MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 5 December 1929, Page 4

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OE INTEREST)

(Notes by

Marjorie}

NEW SILHOUETTE. OLD STYLES RESURRECTED. Paris has let loose on jorld quite a whirlwind of new fashions which during the winter of 1900 vill certainly create a new .. sllh f of women. This year the slogan of nearly all the great creators of fashion in Paris has been “floor-long sknts foi evening and normal Next year will almost revive the fashion of 1830, adapted, of course, to modem lif p Trains to Sweep Floors. During the day women will continue to be comfortable in tweed suits— though these, too, say Jean Patou and Jeanne Lauvin, must be lengthened to the middle of the calf —whereas for evening they will have to go back to trains sweeping the floor and to the seemingly old-fashioned grace oi long bygone days. The new mode will make women look even taller than now, with' extremely long legs and slim waists and narrow hips. Alas, it will not bring any relief to the stoutish or short figures. The couturiers have, as always, neglected them, and have created iv fashion foi thQ siren-like silhouette' which is now swiftly conquering the world. Princess Gown Revived. They have brought into the light again the Princess gown, moulding the figure down to below- the hips and spreading out into a flow of transparent tulle. The most daring among them have decreed that evening gowns will touch the floor, not only in the back, but also in the front. Thus -skirts merely dipping behind are likely to become “de- ( mode” soon. For these long trailing evening frocks, as also for day weal’, the Paris dressmakers have, with extraordinary unanimity, made the hiplong jackets and evening wraps trimmed with fullness all round like the cosy Dutch indoor coats seen in Franz Hals or Jan Vermeer pictures. They have lavishly piled up furs on women’s clothes —not only on coats and day dresses, but even on hats. Long Suede Gloves for Evening.— It will be fashionable during the coming winter to - wear hats of sealskin, berets of astrakhan or leopard. The so-long-forgotten muffs will help to revive old-time fashions, but an even more astounding feature will be long suede gloves, to be worn with evening frocks for daiices and the theatre. They will not, however, be white, as twenty years ago, one of the big couturiers makes them red, bright green, blue and purple—to match the dress and shoes and bag. White will be one of the most popular colours for evening wear, but also dahlia, purple, rod, green, yellow, and, of course black whose reign never ■ declines in Paris. Brown will prevail for day wear. Feathers reappear on hats and flowers take their place again in the but-ton-hole of day coats and on the shoulder straps of dance frocks. Next year’s mode, toward which the world is now going, is certainly a. great achievement on the way to femininity and gracefulness.

AN AVIATION EXPERT. There are over twenty women airpilots in the United States, but only two of them, Mrs Omlie and Miss Ruth Nichols, hold transport licenses. Miss Nichols is director of the organisation committee of the Aviation Country Clubs’ Association, and her career reads like a fairy tale. A student of literature and languages at Vassar College, she suddenly dropped these subjects and took up engineering and navigation, working at various aviation grounds in the United States, France, and Vienna. She was appointed director of aviation promotion for'seten United States companies about 18 months ago, and is now directing tlte A.C.C.A. activities at a salary that many s men would envy..

SUPERFLUOUS FLESH. WISE WAYS OF REDUCING. Perspiration is Nature’s own remedy for purifying and beautifying the skin. That is one reason why exercise is so important to health and beauty. The woman who is afraid to perspire, is the one who will soon fade, and whose beauty will be short-lived. Perspiration carries off the impurities of the svstem, opens and clears the- pores, and prevents the accumulation of poisonous substances that are ruinous to the complexion. Anything that causes one to perspire is, therefore, beneficial. The hot bath does this, and one can perspire in the bathroom for several minutes after the hot bath. After this, another plunge in cold, or cool water, will be found cleansing and invigorating’. There are several kinds of Turkish baths equipment on the market, but any woman can make one herself if she so desires. A chair, a rubber blanket and a large lamp oi other heater, are all that is required. Or, one can wrap up in several woollen blankets, and sit in a small overheated room to . get the desired result. It can even be done in bed after a hot bath, by wrapping up very warmly in blankets. A hot mustaid bath will hasten the perspiration. Tn many of the hospitals in this country, especially those institutions where ’ consumptives are cared for they make certain patients and invalids sleep out of doors, or with the head out of the window. These patients never ’’catch cold,” for they are well bundled up. For , a hundred years doctors and other authorities have been preaching to us to sleep with the windows wide open, and nothing new can be said on the subject of fresh air. Many people have, what in America are called sleeping porches —another name for partly enclosed rooms. Perhaps the ideal way would be to have every bedroom divided into two rooms, one to be heated, carpeted, and cosily furnished, but without a bed, and only one window, tllis room to be the dressing room, the other to be just large enough to hold a bed (no floor coverings, pictures or draperies), and all windows—which last are kept wide open all night, and part of the day. Nobody will question the fresh air theory as an aid to beauty, but every person must figure out for himself or herself just how they are going to get it.

CHINS, NECKS AND THROATS. There is a vast difference in chins, necks and throats. Certain types of faces seem naturally to top a particular type of neck, chins of a certain shape seem naturally to be the starting point of a particular throat line. Not only are these features naturally different in different individuals, but the throat line, as much as any feature of the. face, denotes the age and physical condition of the possessor. Women, especially, are as concerned over the contour and dilineations of the part of the neck that forms the throat, as they are concerned over the facial contour and markings that come with the passing of years and with cares and disipations. Whether the neck is thin or fat, whether the chin is single or multiple, whether the throat lines are angular or gracefully curved, means much to a woman. Most women in these days bemoan the fact that they have a too liberal' amount of adipose. This is the day of lithe figures and willowy forms. Without the least regard to the normal or the healthy, women desire to be thin. Their arms and shoulders, their abdomens and hips, they want melted down until their skeleton forms , remain. Their double and triple chins they want whittled down to childhood lines. They want to change their substantial necks for delicate and swanlike ones.

But in spite of the fact that this is the age of slender women, there still are many obese women and many who have too much fat for their best health as well as their best looks. It is absurd to try to reduce overmuch. Look, for instance, at a reduced throat and chin! They become flabby, they loose their contour. Seams, an over-lapping of the skin, or a mere pouching down of the loose skin under the jaw or chin to the collarbones, greatly diminish attractiveness of the throat. What is uglier than a flapping or flabby throat? The throat line should remain alluring until at least the approach of three-score years of age! For those women who have fat or thin necks and throats, or have a terraced chin, or a jutting, angular jaw, it may be a consolation to them to know that these conditions may be altered if they take a little trouble. A few exercises are necessary, and these exercises should be performed daily. A stringy neck should;be exercised the same way as a fat one. For it is necessary to build up every neck muscle and to aid in the deposit of fat all about the neck. The only difference in the exercise for these two types of neck is in the amount —the fat requires more exercise to bring it back to youthful lines. For the throat, the exercises of greatest value are those involving forward movements of the head- The simplest of these is nodding, but this does not have an appreciable effect upon the muscles until the same movement is performed while lying on the back. This movement then becomes a real exercise, and this alone will remake many throats that are only moderately at fault. The exercise becomes still more vigorous when one lies with the head over the edge of the bed. This calls into action all the fibres of the involved muscles, and affects the throat from chin-point to collarbones. Placing one or both hands on the forehead, and forcing thej head forward against the resistance of the hands makes this movement extremely vigorous, even when one is in the upright position. Better results will be obtained from the modified nodding movements, if other movements are added. Thus, one may produce far better results within a shorter time, if the head is turned in different directions after the head is forward. Still further improvement is procured by turning the head to one side before bending the head forward, alternating between the right and left, turning, alternating or continuing -on due side, until the muscles of that side are tired, before 1 turning in the other direction. Sliding the head from side to side with palms

clasped firmly against the forehead is an excellent movement. In addition to sti aight forward nodding movements, and straight rotations, the head should be brought forward on the bias—-diagonally forward to each side both with the head held face forward and in the direction of the movement.