GOSSIP FROM PARIS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 242, 12 October 1929, Page 4 (Supplement)

GOSSIP FROM PARIS.

WONDERS OF THE SALON. MATCHING IN DRESS. (By MELANIE.) Once more the great salon has closed its doors to modern art, till next May, when again we shall listen to the moans of the rejected, and read how many hundreds of yards of good linen have ■been wasted on bad canvaees. It would be almost impossible to find a better setting than the Grand Palais, once the home of illustrious kings and emperors. They certainly knew the value of proportions in architecture, the.se men Avho freely spent millions, ■ earned by the sweat of the peasants, and really now I think in his heart the Frenchman is quite proud of his build-, ings, though he did chaee the owners to the furthest corners-of the world! The whole floor of this beautiful and spacious palace has been swept away and replaced with turf, so that when you enter from the noisy, dusty streets, eye and foot are refreshed. Among the hundreds of sculptures plated, I was especially struck with a fine group of Shakespeare studies—so the great master is revered over here, too. The psychological insight shown by the artist in moulding Macbeth before and after his realised ambition was nothing short of marvellous. The full lips, slightly protruding jaws, and heavy brows subtly changed to obstinate and cruel determination, while the eyes, well you could just see them turning this way and that with suspicion. Some of the marbles were enormous, and I wondered however anyone could be found to move them. The rest of the scores of rooms were given to .paintings, very, very few of them being ultra-modern. To see these it is better to wander down some of the fashionable shopping quarters, where one-man shows are frequent and free. So immense is the palace that the orchestra playing at one end could not be heard on the opposite side!

Novelties. Verily to man's ingenuity there is no end. It may be that a couple of our city fathers felt that they must justify their existence,' or was it the potency of their cognac? Who may, tell! In any case it resulted in the ingenious idea of luminous police, yes; real men enveloped in phosphorescent garments. It will only need a dash of sulphur smell tbrmake the midnight reveller- fear that retribution has come sooner than he-anticipated. What a boon will he be to the" prowler seeking. whom .Le may devour, for his 'Tlist, hea'e comes the bogey man" will henceforth be hardly necessary; However, it. will 1101 be long, should; the idea take f ;-root, before the invisible cloak of

old tales will materialise, which with rubber solee, will allow other guardians of the peace to pursue their legitimate prey in safety. Another outcome of an inventive brain I saw in one of our great emporiums, where they not only anticipate your every wish, but create many more. Among a fascinating array of china, reposed bundles of fine glass tubes, gaily coloured in reds and blues. "And for what?" I asked. "So that madame may enjoy her lemonade, and decorate her table at the same time." Sα now you need no straws nor need fear unpleasant little, scraps that mount throatwards, for these pretty imbibers are provided with a thoughtful bulb at one end. They certainly help in table schemes, but can one be sure of adequate washing.in the kitchen? No End to Matches! ■ The fashionable world has just been startled by being offered garments of straw, not, be it understood iii its prickly glory, but after it has had a dozen or bo handlings, s» that" when it finally emerges, behold a tissue silky, delicate and soft to the touch. As you may imagine -its 'price will keep it, at any rate for the present, to Fortune's darlings, but all the same I much doubt if it will'-take on. It was not so long ago that a great lady appeared at one of our big race meetings with a wooden hat, of. elegant shape, yes, and prettily coloured. Alas, all illusions vanished with the next downpour, for the drops pattering like little hailstones nearly deafened the charming wearer and effectually killed the patent./ ' • The. rage just now is for matching. No woman ■ with any pretence to elegance dreams of issuing from' 'her boudoir till she has accomplished the desired tint in details of dress,, which colour must be repeated in her beauti-tully-embroidered gloves, the ridiculously high-heeled shoes, on . which she : now n? ly >?»nc«.- and her handbag, «^carvi P T / e v P6Ctable P ro Portions. that umbrella. To meet H-Kow vS," 1 .? I***1*** varying parasols ,- ._ 7™^°ok,any desired cover ~->.