OLD FASHIONED MIDDLE AGE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 452, 10 March 1909, Page 3

OLD FASHIONED MIDDLE AGE.

It, would bo ihteresting to know why women of to-day who have reached a certain age (it is, best not to define too closely) seem so much younger not only in appearance but in spirits than they did thirty or even twenty years ago. No doubt physical energy has something to do with it. Nowadays mothers of grown-up girls meet their daughters as keen competitors on the golf links, and many a woman of forty and more plays a good game of tennis, or can cycle or handle a pair of sculls with .ease. Old portraits of one's female relatives .even as matrons aro interesting, because they indicate how sevcro the fashions were in the " seventies and eighties,for women, say, of 35, How would any smart woman of about 38 feel to-day if she were expected to wear,for calling or shopping a black silk dolman and a little bonnet tied under her chin with strings, 1 and her hair, even if it.were naturally curly, plastered down. Nor were caps in those days quite out of place. Evidently it was considered that after tho ago of 30 pretty clothes were, not quite seemly, whereas nowadays delightful textures, colours, and modes belong to all ages. Doubtless, it is necessary for older folk to consider tho tones of blues, •pinks, and greens with more care than the girl of 20; still there is a wide range left open. A woman can, always be attractive and smart, provided she takes reasonable care of her health, and chooses becoming clothes.