EVE’S Vanity Case

Feilding Star, Volume 8, Issue 2572, 3 May 1930, Page 2

EVE’S Vanity Case

TO CORRESPONDENTS The Lady Editor will be pleased to receive for publication in the “Woman’s Realm” items of social or per sonal news. Such items should be fully authenticated, and engagement notices must bear signatures. GENERAL NOTES Alabaster vases found in a tomb near tl m Sphinx, in Egypt, still gave forth a sweet perfume, the result of impregnation with some secret preparation over 4600 years ago. In Princes street, Dunedin, the other 'afternoon a we 1-dregsed young woman had a locket of heart shape attached to her leg, just above tlio ankle. It was plainly discernible throug’hi her silk, stocking, and attracted some notice from observant passe rs-bj'. • • * * • A correspondent in the London Evening Standard made the daring statement that men are better bridge players than women—because • men are more intuitive. To which the Dai.y Express added this comment: We leave this discussion to the breai fast tables of the nation, but we insist upon paying tribute to the hero who wrote those words. FOR A MODERN GLORY BOX Truly the way of the bride-to-be stocking her linen cupboard- is a hard one! There are so many diversions from the beaten track; in tk way of counterpanes, for instance gleaming artificial silk affairs in exquisite shades of rose and gold, gre or pale blue; m the novel towel sets with wasiijcloths to m-atcli, the latest examples—a race apart in their soft tints and the flower artistry oh then borders. Violets blooming in fresh green leaves, is a most successfc design, while the shopper remembers her gay sunflower set with eminent satisfaction. Hemstitched sheets in salmon pink, blue, .green or gold require interested consideration; Alley demand ong ality and a. colour scheme iaithtuly followed. Other dainty examples u white relieved by small embroiderer motifs present an attractive suggestion of similar design to be repeated on runners and hangings. But meantime the. bride-to-be is wrestling with a, problem—wliy, it’s table cloths again! And this time they’re white, of fund-loom wover damask and a v quality which would outshine grandmother’s rarest, treasures. .Exquisitely hand-enibroidcreca and scalloped m quaintly novel lasm ion, their choicest samp!© is worker! in a wild) rose pattern inset wjth finest Irish crodlfet, only to be compared with the Chinese embroidered set whose charming napkins, like the cloth, show a design in almost embossed effect.

And having placed the young damsel “on matrimony bent,” in this awkward predicament, it is naturally impossible to dedicate tier course One can only predict that Inch Joshua’s wedding cheque will see the light of day before she extracts he**self! “IFS” OF HISTORY If Cleopatra's nose had been an eighth of -an inch longer the History of Europe might" have been entirely different! ‘lt is arguable,” says Prof essoi Hearnsliaw, of London l niversits , in “The Ifs of History,” that if Cleopatra’s nose had been only the inaction of an inch o fiber than it was, hei unique beauty would have been destroyed, and if her beauty had been so seriously impaired that she had failed to exercise lier iafal lascination over either J ulius Caesar eu Mark Antony, the" course of lloinan history, and therefore of flic history of the whole of the Christian era would have been incalculably changed “The battle of Actuim would not have been fought ; the empire of Augustus wouhl not have been established us it was; neither Pontius Pilate nor Herod, would have ruled in Syria the conditions which enabled St. Paul to make his missionary journeys might never have existed Rome might have remained a. stranger to the Christian faith; and so on indenfhiitely. ” Other possibilities envisaged in the hock include these: 11 Constantinople had fallen in A.D. 718, “the Christian religion and European civi'isation must have been swept from the earth —England, ill common with the rest of OfcHsteudom, would most likely have become a cos lit u.-

cut member of a Mohammedan Caliphate that extended from the Atlantic toi the Indian Ocean.” If Henry VIM. had not: become so enamoured of Anne Boieyn that lie married her in defiance of the pope and thus precipitated the Reformation in England, t-lio English Church would have /been reformed thirty years later at the same time as the Scottish under influence of Luther and) Ivnox, and “it is sale to say that it would have become Presbyterian and not Episcopalian, emphatically Protestant and not semi-Catholic. * - If King John had not been “the worst of all the rulers of England,” the nation would probably not have been provoked into* demanding Ji signature to tbib Magna Charta which “helped to lay . securely the two fundamental principles of English liberty, viz., freedom from illegal punishment and from arbitary taxation.” If the Spanish garrison of Gibraltar hadj not been so pious as to be attending Church when the English troops attacked, the Rock would not to-day be a British possession. If Bonnie Prince Charlie had not turned back from Derby in December, 1745, he might well have captured London. ACCESSORIES MUST TONE One of the most annoying tasks in careful dressing is to get beiges to match when buying accessories. Because if you do wear a beige hat and a beige bag or beige shoes and bcig gloves, they must be of precisely PfJ same beige. But beige must bo smart or smart women wouldn’t stin wear it, some one protests. And the answer to that remark is that, whether you like to admit it cli* not—• smart’y dressed women are usually quite free with the use of make-up, and there is a world ot difference between the effect of beige when "worn by a woman who- '.wears Tier skin an lips and hair precisely as nature gave them to her and when worn by a woman who .chooses tc/ make them look as she wishes with the Help of cosmetics. There is stilj this nndcilying conviction that one must base one’s ensemble on some underlying neutral tone. White, it may Dc, in warm weather- -hardly b'.ack, since dark stockings are not worn save in inouruing. There is ready no reason why one should dilute every costume with a neutral shade despite the advantages * that are often to be gained from such a procedure. At any rate, one can confine the neutral tone to gloves and stockings. THE REIGN OF FELT DIETING HAD ITS DAY (By a Parisian Expert). It is common knowledge that if you want to find anyone in Paris, you have only to sit in front of the Cafe de la. Parix. the most international of ,ail cafes in. Paris, and eventually the person- you are seeking will pass by. it is also known to all the intelligentsia of chic, t'hat if you want to see every smart woman in Paris, you have only to sit in the celebrated contour of a certain we 1 known Paris hotel, and they will pass you, as a mannequin parade passes, in the Salons of the Grande Couture. You may have to devote an hour between 12.30 and 1.30 every day for a. week to see all of the stars of fashion, because contrary to the usual idea, tkpre is no one certain smart day ii this smartest of hotels, and, il you are not familiar with the faces of the leaders of fashion, you will 1 need a guide to point them out —a sort of verbal programme, as it were, to give yoiu the names—because every woman that sails by in gorgeous raiment is not amongst the elect. In fact, those women whose clothes are the last word in tasteful fashion are more often than not inconspicuous.

Although a large number of new straws have been introduced into the millinery world this seasoln, »al!l more or less expensive, Parisiennes show no signs of abandoning felt for sum-

Not that all the mi liners approve of this tenacity. On the contrary, there are some who are cli' the opinion that this type of hat should be reserved for sports or travelling, and ill their spring and summer collections, whicf.J are already oil view, have for the most part .concentrated on those supple types ot .straws wine! can be twisted and shaped on the head as easily as felt. Amcing otbe materials which Tjp.vo come into vogue during the last season or two, however, are fine woollens wf

almost have the appearance of silk and; which are made by a> world famous license. But one of the nret-

tiest Paris Hits this season was a little bonnet in taffetas which, although it had a comparatively short life, was extremely original. It will be interesting to see the reactions of women towards the new fashions. Modified corsets have returned, for hips are going to he the mode again; atlfough they will be carefully restrained, and the silhouette which shows slight and graceful Venus curves will be the only one which will not make fitters and de signers sigh with impatience. There will probably be diners from every woman who has been vainly endeavouring to get her figure within reasonable andj fashionable proportions by dieting, ivhen slie knows that her strugg'rc need not be sol stern in future.

Diets will certainly not have to be so desperate if we are going to bo more feminine in silhouette, although wo have not yet reached the ideal of the Rubens’ woman, p’ump and healthy. But the autumn of 1930 may vet see us adopting the famous painter’s silhouette—one never knows!

Spring seems to be near, for in the sports’ stores golf clubs, sl\ootiilg up like daffodils from the bags, travelling ease.i that seem invitations to travel, and saddles enchanting enough to tempt even the un-horse-worthy to the Bois in breeches —all are blossoming.

Bess hazardous in tlieir appeal are the new be’ts offered! for sports costume. They are of canvas, plain or stripped, and they are fastened by slipping back and forth between two rings and tucking into a slide. Bright red, hunter’s green, blue, and sky blue—in fact, most of the gav colours and most of the club coloai combinations. . Critics or fashion often remark V*o similarity presented by tlie modern clothes, and thfeir comfortable flowing lines that fol’iow the motions of the figure, tol the Greek costumes of tho ,go Men age, which have stood as the aesthetic ideal of the Western world tiles© many centuries. And now the shoe makers have turned Hellenic, too. Several of them have created flat sandals for athletic pursuits. For evening they are showing satin sandals, high heeled, to be sure, but with sudlW straps that the foot is free from compression though linked together with leather. These smart, comfortable sandals have no counter, but are cut out across the back of the tjeel, a charmingly arranged design of curved straps linking the airy shoes about the ank'ie, while more intricate straps cover the toe enough to protect * n from clumsy dancing partners. TAKM CARD OF THE EYES The proper care of the eyes is not a difficult matter and if peop’e only realised how much they would be repaid by such care, there would b< fewer glasses worn. The first tiling to remember is tint the eyes need rest, for they are on duty almost every waking moment. Therefore one shou’id secure plenty of sleep, and! whenever the opportunity offers duing the day the eyes should be closed and completely relaxed, even if only for thirty seconds. Next fi'/i) eves need balanced activity. Various occupations call for different uses ■ A tli© ©yes, but each one in following his own occupation overworks his eyes in one direction, and underworks them in others. Too much close work is done. "While- at work the eyes or the objects at which one is looking are moving most- of th© time. Therefore one should frequently stop and focus the gaze sharply, but without strain, on a sisall stationary jpoint.