WOMAN’S WORLD

Evening Star, Issue 18137, 29 November 1922, Page 3

WOMAN’S WORLD

[B* VIVA.]

Reports of social functions will be welcomed for this column. “ Viva " will also answer all reasonable questions relating to the home, cookery, domestic economy, and any topic of Interest to her sex. But each letter or report must bear the writer's name and address as a guarantee of genuineness, and questions that do not permit of a public reply cannot be answered. Questions should be concisely put and the writer's nom de plume clearly written.

WIPE POE A POOR MAN. [By "A Thoughtful Woman,” in the ‘ Daily Mail.'] Whet type of girl makee the best wife for a man of limited l income? Obviously not only the blatantly extravagant,'but., in my opinion, the ostentatiously economical, is also to bo avoided l . She who, so to flpeak, wears her poverty on her sleeve is not tho right companion to sweeten the ‘‘simple life.” Many women are extravagant with nothing to show for it, and some —the pearls of ttveir sex—can achieve luxury (in tho finer sense of tho word) without extravagance.

By luxury I do not mean concrete possessions, bub tho exclusion from domestic life of the ugly, uncomfortable, and jarring, and the introduction of the graceful ana pleasant. For, believe me, this is not so much a question of expense of cash as of energy, taste, and ingenuity. Heaven defend a wan from the woman who doesn’t ‘‘mind what she eats” or what she wears.

This willingness to “go without” is often indolence masquerading as self-sacri-fice—an economy of effort rather than of money ! No, the woman to pray for is she who with the minimum of straw will make the maximum of bricks. She may have to wear last year’s hat, but at least it will always bo'on at tho right angle. The dinner may have been very cheap to buy, but it, will be well cooked and daintily served. However heavy her handicap, she will never throw up the sponge. Because she cannot hare expensive dothes, she need not submit to wearing unbecoming one*. Pretty colors are no more expensive than ugly ones. Amazing tho wonders that can be wrought in food, dress, and furniture by contrivance!

She may not always resist a not “strictly necessairy” purchase, but at least she will never waste money by buying tho wrong thing because it Is cheap. Neither will she fall into any of those common error.-; of mistaken and truly wasteful saving. It wil not be the lot of her dresses —waiting for an occasion whioh never arrives—to waste their sweetness in the cupboard l until they become old-fashioned though unworn. She will not mistake the means for the end, and will never make a vice of necessity.

Above all, she will be endowed with that-wealth of inward happiness which makes human beings Independent of the amusements and pleasures that are bought. Herself a fun-provider—diffusing tier own atmosphere like a glow-worm its light —she will be full.of that automatic enjoyment which, makes a “lark" of the most ordinary routine. COIFFURE FOE THE MIDDLE-AGED. At eighteen curls may stray and locks may fall awry and the disorder bo counted lovely, but at forty a woman can rarely, afford to have a ha'ir out of place without running the risk of appearing untidy (says a writer in the ‘Daily Mail’). She looks her best when she adopts a stylo of hairdressing which suits fur face; hiving found one, she should keep it; no passing fashion should be hers, no youthful madness may be indulged in without danger. The middle-aged woman who bobs her hair does not often improve her appearance. There is a type of woman past her first youth who can bob her hair and be successfully coiffee; but the greater number of women who cannot get away from their maturity do 1 otter to dress their hair carefully and becomingly, and in such a way that it looks tidy when they take off their hat. iSctme women can wear their hair straight and arranged with Puritan severity. Others must have it waved, or they appear dowdy and unkempt. Some need flat coils or plaits, others a protruding line or puff. To find the coiffure most suitable to her style tho middle-aged woman must study herself in her mirror from all points of view. She must see that the chignon which looks well full face looks as well side face, at the back, and on both sides.

The importance of line in hairdressing is often neglected, yet it is just as essential to the success of the general appearance as is the lino of a hat or a dress. The woman who baa classic features may adopt a. stately coiffure, but she whose nose turns skywards and; whose chin has an upward tilt must seek a chignon of quite a different order. A. hair net, well put on, is a help. It should be so arranged! os to be invisible, and should not flatten the hair.

It is not of the best taata for a woman of mature years to wear youthful headdresses. She does better to wear none at all or to have something suitable, a good Jewelled pin or comb—a feather, perhaps, if it be very good. Flowers and ribbons are not to be chosen. But here again there cam be no hard-and-fast rule, since there are women who look their best when they wear no ornament in their hair at ail, ana others who look insignificant without something. The fashion of a turban in a beautiful Persian material is one that French women adopt easily, but any cheap imitation badly worn is worse than nothing. The tulle toque is another favorite evening headdress which French women like for the theatre, but this, too, needs to be very well made. It is a safe rule to follow that stipulates for good hairdressing first and headdresses after. It is better to spend a little money and time on keeping the hair in the best condition and having it well dressed than to buy erections in tulle and feathers which never look really well, and often appear tawdry and untidy.

WET DAY GAME FOR CHILDREN. Most children will delight in this game, described in tho London ‘Daily Mail.’ A big freak head, painted grotesquely, should bo painted on a largo shoot of cardboard 1 and cut out, A wide slit should he made for the mouth, and at the back of it a strong bag of some light material should be firmly gummed. The head can then bo placed on a box and the children) given three small balls apiece, Tho child who gets most balls in the mouth—that is, into the bag—in a given number of rounds will score the highest number of points.

THE DESIRABLE DAUGHTER. There are many parents to-day who do not regard tho possession of a largo family of daughters as tho calamity it was once thought to he. The modern girl, by her capability, has compelled a. revaluation of her worth. She nae established a new ideal of claugliterhood. The fathers and mothers of girls only have no prejudice against sons, but they feel that the advantaged of boys are largely traditional. Their appreciation, of girls seems to be based on sound principles. Take the two chief reasons assigned by a father for preforms a iron-—companionship and the hope Wat ho will carry on tho father’s name, his work, and traditions. Tho truth is that rarely are a father and son so companionable as a mother and daughter. The shyness of the two males in each other’s presence makes them tongue-tied; but tho daughter, through her home-making qualities, is a companion for all. The jovs of succession are also frequently overrate! The name may be perpetuated, but traditions are mutable, and tho son who assumes his father’s business or professional mgntlo seldom does so with distinction. Girls cause less anxiety Hum bays, and are more likely to turn out well. In mixed families this has been observed again and again.

The beat and most devoted of sons are seldom such) a dependable mainstay as daughters to a widowed mother or father. If the father is left the daughters keep the home going; if the mother, they support her if it is necessary, for in these days girls have developed both home-mak-ing and breadwinning qualities. Having been more closely associated with the homo, they have a clearer understanding of parental problems and a keener sense of responsibility towards parents. Daughters are mutually more helpful than sons. In any family of girls there is sure to bo at least one who is clever at nursing and one with a talent for dressmaking and millinery, and their gifts are requisitioned for the communal good. Even when marriage claims all the sons and all the daughters, it is the daughters who retain the deepest affection for the old homo. Tliis does not reflect upon the fidelity of the sons. Their parents’ house lias been the scene of the daughters’ youthful pleasures and romances, and tics thus formed are not easily broken. At any rate, so say the satisfied parents of daughters.—Emma M. Wise, in the London ‘Daily Mail.’ MAKING OF PERFUMES. Perfumes are supposed to be as old as the Pyramids; those of Grasse (Southern France) are at least as old as the Romans (writes Blanche APManus in the ‘New York Herald’). At one of the largest of these Qraese establishments we were obligingly given a welcome by perhaps the most popular maker of all. Eon are shown into n largo room, where the blossoms are heaped up high on broad tables. It all depends unon the season as to which flowers will he most in evidence —the white orange blossoms of early spring, the red roses of high summer, or the violets of Prom here one passes into the larding rooms. The white laid is carefully stripped from the lean, resembling white tissue paper, as transparent a« gauze. These white tissues of lard are laid in great, shallow pans, and over them are snrinkled the petals of flowers, each variety distinct unto itself. These traylike pans are then taken to the rooms where, lined ur> in rows, are copper alembics with, their snaky coils and all the, mysterious apparatus of a laboratory of the old-time alchemist for distilling his potions. Here, after the layers of fresh pork fat are thoroughly impregnated with the odors of the blossoms that carpet them, the mass of perfumed lard is put into the stills, when, drop by drop, through zigzag copper coils the essence, the sweet souls of the flowers, is arrived at. The first essay at the liquefication of an odor is a very crude beginning. Anybody could carry the procedure a certain pari, of the wav. The art, ae well as the secret of the" art, of the perfume-maker lies in the subtle blending of these various essences in rightful marriages and just proportions. Here is where the perfume-makers of Grasse take their proper place as the greatest master perfumers of the world. The curious fact is that no single commercially known perfume is the essence of anv one single flower. Evidently each flower has not only one soulmate, hut many soulmates. (Most polygamous are perfumes! For example, a violet perfume requires the admixture of three or fou r “essences” of as many different flowers before the captivating breath of dewy violets is given out to charm the olfactory sense. HOW DO YOU WEAR YOUR HAT. With so many different and such_ entrancing headgears to choose from, it is surprising to note what “croppers some women come over this problem. And in nine cases out of ten ft is a, question of placing the bat on the head that lies at the root of the trouble. The smartest hat that ever came out of Bond street may look positively dowdy if placed at the wrong angle; while, on the other hand, little Miss Slender-Punso may look just the. very last word in that attractive little affair that her own clever fingers have devised. Simply because what her purse lacks she makes up with her own share of good taste. More often than not laziness or sheer carelessnefi-s are the causes of mistakes some people make. For instance, when buying a hat a girl may look at the front view, like it, and go off utterly regardless of the fact that the side view is far from pretty, and the hack doesn't, suit the way she docs her hair a scrap. The wise woman .always takes a. hand mirror and surveys the creation from every point of anew, and if she finds that in every respect and at every angle it leaves .nothing to bo desired—well, I hen , that's all right. But how are you to know just the right tilt? Well, if you don't possess that happy knack of hitting,,the correct angle, watch the women who do. There’s many a useful hint to be gleaned from the movies, and, though a 'business girl’s income will not run to the marvellous creations displayed on the. films, there’s no knowing what two clever hands and an inventive brain will do. And for pity’s sake don’t wear anything and everything just to be “fashionable,!” If no hair is allowed to stray from ’neath the hat-brim, and it doesn’t happen to suit your particular stylo of beauty — well, don’t he foolish and follow that fashion anyway. If side curls are the thing, and yours is not a “baby” face, avoid such a style. You may not look your best in a large picture shape; so don’t indulge in one, even if Marjorie does look a perfect peach in hers. She would probably look quite plain in that neatly-fitting flowered toque which suits you to the last rosebud upon its dinky little crown. Audi in this Inst little hit of advice vouhave .the whole secret of the difference between the. girl who looks smart and the one who looks well dressed. There’s a vast difference, believe me! Don’t follow the crowd. Dress to suit yourself, to suit your purse, and your clothes will suit you.