WELLINGTON GOES TO COVENT GARDEN

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 242, 9 July 1938, Page 6

WELLINGTON GOES TO COVENT GARDEN

Town Hall a Bower of Flowers and Gaiety

For Plunket Ball

Their Excellencies Lord and Lady Galway Attend

Coveut Garden itself, in the early morning, with the flowers still freshly cut and as yet unladen from their baskets, could scarcely look more lovely than the Wellington Town Hall did last night for the Plunket. Society’s Covent Garden ball. Anchored in the foyer was the good ship “La Belle Fleur,” a trim craft in green and white with sails furled, the port light shining and the decks laden with a raiiibowhued cargo of flowers. Over the entrance to the hall was an awning of red and white striped, silk, in the pattern of those that shade the: traditional flower stalls of Covent Garden. Along the sides of the foyer and up the stairways were baskets and little green tubs massed with lilies, pcppies, irises, anemones, gardenias, tulips and roses that were amazingly realistic. Larger and more flamboyant than Nature would have made them, they were yet designed so carefully that their artificiality struck no jarring note. In the hall itself the illusion of the flower market was carried still further. On both sides alcoves had been arranged, and in front of each o' them was a little barrier shaped like an apple-green flower stall. Above each one was a red and white awning and along the stall ran a narrow shelf massed with anemones, tulips and poppies in a riot of lovely colours. The front of the gallery and the pillars of the hall had been draped in a soft shade of apple green to form a background for the brilliantly coloured flowers. At intervals along the sides of the gallery silver flower baskets hung, filled with huge red poppies and white and yellow lilies. On the platform, behind the orchestra, was a long green and red and white flower stall, massed with cala lilies. All along the foot of the stall were still more lilies, in bright red flowerpots. At the opposite end of the hall was another stall designed in the same way,, but here, catering for the less aesthetic needs of the crowd, Mrs. IL Vickerman and her committee served cooling drinks. Nearby was another stall where flowers were being sold, and it did as brisk a trade as any Covent Garden stallholder could have wished for. Here and there about the hall were quaint cutout Georgian ladies with flower baskets on their heads, and everywhere that flowers could possibly be they were massed in lovely profusion. The final touch was given by the lampshades, which were designed like huge poppies, and the light from them shone brilliantly down like artificial sunshine on this artificial flower market. Soon after 9 o’clock the dancers began to arrive, and lovely frocks added to the colour of the scene. Vice-Regal Party. Their Excellencies Lord and Lady Galway arrived a little before half-, past nine. They were attended by Major and MrS. R. G. G. Byron, Captain R. Stuart French, Lieutenant S. R. le H. Lombard-Hobson and Mr. D. Fou by. Lady Galway was wearing, a trained gown of brown satin, patterned in white with a corsage spray of white flowers. Her jewels were a diamond tiara and a linked necklet of diamonds, set in platinum. Mrs. Byron as in a slim-fitting frock of gold lame with a shoulder cape of gold sequins. The vice-regal party was received by Mr. and Mrs. H. Jowett and Mr. and Mrs. Douglas White. Mrs. Jowett, who is chairman of the ball committee, was wearing a graceful frock of black georgette with a black redingote lacquered with a gold leaf design. She wore a beautiful floral lei and flowers in her hair, made by her committee. Mrs. Whyte, joint secretary of the ball Mrs. Whyte, joint-secretary of the ball committee, was in a slim-fitting frock of heavy black crepe with a matching coatee faced with brilliantlycoloured satin.

From- upstairs in the gallery the vice-regal party watched the ballets and the floral procession which were a feature of the evening. Later they came down to the hall to the official alcove, which was very comfortably furnished and carpeted. Here their Excellencies were joined by the Hon. P. Fraser and Mrs. Fraser, the Hon. W. Nash and Mrs. Nash, Lady Myers, Mr. and Mrs. T. C. A. Hislop and Mrs. Haddow, a member of the New Zealand council of the Plunket Society.

During the evening the vice-presi-dents of the Plunket Society, and the convenors of the various committees, were presented to Lord and Lady Galway. Floral Dancers. The theme of flowers had been carried into the beautiful and spectacular ballets, which were a feature of the ball. The first of these was a floral procession in which 32 girls formed themselves into a living bouquet. The flowers were purple irises, iceland poppies, anenomes and scarlet ,poppies and the girls, wearing ballet dresses in the colours of the flowers they were representing and with baskets of flowers on their heads, formed into a group in the centre of the floor. Eight girls representing winter roses danced round them, completing the bouquet. This novel and spectacular dance was designed by Mrs. Gerald Robison and trained by Misp ' Estelle Beere. The girls taking part were Misses Adrienne Beere, Gwynne Abercrombie, Wanda Wyber, Pamela Ashbolt, Elizabeth Atkinson, Elizabeth Burnett, Lois La Trobe, Marjory ' Slater. Neil Powdrell, Mary Powdreli, Helen Hili, Isabel Hobbs, Peggy Bridge, N.quey Bridge, Joyce Glover, Ileieu Porter, Patricia Stis'le, Lola Benge, Pat Gibbous, Fraucella Kain, Valerie Carr, Lorna Adams, Lorna Kissell, Evelyn Goldsmith, Patricia Hogg. Margaret Evans, Patty Evans, Denise Shaw, Hazel Robinson, Beverley Luke, Nancy Springhall, Margaret Farra. The procession was followed by the Golden Lotus ballet, an Oriental impression, created and trained by Miss Beere.

The girls wore frocks of gild lame, designed by Miss Beere, Their beauty lay in their simplicity and in the fullflared skirts that rippled as they danced. The ballet was an exotic one, danced to oriental music, and was based on the formation of the lotus Hower.

The girls taking part were Misses Nimu. iJauudei’E# Joan Beere» Joyce

Watson, Barbara Gillespie, Cecil O’Haloran, Dorothy Collins, Ngaire Horton, Patricia Gillespie, Pat .McNamara, Helen Eglington, Kura Coltman, and Patricia Reade. After supper a third spectacular ballet was presented. This was called the Magnolia ballet, and was designed and trained by Mrs. Phillip Cook, convener of tlie ballet committee. A waltz fantasy, danced to a changeable tunc, this ballet was a direct contrast to the exotic movements of the Golden Lotus ballet.. The girls wore long, clinging frocks Of mag-nolia-tinted satin, made on empire lines, with the upper part of the bodices swathed in leaf-green. Flowing from their shoulders were long cloaks of black net, with a magnolia on each side of tlie hem. They did their graceful dance in a soft, blue light. The girls taking part were Misses Patsy Ashbolt, Jan Sloman, Margaret McLay, Marjory Vause, Judith Allen, Marjorie Hutton, Dorothy Key, Ruth Skerman, Betty Reading, Dorothy Buck, Jill Moodie and Stella Massingham. The Supper Room. Supper was served in the concert chamber of the Town Hall, and here also masses of flowers had been used for decoration. The lovely and elaborate decorations were designed by Mrs. Gerald Robison, and carried out by Mrs. G. Bassant. Assisting them were Mesdames Grenfell Morgan, Cory-Wright, W. Toogood, Eglinton, C. Maudsley, L. Hutton, Mole, H. R. Thomas, A. D. Briggs, C. Holden, McGill, Alex Reid, Sinclair Thompson, Herbert, George Johnson, Naylor, F. C. Burgess, Falloon, Milton Richards, Misses ClilTord, Catherine Young, Firth, Patsy Ashbolt, Betty Rhind and many, others.

Mrs. Robison and Mrs. Bassant were’ at the ball, the former in a frock of black lace with a black and white corsage spray, and the latter in white chiffon adorned with white gardenias. The supper committee consisted of Mesdames Roy Mathews (convenor), E. D. Good, 11. Ainslie, G. F. Wilson, E. W. Hunt, S. P. McDonald, W. Bullock, F. C. Burgess, C. Holden, Naylor, C. 11. Weston, E. Liniston, R. B. Tennent, Miss Firth. Mrs. Roy Mathews was wearing mauve satin. Mrs. H. Vickerman, who was wearing black embossed taffeta, was convenor of the drink stall. Assisting her were Mr. and Mrs. H. R. Chalmers, Dr. and Mrs. Graham Robertson, Mr. H. Vickerman, Mrs. Greenland, Miss Cameron, Miss E. Ward. Messrs. Charles Levin and Colin Clayton were responsible for the sale of cigarettes.

Miss Kathleen Hayes, secretary of the Plunket Society, Was convenor of a very large committee of young people who, did splendid work in many ways, assisting with the preparation of the ball itself and organising preliminary dances and parties.

Great help was also given by a business men’s committee, consisting of Messrs. H. R. Chalmers, Warwick Gregory, Eric Reeves, J. Armand Smith. Karitane nurses and members of the young people’s committee assisted as ushers in the gallery from which many people watched the ball. Among those present were: The Hon. and Mrs. Vincent Ward, Mr. and Mrs. Andre Bouquet, Mr. and O. S. Perry, Mrs. Knox Gilmer, Mr. and Mrs. R. M. Jack, Mr. and Mrs. A. K. S. McKenzie, Mr. and Mrs. J. Harris, Mr. and Mrs. Keith Leckie, Mr. and Mrs. Norman Hannah, Captain and Mrs. R. D. Oliver, Commodore H. E. Horan and Miss Nancy Horan, Miss Amy Kane, Captain and Mrs. V. G. Webb, Mr. and Mrs. Horace Graves, Mr, and Mrs. R. B. Gibbons, Commander and Mrs. Tottenham, Mr. and Mrs. G. Milne, Mr. and Mrs. C. Levin, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Miles, Mr. and Mrs. R. Matthews, Mr. and Mrs. Gray Young, Mr. and Mrs. Huburt Morton, Mrs. Parton, Dr. and Mrs. T. G, Gray, Mr. and Mrs. Tythe Brown, Mr. and Mrs. G. Cook, Mr. and Mrs. H. Hall. Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Richardson, Miss Cameron, Mrs. Haddow (Patea), Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Nathan, Dr. and Mrs. I. Harding, Mr. and Mrs. L. Annand Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Patterson, Mrs. Cox, Mrs. McPherson, Mrs. Tripe, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Hunt, Mr. and Mrs. Gregory, Miss Hitchcock, Miss Samson, Mr. and Mrs. Temple White, Mrs. R. White, Mr. and Mrs. D. Webster, Mrs. B. B. Wood, Mr. and Mrs. T. E, Y. Seddon, Misses Zina Grindrod, P. Greenfield Brown, K. Slater, Yvonne Vickery, Elizabeth McLean, Rosemary Jack, Joan Ryan, June Saint, Rosalind and Paddy Burke, Carmen Garside, Molly Welch: (Waipukurau), Marie McMahon, Joan Miller, Rosilind Iliddiford, B. Bourk, Irene Spidy, Pat Inglis, Rosemary Price, Molly Riddell, Barbara Jackson, Lola Thompson, Phyllis Phantom, Margery Bell, Meg Stott, Thyra Gill, Margot Peacock, Hazel Robinson, E. Butts, Barbara Standish, Valerie Robertson, Marjory Hilton, Pat Alexander, May Will, Paddy Hope Gibbons, Nancy James, Joyce Nathan, Dr. M. Spencer, Messrs. Martin Luckie, R. Nanearrow, W. Page, D. McGill, John Roberts, Lindsay Arlow, Jock Paul, G. Tolhurst, B. Vickerman, S. Vincent, Cedric Wright, R. Carnay, R. Buckleton, Bernard Parker. Charles EvansScott, N. Bookman, Thaddy McArthur, Brian Madden, H. Evers-Swindell, T. Burke, C. Miller, N. Morrison, C. Miles, B. McConnell, G. Davidson, Colin Smythe, Derek Christensen, R. S. V. Simpson, Ken Clymie.

When the early spring goods are first opened attention is focused more on the light-weight tweed suits than on clothes more suitable to really hot weather. A very useful suit in a smart now colour is made of lightweight tweed in a lovely sagey green. All the newest, features are emphasised—high revets, decorative pockety and a perfectly fitting coat with no belt. Nothing can possibly be smarter than a chalkstriped black tweed so soft and light in weight it might almost bo angora. For distinction the suit depends upon perfect cut and perfect tailoring. A suit of brown and white mixture with an all-over mottled effect has a coal witli a fitting back and very smartly cut pockets with a tapered effect. There is no doubt that: the best of these suits will soon go and customers would be advised to see them aearly as possible. Agues Samson, Lambtou Quay.—Advt,