MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 October 1928, Page 3

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OE INTEREST

(Notes by

Marjorie)

COVERING CHAIR SEATS. SOME EFFECTIVE DESIGNS. JThe chair on Sheraton lines with a seat which lifts out from its frame gives ample opportunity for the display of ingenuity in the covering, and when a set of such chairs is in question, the effect will be the more interesting if a different method is adopted for each. For instance, if you happen to possess a Georgian waistcoat, left over from the days when gentlemen wore silken embroideries to such articles, you will find that, by joining up the two fronts, you will have just sufficient to cover a chair-seat, the two embroidered borders being bought together down the centre. In the same way, a Victorian palerine of the flower strewn silk that was so fashionable in the mid-nineteenth century will usually yield sufficient material in good condition to cover the seat of one or more chairs.

Old woolwork banner screen, if the shaped base be cut away, are as a rule just wide enough to form a chair seat. If not, a border of strong furnishing satin can be given all round with good effect. These banners can still be picked up for quite small, sums, and, if no longer fresh in colour, will usually revive in a petrol bath.

Beautiful covers are to be contrived from the embroidered ends of Tukish guest towels, the stitchery being so close that a durable surface is produced. For greater service, the embroidery should be backed with strong linen or crash. Those who®have qualified in leather work, and made for themselves decorative bags and pochettes, will find that the same means will apply equally well to leather chair seats. The'introduction of a little mellow and subdued colour will give great richness to the tooling. Dull greens and reds and soft deep orange stand out excellently from a brown background. —M.H.

A jade ornament at the hip makes a pretty touch of colour on this evening frock of gold lace. The slip beneath is of gold tissue, and the skirt draperies are brought to a point at each side to match the cape drapery at the back of the corsage.

DAINTY HANDS. A woman’s hands have never needed so much care as they do to-day. So many of us do part of our own housework. Even girls and women in business wash their own lingerie and stockings, and everybody plays golf or tennis and finds that hands get soiled or roughened by contact with racquet or club. A little care every day is far better than an hour or two’s devotion once a week.

Soap should be chosen carefully. Do not, because the hands are soiled, try to get them clean quickly by using kitchen soap or soap powder. Use slightly warm water, the best toilet soap you can afford, and a soft towel. It is a good plan to wash the hands every night with oatmeal and warm water before going to bed. This keeps them both smooth and white, and softens rough places. Wet your hands in warm water, make a paste in them with the powdered oatmeal, and work this well into each finger in turn, the thumb, and then the palms and backs of the hands. Take quite ten minutes over the process. Rinse the oatmeal all off, and then let cold water from the tap run over the hands for just a second or two. The best skin food to use for the hands is glycerine jelly. A tube of that and a pound of powdered oatmeal from the grocer, if used regularly, are all that are needed to keep hands in good conditions. PROGRESS IN HOLLAND. Breda, in Holland, has again a woman on its town council. The first woman elected member of that council resigned after the election of her husband as member of the same body, though the Municipal Corporations Act is not opposed to both husband and wife being members of the same town council. In the case of the

newly-elected woman member, Mevr. van Rippen, it happens that also her husband is a member of the council, but it seems that she does not consider this any objection against her representing her own sex on this body.

Twenty-five years ago, Dr, Baale, received the degree of Doctor of Classics, being the first woman in the Netherlands to attain the degree. In commemoration of that day, a recep-

tion took place in honour of Dr Baale at the Liberal Women’s Club in Amsterdam.

BRIDAL OUTFITS RENTING-OUT IN NEW YORK Wedding dresses may now be conveniently rented, along with palms, camp chairs, orchestras and other appurtenances that the average person needs but once in three-score years, or at most a couple of times. Sprinkled here and there through New York, mainly on the east side, rather to the north and east of the Social Register zone, has sprung up an ambitious trade devoted to outfitting the bride, the bridegroom, the bride’s family and the bridal attendants. So profitable has this business become that in some blocks there are three oi’ four shops, a flight up, or one down, or just level with the pushcarts on. the sidewalk, announcing that they carry a full stock of “bridal gowns and capes evening dresses and tuxedo suits to hire and sell.”

The larger of the shops have as many as 300 dresses, which during .Tune and the matrimonial rush seasons are continuously in and out. Fifty wedding dresses is an average week’s business. Few brides could resist them. Slippers, dress, veil and wrap are all included for 15 dollars or 25 dollars, according to the elaborateness of the gown.

Fixing up the bridegroom is an easy matter. One fitting does for him and 5 dollars is the charge, stovepipe hat included, i The bride’s mother and maids are soon settled for 10 dollars, or 8 dollars if the dress has been worn more than twice. The bride is requested to make hei’ selection a week in advance and have a fitting in a Cupid-adorned room.

FROM A PARISIENNE’S NOTEBOOK

(By Yvonne Rodier).

The Parisienne has quite fallen in love with the transparent long coat which is such a success this season. The favoured choice is beige or allblack, cut on slim and graceful lines with loose sleeves. Other models, in georgette or romaine, destined for wear with sleeveless chiffon and lace frocks, have long, fitted sleeves. Olive-green and other- dark shades have been as much worn as white and the charming pale-pastel tones. The Parisienne makes it notably apparent that transparent fabrics can look as well, and even better, in the very dark hues.

Particularly, however, is the whole range of blues in evidence. They have an. outstanding vogue. Black, of course, is always chic, and will always have its faithful advocates. But it is to be remarked that black-and-beige is enjoying a more pronounced success than the once übiquitous black-and-white. This season, apparently, has led to the discovery that the latter is really a much more "difficile” alliance than the black-and-beige ensemble. This last seems everywhere to be the favoured choice. One of the loveliest race-going ensembles I have seen was an exquisite affair in shaded blue, white and pink floral chiffon, with which was worn a three-quarter silk coat of shot turquoise taffetas, smartly belted at the back by a band of white moire. Another, in a paler shade of blue, showed a plain crepe de chine frock of a softer shade, with a coat of fine matching face-cloth. It had a collar of fox, dyed to a pale chocolate shade that exactly toned with a delightfully shady hat, kid shoes, hosiery, gloves, and bag. Two outstanding ensembles, in fact, to illustrate the "blue” craze. Evening frocks show matching hosiery and shoes embroidered to “help” the colour scheme.

Similarly, the vogue of footwear to match the costume is the daytime rule. With a smart black frock the finest of black silk stockings are worn; brown with brown; and grey with grey. All the beige tones are easy to match; and lizard shoes can be worn with many shades, as there is such a wide choice of colours in the skins.

Where shoes, hosiery, and bag, do not match, they must conform to a system of delicate contrast. But the matching vogue is indubitably the better choice where feasible.

Hat-brims appear to be wider on one side than the other. In the case of the larger hats, the milliners insist upon extreme of trimming. Very wisely, for quite apart from the question of undisturbed perfection of line and contour, the colours and the softness of texture which characterise these big shapes are sufficiently decorative to need no further embellishment. GEOMETRICAL DESIGNS. The most popular patterning of all comes in the form of dots and dashes, circles and crescents, lines and spots. The truth is, that we have had flowers and leaves for a good long time now, and while the dress artists insist on printed materials they are anxious not to overdo the floral effects.

So we get geometrical designs. And very attractive they are. It would be as well to remember to select one or other of these in preference to rosebuds or daisies or sprays of flowers if one is buying for the future. The dressmakers give the pattern vogue at least three years of life, and it seems quite possible that scrolls and squares may eventually oust flowers from popular favour. The home dressmaker, especially she who is not very sure of her powers will find these patterned materials a great boon. A mistake in a plain fabric shows up at once. Very often a patterned silk or crepe de chine can be so arranged that little faults of the amateur dressmaker are hidden by careful arrangement of the material.