MAID IN MAYFAIR.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 224, 21 September 1929, Page 4 (Supplement)

MAID IN MAYFAIR.

LAW AND DECORATION. NEW BARGAIN SALES, (From Our London Lady Correspondent.) Those 'who are anxious to know who exactly are London's bright young people might have found out with little trouble last Friday. The very brightest of their number, Miss Elizabeth Ponsonbv, whose father, Mr. Arthur Ponsonby, is the Under-Secretary for the Dominions in Mr. Mac Donald's Government, and who has led escapades more exciting even than treasure hunts, had a wedding of her own then, and all her followers and friends were among the guest*. Almost the last wedding reception Miss Ponsonbv, or Mrs. Denis Pelly, as she now is, attended, was a mock one at a smart London hotel, arranged by herself, and at which she figured as the bride! Every kind of rumour was spread about Friday's ceremony,, which took place at St. Margaret's, Westminster. There were to be sensations and surprises right through. But the whole affair was conventional in the extreme. The tremendous crowd inside and outside the church saw a wonderfully attractive bride in a white tulle picture frock and a halo headdress, and, if bridesmaids wore green, well, any nuirber of other brides have had green processions this year.

A BRIGHTER PARLIAMENT. We are to have a brighter Parliament as a result of the additions to the women's ranks. Miss Megan Lloyd George lias already appeared in a flowered chiffon frock with a most feminine-look-ing frilled cape to it; and Mrs. Mary Agnes Hamilton has worn red sho?s, carried a bright scarlet bag, and smoked cigarettes in a long red holder. This, I believe, is nothing to what Mrs. Hamilton, who is noted for her picturesque fashion of dressing, can do when she feels the occasion demands colour and atmosphere. So the example of Lady Astor and the Duchess of Atholl looks like going by the board. They have always dressed so neatly, so sombrely, if the truth must be told. And even Miss Ellen Wilkinson, who fights at every turn for a brighter House of Commons, has only appeared occasionally in anything but "neat" clothes, trusting to her auburn hair to supply the colour note. Miss Ishbel Mac Donald went to the House to listen to the King's speech, wearing a sleeveless picture frock *ind a shady hat. ELLEN TERRY'S BOOKS. I wonder if Ellen Terry's library will fetch relatively higher prices than did her pictures and her. furniture at .the end of last year. The books are to sold in London this week, and I hear that there is a good deal of interest in some of the first editions, and in the presentation copies which were sent to her by so many authors of note. Collectors will be interested in the volumes of Shaw, some of which have charming little messages from the great G.B.S. written on the fly leaves. There was a very firm friendship between Ellen Terry anil Shaw. Admirers of the actress herself, as apart from connoisseurs,"will- be interested to know that on the -title page of nearly every volume; appears her signature. In some of them, too, there are shrewd comments, and' her opinions, not always flattering, even though the author was her . very good frieni American authors were very fond of Ellen Terry, and there are quite a number of produced works by. authors belonging., to the States in the collection which is to go to the hammer. ■ LONDON'S MAN MILLINER. Hearing about the eccentricities of Mr. Norman Hartnell's Circus party, probably the biggest freak entertainment of the season, one could hardly, guess him to be a successful busin-.-ss man along his own unusual lines. This young Cambridge graduate, having an eye for feminine dress as well as artistic talent, took up dress-designing seriously, and is now the favourite "dressmaker" of youthful society. More, he has actually made his way into the front rank of French designers—Lelong, Patou, and Chanel —with Americans, his designs appearing in New York's exclusive shops. He. specialises in wedding gowns. The white-and-silver one he planned for Lady Nunburnholme a year ago was hardly surpassed by the wonderful golden dress he created the other day for Miss Conagh Guinness. His Bruton Street ' studio, where the other night his guests appeared as apes and clowns, was. the birthplace of Princess Elizabeth. BARGAINS ON MANNEQUINS.

Quite a new idea is delighting bargain hunters, at the West End summer sales. This is the showing of bargain frocks and coats on the backs of beautiful mannequins, instead of those desired possessions being merely huddled together in the usual disrespectful sale manner. This is an attempt to get away from the atmosphere of bustle and push, whi<si the West End . shops believe keeps away a great many potential sale customers. The parade of mannequins gives the customer a chance of considering her purchase at more leisure, and of appreciating more fully the true value of the price reduction. '? ; ■;".>! , 'CONVERTED MEWS. London fad of living in a mews is not entirely novel. During the war, a correspondent reminds me, the head of a women's volunteer corps had an attractive home in a Kensington mews, where a stable had been turned into a pleasant .'though oddly-shaped sitting loom, with bedrooms above. Years be-, fore that, when horses were still stabled in a Nottirig Gate Mews an artist had a quaintly cosy studio there. She worked happily at her enamels while the horses stamped and neighed underneath. • The mews inhabited by Mrs. Robin d'Erlanger and other society women to-day have been converted into entirely different places imitation Tudor cottages, all modern £x>nveniences, and rents running well into three figures. VEILS AGAIN. The return of the veil is being predicted in the millinery trade. Already the half-veil has made its appearance and has been an instant success, Lady Oxford beuig one of the well-dressed women who has taken to it. Now that hats are being worn off the face, und the feminiiie features no longer have the softening effect of the pulled-down hat it is' only the- newest of debutantes who '■an face the world, without a * tremor. The half-veil adds a softness to the feanires which is not .unwelcome. The new veils are made'of plain tulle, and incidentally help to keep in order unruly growing hair.