WOMAN’S WORLD

Evening Star, Issue 18336, 25 July 1923, Page 3

WOMAN’S WORLD

[Bi VIVA.]

Reports of social functions will be will also answer all reasonable questl domestic economy, and any topic of in or report must bear the writer’s nan genuineness, and questions that do not answered. Questions should be concl plume clearly written.

THE BEAUTIES OF THE SEASON. Who arc really the prettiest debutantes c£ the season 7 I hear (writes our London correspondent) that general consent awards the title to two beautiful blondes of a thorough-going English type—society girls to whom Tennyson’s famous line applies aptly: “Sweet as English air cmdd make her.” One is tho Hon. Imogen Grenfell, daughter of Lord and Lady Dcsborough. Tho other is Lord and Lady Pembroke’s daughter, the Lady Patricia Herbert. Discriminating critics at the court are hard put to it in attempting to decide between these two delightful youngsters. Lady Dcsborough's daughter is not tall, but she lias wonderful golden bobbed curls, lovely blue eyes, awl in figure is a little Diana of the Hunt. Her vivacity is irresistible. Lady Patricia Herbert is a tall, slim beauty, whose golden hair, not bobbed but worn rather short, is like a halo round her graceful head. Sho is a delightful girl, nineteen years of age, with intellectual as well .ms physical charm. Tho Prince of Hales lias been visiting her parents, and, of course, tho gossips are interested.

FASHIONS EE-CRAZED. THE AMERICAN “ FLAPPER," Those who are loud in their denunciation of the Auckland dapper (says the ‘ Star ’) because sho bobs her hair and over-powders her nose, would undoubtedly suffer a complete collapse of breath and vocabulary could they bo vouchsafed a glimpse of a rcally-truiy modern American flapper .a piquant description of whom was given by Miss M’Elwain, who has just returned from an extended visit to New York and other American cities. “What is she like?” said Miss M’Elwain. “ Well, at first glance it is almost impossible to toll, for all you can see of her is a close-fitting little bat pulled right down to her eyes, and a, huge fur collar bundled right up to tho bridge of her nose. Her dress is very long, and pulled in almost hobble-tight at tho ankles, and as she minces along the street she is a sight to behold. If she is a ‘ sporting ’ girl, her shoes, iow-hcelcd, will be scarlet, green, or blue, ns fancy dictates. “ When you get a glimpse of her lace the effect ’is often startling. The smart American woman docs not use pink rouge nowadays; rosy cheeks arc out date, and orange, mandarin, and pumpkin are the popular shades. Eyebrows also have been out of fashion for some time. _ The women like what is termed the 1 tailored effect’ in eyebrow's, which consists of shaving or plucking them off completely and shading them in again with a dark pencil. They say it gives such an interesting, well-groomed look. False eyelashes are also popular; they are long and curly, and aro gummed on neatly just beneath the rirn of the eyelid. Ears are beginning to be ‘worn’ again, and it seems quite strange to see them after their long eclipse! With them, the women are wearing ‘ drops ’ anything up to nine inches in length, antique in design, and dangling right on to the shoulders ”

Miss M'Elwain stated that _all these absurdities were due to the ‘‘King Tut ” craze which was now sweeping over tho country in full force. Everythin" was “ Tut,” or in some way connected with the Orient. Sacred symbols, cats, mummies, and queer hieroglyphics wandered over all the newest dress materials and trimmings, in bewildering design and hectic colorings that mad© New Zealand eyes ache. What was not Egyptian was Japanese or Chinese, or some other form of “ yellow peril,’’ continued the speaker, the latter coloring predominating in the latest complexion tinting. Some of the model frocks displayed by the leading costumiers boldly flaunted the sign of tho Rising Sun in all its glory. Many women, however, were now protesting against this kind of thing. “ Why cannot we find inspiration for fashions in our own country ? ” they were asking. “ The politicians talk of keeping America white, and then the women do all they possibly can to paint it yellow! ’’ But. 'a better regime was foreshadowed by the speaker. “While the rank and file of the women are still following these ridiculous modes, a saner spirit is showing itself in the real leaders of fashion, she said. “ For instance, while I was in New York a very famous Polish beauty, Madame Ganna ‘ Walski, (appeared one evening at the theatre, and the papers next day came out with the startling news, under black headings. ‘ She was wearing her own eyebrows! ’ Such an example would speedily be, followed by society women.

“ The groat craze of the present moment. indeed. is a return lo simplicity. ‘The natural girl’ is the newest popular mode, and there has been a strong revolt against the powdcr-ancl-paint artificiality that for many years has held American women completely in its thrall. It is 710 longer fashionable to plaster one’s face in mud, to flay it, to pack it in ice, or to roast it in hot towels. Everything is done on hygienic and scientific lines, and fashion has decreed that powder and paint must go. They are getting down to first principles, to matters of blood circulation, pure cleanliness and the improvement of bodily health as the veiy first requisite in a beautiful and healthy complexion. Common sense tells one that this is a move in the right direction, ami although, of course, many women wid climr to the hards foot and the powder puff, the real leaders of fashion will come nearer to the genuine article in the way of womanly beauty than they have for many decades past.”

FETISHES OF THE HOUSEHOLD. Talking about “ women who choose slavery,”’ which sounds an impossible sort of thing, a writer recently dealt with the malier from quite a just point of view. The slavery consists in the doing of various kinds of housework on special days, no matter what happens. Formerly, a groat many middle-class women could afford at least one domestic helper, but now' they are both scarce and dear as to remuneration, so that the housekeeper not only has lo “ housskeep,” but to do all the incidental work, with, perhaps, the help of a more or less efficient charwoman. There are quite a number of women who, w'ell _or indisposed, must turn out the living room on a certain day—therefore they become slaves to the living room. Another woman insists on ironing on a day when a guest is coming to dinner, with special cooking to ho done—so she is a slave to the ironing. Again, others make “ fetishes of their household possessions, and continually cleanse and rearrange them. Such things become an obsession, and often lead to ill-health, and quite as often to 111-temper, which is a deadly thing. Where there is a number of small children there is no doubt that the mother’s work is never done, and she needs all the help husband and friends can give. It is idle nonsense to pretend that she he other than overworked and tired. Hiero is a restlessness in the wdrole w'orld to-day, and this affects the mothers of families exactly as it does other people; and the woman who, in past days, stayed at home year after year, rest or change, does not exist now. So allowance must be made, and proper arrangements for the different state of society. It certainly was convenient, in the old days, for there to he one steady, persistent, unrelieved wmrker in eacli homo; hut whether that fact built up a kindly, generous, efficient husband and family is open to serious doubt.

: welcomed for this column. “ Viva “> ions relating to tho bohne, cookery t iterest to her sex. But each letter tie and address as a guarantee ol it permit of a public reply cannot be ;isoly put and the writer's nom da

A BEAUTIFUL NECK. The “ Movcn Ago ” neck Hue, which continues to bo'or.u of the most fashionable dccollotnges for afternoon gowns, is very hying for tho woman who is too thin. It is cut straight _ acrcfcs the shoulders about three or four inches below the base of the throat. _ and shows her neck at its worst, revealing the too piominent “collarbones” and tho unbecoming liltlo hollows where neck and .shoulders meet. I„ order to fill out these hollows it will be necessary to massage the thro.at with oil or a flesh-forming cream twice everv day, to do breathing exercises regularly every morning, and to carry out a diet of fattening foods. An inexpensive bub reliable cioiirn should be obtained for massaging, and before tho massage is given the skin should ho sponged with warm water and dried very Hghllv. Massage to increase flesh should he very gentle and given with the balls of the fingers, the flesh being hghtiv pinched and kneaded until all the mam has been thoroughly _ absorbed. Breathing exercises for developing the neck <uul Jill* ing out the hollows must be practised regularly every morning for at least ten minutes' Stand before an open window with Dm shoulders well back and Dm arms hanging loosely at the sides, lake a deep breath very slowly through the nostril.), hold it for a couple of seconds, then exhale slowly through tho moutn. Rest for a couple of seconds, then repent. The girl who desires to put on llesh, whether onlv sufficient to nil out tho Hollows in her throat or to increase ner measurement generally, must bo prepared to adopt, a diet of milky fnods, v.lictiv.T she likes milk or not. Rico, whether eaten plain, boiled, or in puddings is excellent. so arc custards, sago, and tapioca. A glass of milk sipped slowly at 11 in the morning, and another the. last thing at. night, and, if funds permit a quarter-pint'of cream oaten after the midday meal, will be found beneficial. Bananas and cream, or stewed fruits v,.th cream, should find a place on her menu every day.

THE TONGUE THAT SLAYS. “In olden days a woman with a slanderous longue would be. put into a stool and ducked, and then carried home, and that would be the, end of it, said Mr Justice Shearman the other day. The ducking stool method appeals to all of us from the point of view of making the punishment fit the crime. But it is doubtful if even this vigorous method would be successful in stopping slanderous longues. ~ , There fire few of ns so fovtunfite trifit we have, not at some lime or other in our lives been the victims of slander. Calumny is essentially a product of human civilisation, and though it is found in both sexes it is more frequent among women. All classes and all peoples are addicted to it, with the possible exception of savages and children, who, on account of their strong imaginations, are frequently good liars, but rarely slander ono_ another. Calumny is particularly despicable in that it is neither a lie nor a_ myth, but rather a. wilful and clover distortion <n tho truth to serve our own ends, states “ A Psychologist” in the ‘Daily Mail’ For Ibis reason it is often far more difficult to combat than an out-and-out untruth. Not only are those slandered often the last to hear about it, but also they are utterly unable to defend themselves from Die'slur which has been cast on them.

Why do people, and especially women, slander one another? In many cases it is due, to the habit of careless chattering, when (ales are uttered nr repeated without first taking the trouble le, verify them.

Again, some despicable women bate all those, who aro more successful in life than themselves. This hate leads to jealousy, and a jealous woman is only too ready to believe anything. In not a few rases slanderers attack those who have befriended them in ninny ways, and are totally undeserving of their rancor.

Truth is stranger than fiction, and its pursuit often requires effort and research. A slander is easy to believe, and is readily accepted without credentials. Tims it comes about that the number of people who accept, stories as farts only after fully verifying them are few indeed. Our much-vaunted critical faculties are more often Ihnn not in abeyance, especially when ii, is a. question of applying them In everyday gossip. In this respect it should be home in mind that- those who lend a too ready ear to slander put themselves on the same- level, both intellectually and morally, as those who invent the calumny.

HINTS. TO KEEP TWINE UNSNARLED. Instead of keeping the ball of twine in the kitchen drawer, where it unwinds and ■snarls, place it in, a kitchen funnel, and l hang the funnel in some convenient place. Pun the cnci of the twine through the neck of the funnel. The string is always ready for rise, and the ball itself stays in place when the string is being taken from it. SAVE THE WALL COVETING, When washing, oiling, or painting woodwork, it is difficult to prevent the wall from getting soiled. Much time can be saved as well as the soiling of the wood 1 - work prevented! if a piece of tin or other light metal with a smooth edge is held firmly against the wall above or below the woodwork which is being cleaned or painted. An old automobile license plate or clean, dust pan is satisfactory, KITCHEN FUEL BOX. A kitchen fuel storage box mounted 011 lege will save the housewife much sweeping and 1 make the corner whore (ho wood is kept an easy place to clean, Uso a, box about 6in wider than, the length of the fuel, and have a partitioned section for small kindling. A NEW USE FOR CHOCOLATE. Chocolate syrup, made at home and stored in a screw-topped bottle, has many uses. Its addition to certain sweets greatly increases their interest. It may bo poured over the white cornflour mould) for the nursery lunch, to the intense joy of the nursery folk, for whom it is very wholesome. It makes an excellent gauco for a light, plain, steamed padding. If you are investing in one of the inexpensive, easily-worked ice cream freezers now on the market, chocolate syrup will ho a delicious addition to many iced sweets. Poured over plain vanilla ice oream, with a little chopped walnut sprinkled on tpp, it makes an irresistible fiv.cn sweet. With a little ice cream and soda water, served in a tall glass, you have a most refreshing and wholesome drink. To make chocolate syrup, heat one pint of water to boiling point, use a little of it to mix lib of cocoa into a smooth paste. To this add) 11b of castor sugar and the rest of the boiling water, stirring till quite smooth. Put on to the stove, bring to boiling point, and boil for five minutes. Pour the syrup into little sterilised jars with screw tops. Store in a cool place.