MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 March 1930, Page 7

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OF INTEREST

(Notes by

Marjorie)

“SHORTS” CRAZE. ON SYDNEY BEACHES. SYDNEY, February 28. Sydney beach girls have evolved a new fashion for sunny days and have taken to wearing “shorts.” Beach ’ pyjamas and gaudy kimonos have , gone into the cast-off bag and the new fashion has taken their place. At all the big beaches near Sydney, nearly every female surfer walks to the beach in a pair of white shorts, some kneelength, others abbreviated in amazing fashion, and a white- silk or coloured sports jumper. The change-over came suddenly and for a time the stores were hard put to cope with the heavy demand for “shorts.” The fair buyers even invaded the men’s departments, and shop assistants were forced to unwrap their winter stocks of football apparel to meet the sudden rush. The new craze started at Palm Beach soon after the start of the New Year when many of Sydney’s society beauties adopted the “shorts” style. For a few weeks the fashion remained peculiar to Palm Beach and its neighbouring surfing resorts. But the fad soon spread to Manly, Bondi and Coogee, until now, to be without shorts is to be old-fashioned. Popular ensemble for the beach habitue is shorts, worked or embroidered above the left knee with an initial or flower design, silk jumper of any striking colour or plain white, finished off with a flowing kerchief sports tie, and topped with a Mexican sombrero or a cute little American “gob” cap. Though a good deal of the colour with which the beaches became splashed when the beach pyjama craze was at its height has departed with the advent of the new fashion, Sydney girls look quite smart and sporty in their new attire. It is difficult on occasion to differentiate between flappers and sheiks in the sun-baking areas. Sydney shopkeepers are wondering what will be the next dictate of surf- : ing and beach fashion. i

THE SOVIET EMBASSY. If Mme. Sokolnikoff, the wife of the new Soviet Ambassador, has mado plans for the social conquest of London, she will be helped by the excellent facilities for entertaining on a large sdale contained in No. 40, Grosvenor Square, which will be the headquarters of the Soviet Embassy for the next six months, writes a correspondent. The ballroom on the second floor consists of two very large lofty apartments, opening into each other. The walls, are white, and decorated with panels moulded in Renaissance reliefs. The smaller apartment is furnished by heavy gilt chairs, cushioned with iitique dark green velvet, embroidered with owls and roses. The curtains are green velvet, embossed with flowers and leaves in yellow. The larger apartment is more formal in decoration, and more stately. The chairs and sofas are covered with rich bright-red brocade, and the three long windows at the end of the room are curtained by the same stuff and by plain white net. No. 40, Grosvenor Square, is a basement house, with three lofty ' linked by a spiral staircase, covered with carpet in dark currant-red. The dining room is perhaps the most formal room in the house; great tapestries in subdued shades of blue ' and green decorate the walls, the 1 heavy furniture is made of oak, and, ! seen by late evening light, the room 1 looks almost forbidding. > , i Rag. dolls with a difference are fast ' becoming the rage of juvenile Europe, 1 says a London writer. Everyone has : made a little rag doll at some time or other, though maybe it was only a duster or a handkerchief tied in knots. Madame Kathe Kruse created a rag doll with a difference. It was fashion- ] ed by winding long strips of handage. ■ and was stuffed With cotton. The 1 heads and faces were painted so * realistically that, it was possible to re- * cognise the child who inspired* the ' doll. That was a few years ago. These J same dolls are still made by hand, but ; as a commercial product, and improved to such an extent that they are the e.m- 1 bodiment of childhood. ffWMMMWFIWatISWgWWWMBWW 1 — _ I

AN IDEA FOR THE BRIDE. It is pardonable pride on the part of a bride that she should wish to keep her dainty trousseau in apple-pie order. Lingerie arranged in drawers keeps its neatness until she goes to the drawer in a hurry one day and, pulling a garment from underneath, tumbles all the dainty garments into a heap. Here is a better way of keeping them. First of all, the drawer should be specially lined. Paper is really not dainty enough for the purpose. Glazed chintz should- be used instead. Its pretty pattern is attractive, and it is extraordinary how its highly glazed surface resists dust and dirt. Measure up the drawer and cut the lining for bottom and sides in one piece, hemming all the edges. The side pieces can then be fixed securely with small drawing-pins, which fixing also ensures that the bottom will not ruck up. Nov/ for the sachets in which to keep the garments each in its own little pile. Cut them a suitable size out of pieces of cardboard, two for each group of garments. Twelve inches by fifteen is very suitable. Cover them with pretty patterned paper. Paste it neatly on and allow to dry. The garments placed between these two covers need a band to secure them, and this can be made from ribbon-covered elastic, such as is sold for garters. With night-dresses in one cover, slips in another, and so on, all the undies are kept neat and uncreased, and can be found in an instant. The womenfolk of Christchurch are remarkable for both the purity of their speech and for their dislike of rouge and lijstick, states Mr Alexander Watson. “In my travels round the world," be said. “I have learned to judge the charm of a. community by its womenfolk, and both my wife and myself have been struck by the dignified bearing and behaviour of the women and girls of Christchurch. We have noticed the almost entire absence of rouge and lipstick. Although the women here have avoided putting anything on their lips, they have been paying a great deal of attention to that which issues from them, for the purity of the spoken English is such that it is delightful to listen to it.”.

SEEKS QUIET. YOUNG SCOTS COUNTESS. “If I had been born a boy, I would be chief of the Clan Grant, but I’ve i worries enough without that,” said the i 23-year-old Countess of Seafield, in an i interview. j She secretly married Derek Studley ; Herbert on January 10. She is grey--1 eyed, fair-complexioned, and has hair rof light copper shade. Her parents » were born in New Zealand. “Clans,” says the Countess, “are al- ; most things of the past, except on > great estates, where they assemble for funerals, births and marriages, which [ are not always the brightest occasions ;of social pleasures. My uncle, Lord ■ Strathspey, who was born at Oamaru, - is the clan chieftain.” ! The Countess denied that her mar- ( riage was secret or flippant as alleged. ! “There’s nothing flippant about a girl being prevented by outside malicious interference from marrying in the or dinary way,” she declared. “From the moment. of our engagement, obstacle after obstacle was put in our way. We were left with no choice but to be married quietly, without preliminary fuss. i ORGANDI DINNER SETS. Organdi is made into delightful afternoon tea and dinner ‘ensembles,’ and they are so lovely that they ought to fill one with desire “to make.” All that is required is white organdi, linen floss, and embroidery frame, and the patience to concentrate on embroidering unique designs on somewhat heaviei’ lines than shadow work. The organdi is cut to size and bordered all round the edges with a blanket stitch in white floss, and the embroidered designs spaced over the surface are chosen from animals—deer, for example, because their shapes form good silhouettes against the delicacy of an organdi background. Napkins are embroidered according to size and tablecloths too, with table napkins to match. These are really lovely things for feminine parties or special occasions, and their place or origin is Italy.