife of a naval officer is engaged to arrange all the flowers and to create original table decoration schemes. When Mrs. Guinness gave'a dinner the other night her aide-de camp had worked artistic wonders with black Wedgwood plinths holding white Spode figures, with green creepers trailing round their feet. Bowls of fruit, in lieu of. the more orthodox flowers, supplied" the vivid colour note. The lady who plans these dinner tables that are "different".goes down, to the market -before breakfast to buy her foliage and flowers. ,

A Whole-time Job. On* of Mis*'Fannie Ward'i most pleasant trait* i» « perfect candcnr in regard to the preservation of her taairvellous youth. Looking not * day older than 25, though she has passed the 60 milestone, this amazing little "flapper" grandma makes no bones about the price . she has to pay for her triumph oyer old Father Time. "You have to put in a whole lot of hard work," she says, "in ord*r to keep, young. Dieting is only 2P* **P«ct of the new-young regime. ~ P °* Me only what you put -■g£ "dno more. And believe me, ***** I™** *• * wMe-timo Jobl"