SOCIAL AND PERSONAL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 281, 20 August 1908, Page 5

SOCIAL AND PERSONAL.

'A yery successful ball ..was given last night in the Druids' Hall by No. 5 Company <Enginoers._ The decorations of the rooms were particularly good. Tho stairway was dccoratcd with ferns and overhanging greenery, and tho walls of tho hall were covered with gaily-coloured flags interspersed with foliago, 1 whilo strings of lycopodium wero carried across the ceiling. TheM.C.'.s wero Sergeants Elliott and Mitchell, and Corporals Gapes and O'Neill. Mr. and Miss Eliott, of the Hutt, are loaving next week for Sydney, where they intend to stay for two or three months. Mr.'and Mrs. A. A: S. Menteath have gone to livo at tho Hutt, They have taken Mr. Vilo's house, Waiwotu Road. Announcement is ir.ado of the engagement of Miss E. Louisson, second daughter of the Hon. Chas. Louisson, M.L.C., to Mr. Hubert Nathan, eldest son of Mr. Walter Nathan, of Wellington. Miss Hasscll, of Timaru, arrived in Wellington yesterday, and will stay for some weeks with her sister Miss Lloyd Hassell.-. Mr. and Mrs. H. Walters, of Carterton, have gono for a four or five weeks' trip to tho South Sea Islands. Hiss L. MacShane, of Auckland, is at present in Palmerston North visiting her sister Mrs. W. Speedy. Our Wairarapa correspondent reports three weddings that took. place yesterday. At. St. ..Andrew's Church, Dalefield, Mr. Georgo Hart, second son of Mr. W. Hart, was married to Miss Jennie Arcus, eldest daughter of Mr. T. S. Arcus. Tho bridesmaids wero Misses E. Arcus and M. Tait, and Mr. L. Arcus was groomsman. Tho Rev. L. Thompson officiated.'.. Among tho many j presents received was a handsome dinner service presented to Mr. Hart by the football [.club.-'' -I ■ Mr. S. Lancaster, son-of Mr.: S. R. Lancas-1 tor, ofi Palmorston North, was married to Miss Hook at tha Church of England, Karori. Mr. and Mrs. Lancaster will reside hear Pnhiatua, whero' Mr. Lancaster has ' been appointed manager, of. the Mangaramarama Cheese Factory. Mr.. Herbert Adamson, for many years manager of tho Greytown Cheeso Factory, and now manager of the Nireaha Cheeso Factory, was -married yesterday at. Greytown, to Mrs. Hawkins, of, Greytown, The ceremony was witnessed by a large number of friends. ■ / ; - • ■ THE NEW DRESS MATERIALS. ' There is more than a reminiscence of last year's summer fashions in the materials that tire being shown for the coming summer season, and an up-to-date frock of last year will not look old-fashioned when taken out for. this. Stripes aro to be'much worn, arid we have them in tweeds, mohairs, and thinner materials.. A. beautiful range of striped tweeds iii green and white, and white with 'shades of sa'xoi' and electric .blue is shown,in"oho shop with great pride, because they are,produced in New Zealand, and have attained a firmness and a closeness of texture that New Zealand tweeds aro usually supposed to. lack. Our .old, friend mohair 'will be the stand-by of many, women'this year. It comes in the well-ljnown striped designs, and thero is a kind with a particularly &lky finish that is known as chiffon mohair.

Ninons, marquisettes, and crystallines are shown in great variety,.' and voiles reign suprome. «-Tho" niasta-bciiutiful ttf' ! all 1 the fabrics aro those 1 ' with''a 3 bordered design, and somo of theso are exquisite. Tliero rirolchiffons with wide-black -edges above which 'runs a hand-painted floral border. Some of those■ have been worri at recent balls, but newer aro the voiles near whose'edge runs a wide band in Paisley design, edged with dark-coloured narrow bands. Usually the stripes' run along tho hem, and these are the prettiest, but sometimes they, aro perpendicular, and often they are diagonal, breaking above and below the. floral design. Even when thero lY no. Paisley or floral band thero aro sometimes stripes along the border, and 6omo very handsome' crepe da. Chines aro shown with: wido borders of many self-col-oured stripes'. Shantung silks are supposed to be much worn, but these proved so unsatisfactory'in if car'last year that it is_ doubtful whether many;will, take to them this season. The beauty of a shantung is short-lived, and though it is smooth-and silky for the first few times of wearing it very soon becomes rough and knotty. ;.;No more satisfactory material oan be found for a hard wear costume than a mohair, or a tweed striped in light shades. These last can bo. worn air tho year round, and while they look cool enough in summer, one knows they are not chilly ,in winter. ;• ,Tho cotton stuffs are prettier than ever, arid the striped cotton voilo has returned in. many delicate shades for this season's wear. - The bordered cotton. voiles aro, if anything, even more charming than ' their woollen grand relations. They are to be had in' plain or spotted materials with deep black or coloured borders, abovo which runs the floral design, usually 'of pink roses or something else just as gay and pretty. Thero aro zephyrs with borders of ■ many stripes, and singlo width zephyrs with a very narrow and prim floral band that gives them a rather petticoatish air. Indeed, even with some of tho'most expensive ma-

tdrials there -is a dangerous'resemblance to familiar petticoat designs. On the cotton-counter also is to be found a new material called mercerised eolienne,: which has all the appearanco of being, a silk eolienno, though it is of cotton only, with silk'finish. It is a very dainty material; but so modcrato in'price that oven the girl on an allowance can ; appear to "walk in silk attire. yet siller , hae to spare." ' ) Tho most popular colours, for tho season aro to be, so prophecy says, copper-brown, green, and.lotus blue, which is a more poetical naino for what wo have known lately as saxe-blue.. • Soma beautiful copper-brown cloths are shown, but it is doubtful whether this colour will be worn much in Wellington. It is very trying to all except those with young and beautiful complexions; it has a tendency to' cry aloud, especially if it gets near a blue; it requires all accessories to match; and it is a difficult colour to combine with others. Besides, it looks hot, and ono would soon tiro of it. It is ossentially a colour for' the woman who can afford many, frocks.