MODES OF THE MOMENT

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 80, 29 December 1930, Page 4

MODES OF THE MOMENT

Passing Notes by

Jane

Wellington, December 26. Dea T?ere?’rtiU not much to tell you of clothes, because our Bi reliable climate. Some very charming ensembles are to Be seen, eS P? green, ySlow, and light browns, and where a smart car completes the outfit, the in shades of light brown and tan is terribly attractive when, drawing up to the curb with an opulent flourish, the door onens to disclose an occupant charmingly upholstered in the same shades. If some of those who can would carry On the idea with Udo blue, or hamingo red it would certainly hdd a dash of. vivacity to our too sombre streets. Ive seen one perfect racing modelin two tones of gunmetal grey, with narrow panels of vermillion over the doors. ■ My dear, can you see what it calls for 1 What a chance for someone. • There may not be dresses, but at. least there are people—hoards of hurrying, shopping mothers with their young; nice fathers, with the yearly benevolence that’Christmas brings “taking the kids round, a “ d ine the bills without a murmur. Tea-rooms packed with chattering, loafing parties Of youths and maidens! The air filled With chaff and , pleasant festive sounds. Parcel-laden men ahd women, hailing taxis with an unaccustomed nervousness, i. The Christmas rush! ' , , . , , ‘ ' And yet it strikes ine, looking back, that the general impression left Is rather one of unwonted restraint, than that “another pound or two wont matter” spending spirit of other years. The shdp windows in many cases had more or less alluring sale notices to attract the wandering attention, and there was extraordinarily little attempt at decoration. Things were Quiet. But the picture houses were packed, and so were the exctirsibn trains. Does it look, do you think, as if people' are making the slump an excuse for cutting down expenses, except in the matter of amusement? Is amusement one of the modern necessities?. Did you hear of the “Unemployed”. case, where among the week’s items of . expenditure submitted for consideration to a board, One was “pictures for keif and three children”? And I shouldn’t be a bit surprised if she got it. Also, on looking—or rather, listening—back, I bear a multitude of voices, a continuous chOrus ,0f; every degree of tone, modulation and accent; and I am moved to comment on the fact that New Zealand voices, en masse, are particularly pleasant. The general standard of speech in the city seems to me very high Compared with what it was in my youth. There seems a sort Of voice-and-accent Consciousness, if you see what I mean?—so that a general effort is made., toward correct production and pronunciation. Think for a moment of the shop attendants you encounter in a day; the taxi men, the people, you know. An unpleasant voice, a clumsy sentence, is the exception and not theWulO. There may be affectation; but when that wears off with custom, the result will be left in ears trained to observe inflections and accents, to approve and acquire the beautiful, to recognise and reject ugly sounds. If only the American “talkie” does not step in now and upset all my nice calculations, the purest English in the world will be spoken soon, not in Boston, but in New Zealand. It’s another turn of the wheel—another swing of the pendulum. It may be the outcome Of our compulsory education system. If so, it’s nice to think that that collosal expenditure of public money has done some good. ‘ But it’s more likely to be a whim of Fashion. No one can be taught to talk properly with a great deal of trouble, unless the wish to talk properly is first actuated by a very strong ambition for self-improvement, and that particular sense Is seldom aeqiilred till after school age, - The remarkable thing about us New Zealanders is that once the wlph.to do a thing is born, the end seems to be achieved in a very short space of time. We are naturally adaptable, and what we want very much to do we generally manage to I believe that never before have good English and—well, yes—cultured Voices, been so general aS they are becoming in New Zealand to-day. It may be only a passing fashion, but I think it goes much deeper than that. It’s something in which we are soon going to take great pride. With love, my dear, Yoursi— . - . ~ JANE. [“Jane’s” interesting weekly letter arrived too late to appear in its ■ customary place in the women’s section of Saturday’s issue.].