A MAID IN MAYFAIR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 170, 20 July 1935, Page 3 (Supplement)

A MAID IN MAYFAIR.

dancing in cotton.

THE EFFECT OF THE QUINTUPLETS

(From Our London Lady Correspondent.)

Although there has been much talk of society helping Lancashire trade by gearing cotton frocks, few of them had been seen adorning the figures of smart Tvomen until just a few weeks ago, when they suddenly blossomed out into popularity at one of the Silver Jubilee dances. This lead, apparently, was all that was needed, for now there are the most attractive frocks in new cotton materials mingling with silk and velvet ones at all the fashionable functions. One of the smartest dances of the London seaeon had its quota the other night, several pretty debutantes dancing in the set reels in filmy muslin dresses which were quite as charming, with their frills and flounces, as any of the more expensive models in chiffon and lace. Not that cotton, made up by a fashionable dressmaker, is an economical proposition exactly—cut and style, as well as material, have to be paid heavily for these days —but the demand for it ehould be encouraging to Lancashire.

AMERICAN MOTHERS,

One of the most interesting betrothals of the season was announced recently— that of Lord Winchilsea's son and heir, Lord Maidstone, and the eldest daughter of the Hungarian Minister in London, Count Lazzlo Szechenyi. Both are young and popular members of the American smart set in London, their mothers in each case being wealthy American women. Lady Winchilsea was Miss Margaretta Drexel, a daughter of one of the richest men in the United States, while Countess Lazzlo Szechenyi was a Vanderbilt. Countess Gladys Szechenyi came out the year after her parents arrived in this country from Hungary—they are comparative newcomers to the diplomatic circle in this country—and was immediately acclaimed one of the most beautifully dressed, as well as one of the most charming, of the American set in Mayfair. The wedding is likely to be a very brilliant affair.

THE OTHER FIVE. An American woman in London was deploring a few days ago the effect upon the other members of Mr. and Mrs. Dionne's family of the world-wide interest during the last 12 months in the quintuplets born to this simple French-Canadian farmer and his wife. The five babies celebrated their first birthday the other day, and this visitor from the United States described the contrast between that birthday gala and the very different conditions under which the five other children have been, and are being, brought up. Although the birth of the quintuplets has focused attention upon the family, the older boys and girls have been completely ignored, and, owing to jealousy and misunderstanding, they have even lost their playmates in the immediate neighbourhood, the farmers in the vicinity having withdrawn their friendship from the whole family. So the other five play disconsolately on the verandah of a tumble-down farmhouse, while the babies are feted in a speciallybuilt nursery hospital on the opposite side of the road.

EMPIRE VISITORS. Our visitors from overseas have been largely responsible for the feathery vogue. They came from South Africa and elsewhere, bringing the most wonderful plumes wi&i them, made up into capes, collars, feather fans, and in bunches of fronds to be used in the trimming of the dresses they have had made in London for the various functions they have been attending in connection with the Silver Jubilee. Each big social gathering has had its full quota of Empire guests, and wives and daughters of high officials from the Dominions, and men and women bringing their children home to see something of the King's notable anniversary celebrations, have been almost overwhelmed by the amount of hospitality extended to tliem. A committee in London, composed of representative women in all walks of life, was working last winter and spring to ensure the comfort and pleasure of women arriving from overseas for the jubilee. j

OUT OF GRATITUDE. Miss Clemence Dane, although never a journalist, has just accepted the presidency of the Society of Women Journalists—out of gratitude! A writer and playwright, she has, naturally, numerous interests in common with all women who write, and particularly with members of this society, who are, to a large extent, contributors to periodicals and magazines rather than women who serve on the staffs of newspapers. On the day that she was elected she told in her charming way of a time when she was not well known, and had done nothing to merit public acknowledgment, but was invited to a women's social gathering of some kind. Nobody, she said, took any notice of her, bothered to introduce her, or did anything to entertain her, and while she was feeling thoroughly miserable, and like a fish out of water, two kindly women attached themselves to her, and made the rest of the afternoon pleasant and memorable. She discovered that they were journalists, and her grateful feelings for their friendliness were responsible for her shouldering the burdens which to the presidency of any organisation.

DERBY DINNER. One of the most interesting of the dinner parties given in connection with the Derby ball was that arranged by Mrs. Corrigan at Grosvenor Street in honour of the Duke and Duchess of Kent. In all the Anglo-American circle in London no one entertains so lavishly or so magnificently as Mrs. Corrigan. She does not need to carry off her guests to one of the great hotels or restaurants, for, by throwing two rooms into one, she can readily entertain well over a hundred at Grosvenor Street. Her table, too, is famous even among epicures. Mrs. Corrigan has always been a close friend of Prince ■ eorge and liis brothers, and this was the first opportunity she had had of extending hospitality to the Duchess >f Kent. She usually arranges for an elaborate cabaret show after dinner, but on this occasion her guests went along direct to the Derby ball. Mrs. Corrigan will be one of the principal hostesses at Ascot. Every season she rents a house which is convenient not only to the racecourse, but to Sunningdale and Wentworth golf courses as well.