WOMEN'S FORUM.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 261, 3 November 1932, Page 13

WOMEN'S FORUM.

;: GIFT OiP GRATITUDE. A story of. human interest is connected with the forthcoming fair to be held at the Jubilee- Institute.- for the Blind. JSome time ago. the institute *heard of a tale of hardship. An old lady, blind and partly paralysed, whose family had lost all they possessed in the. Napier earthquake, was living, with a daughter, on the very small income her husband received. The institute provided a wheeled chair for the old lady, this having been made by the blind workers. As a slight return the daughter asked if a pair: of cowboy trousers, made from a sugar.bag, would be of-any use for the small eon of the institute's representative, ' who had accompanied his father on this errand of mercy. The glow in the little boy's eyes spoke.-for itself, and ever since he has been Tom Mix in his own estimation. Seeing how delighted l a child co'uld be with these playing garments, the grateful daughter has now "made some 40 pairs' for the fair, which will be held in December. Two city firms have given all the sugar bags necessary to make the trousers, and others are also being made by women friends. These will doubt-lose give delight to many boyish hearts, as well as help those who suffer from loss of sight. MALE FASHIONS. While women's clothes are only a little more so than they were last season, men's clothes have taken a decided turn, say the London tailors. Good clothes which have'done service last month are dated this. This sort of thing, think the young men, would happen in these-hard times. But it seems that doub}e-breasted Chesterfield overcoat, mpsj; be broader and with fuller lapels and square-cut shoulders. There is a general shaping of the top part of the coat tending to give a well-developed chest appearance. The waist' is higher and must fit comfortably",'"and the'ek'irt is a little longer. Worsteds; cheviots and tweede have prer ferenee over meltons. Small patterns and bird's-eye markings are best in tweeds. And what all Englishmen like is that the Raglan, cut on loose-fitting lines, is back in vogue. So probably the Englishman of American; cartoons ;will appear again and the Englishman will think it is merely the American version. COSMETICS AGAIN. >. . Every now and then the question as to whether or not our. .grandmothers painted, creamed, or otherwise adorned their faces, is brought up. The Victorians certainly boast. that nothing more than good cold water and ordinary yellow soap was responsible for their damask cheeks. The question of cosemeticsmmustt t however, have, been a one.;.-long ;;bdfore. our grand'inpther's time, for even.bo sober and Highbrow a p'erson' as the great Erasmus threw himself intq.,'the controversy-some 400 years ago. Erasmus was long before his time in seeing the woman's point of view; , he also' took the side of the humbler classes, and hated snobbery. In -one-of his satires, pretending to "mock at the preeuniption of the "lower orders," he went on ■in this strain: "Nor can you find a young.'woman, let her birth be never., so humble, who would hesitate to avail herself of the same cosmetics as the aristocracy uee, whereas people •of limited means ought to content themselves with a r little ale-yeaet, or the jiiice of "a tree after it has been barked, or any , like.- cosmetic of small cost; expensive dyes, and a ointments should be the indulgence .... of the gentry alone." Those seem to. have been the days.of cosmetics without the chemist. SUGAR FOR HEALTH. ■At on© ..time it was- considered that to give children sweets and much sugar was<-bad for, themJajid led-to decay of teeth-.' •Now'*do'etbrs say that pure sugar is excellent for children. Children use up an renormous amount of energy, and sugar acts in our bodies as'fuel does in a stove. Without eugar or fuel; there is no energy or heat. An excellent way of giving sugar is-in the form of pure barley sugar, which is-also good for the nervous system. Barley sugar eweets are liked by most children, and cheap, and. it will bej.found thatdne or two taken when one k'tired and inclined to yawn will banish* both fatigue and yawnina , . Another way in whichVto provide"'fchildreh" with the . energy and vigour ;'Qf .perfect healths is. to let' them have a course., of Glucose D, which, as its name indicates, contains, the essential Vitamin D—the chief means through which the' body properly uses calcium and phosphorus., ; .• i • TWO CAREERS. Openings for girls which seem peculiarly'euited to their capacities are not so many that any particular ne'ed can be ignored. There are two, one of which seems to suffer from under, rather than over-crowding, and the other which does not in its present form fill a public need. The first is dress-designing by properly trained women. This implies a strenuous course of dressmaking and pattern-making. , It is useful when these two-branches can: be supplemented by a drawing course and some- knowledge of the history of dress. If, however, there is no time* or. no money for these, * na first measures suffice. : Dress designers are something like cinema stars. If they show real aptitude they can almost at once command large salaries. If they improve they become the prop and stay, oi any business. A well-known school of design abroad said recently that it could not provide enough good trained : dress" designers for the demand. In order to become a drese designer the girl must have a real talent if she is ■to succeed. It is no use her into thie kind of business unless'her whole heart is in it and is supported by some. originality of. outlook. The other vocation is that of decorating. The expensive decorators and furnishers are too .many already, but 'everybody "knows how . difficult it is .to find an interior 'decorator who will help and advise, having regard both to cost and to the fact tliat it is one's own house and thai the decorator himself is-not going to liv;e in it. ' Women decorators have been .successful in presenting .new things and new ideas to clients, and in divining their taste and in helping it. •They : realise, tha't if a certain shade of grey ie -wanted, it can be had with a ■little trouble and -with 1 little extra' expense. They also know a house from a jjvomah'e ' poljlit 'of ~ vieyri- /INow:,- that houses are being taken in as a whole some such help is often welcome, and the girl f witby.taste who is disposed to recognise her client's point of view as--well as her own, will find in.decoration an opening in which she may .carve an. "entirely new..pajlu.