MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 10 January 1931, Page 7

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OF INTEREST

(Notes by

Marjorie)

BEAUTIFUL ARMS. HINTS TO WOMEN. Women’s chief claim to beauty in the days when our grandmothers Set caged in crinolines depended on a pretty face. Now in this era of sports tor women beauty is judged more by the ensemble than by'one special feature. Limbs have come into their own. A pretty face on a gawky body is a greater drawback than a sjlain face on a graceful body. On tennis court and golf course the modern girl is shrewd enough to realise that she is viewed more often in perspective than closeup. If she is wise she pays attention to her arms and legs. Legs are not much trouble, rlien blemishes can be disguised under the kindest shade in silk stockings, and their angularities hidden beneath dipping hemlines. Foot specialists have made tlat ieet an unnecessary evil. The wide and charming variety of footwear offers shapes and colourings to hide most defects and enhance all charms. Arms have no such aids. They hang bare and conspicuous, their blemishes exposed to all. The modern fashion for sleeveless gowns for day wear, as well as evening, has made the care of the arms a daily necessity. The unbecoming mottling known as gooseflesh can be dispelled by five minutes’ brisk rubbing with a loofah. Then, lavishly rub cold cream. Leave the cream on for another five minutes, wipe off the superfluous grease, and dust with toilet powder. The shape of the arms can be readily improved by exercises, as well, as by such enjoyable sports as swimming, tennis, and rowing—not to mention Housekeeping. Bedmaking, and breadkneading are excellent for rounding the arm. Massage is another aid toward covering angularities with dimpled flesh. When washing, remember that oatmeal is kinder to easily reddened skins than soap. A good whitener popular to our grandmothers was a tablespoonful of scraped horseradish in hot milk. The mixture was allowed to dry on the arms before they were washed.

DRESS ACCESSORIES. RIGHT COLOUR SCHEME. When choosing summer frocks, the most important factor is the choice of the right colour. Even a very simple frock of cotton or voile, linen, or organdi will look most attractive when it is made up in one of the shades'most becoming to the wearer, states a Paris correspondent. On the other hand, an expensive model gown may be an absolute failure if the colour clashes with one’s personality. It has been said that a pretty woman looks lovelier in a cotton frock and a plain one sometimes plainei in silks or satins. For the word “woman” I would substitute “colour.” Another item which counts in this scheme of colour is to have, wherever possible, accessories which match or blend, such as shoes, hats, gloves, and handbag. Even jewellery can be bought at so low a price nowadays that necklaces and bracelets can tone with every frock. However pretty and becoming a dress may be. it. can be hopelessly marred by the injudicious use of a clashing colour in these small "etceteras.”

Green in all its shades is a lovely summer hue, and soft cornflower blue"is' becoming to almost every blonde and quite a few brunettes. though pinky shades are more becom ing to the “nut-brown maids.” Remember that beige is always right for every colour wh'-n choosing ■ fock-ill--; and glove-;. p-Hr.ll. 111,flesh tints. ;»s they !»me wiip pni only the brightest shade; i>ut ; ,i n oiblack. The reasons the f|», • ■ > colour -, jp a garden never clash is hmaii.m have the green of the grass and tree;; as their constant background, whereas with humans their clothes should l)e selected to harmonise with their sometimes drab surroundings and to please the eye of the beholder.

ETIQUETTE OF 1830. HINTS BY A PERFUMER. We take the present time far too much for granted. One would imagine that, etiquette coupled with the gentle art of pleasing were hide-bound monsters. There can be no change for ever and ever —world’s end. It is good for the soul to look into the past. Comparisons may be odious, but one learns much. Fortunately a. French perfumer named Antoine can give us some amusing glimpses of women of the days of IS3O. Victoria came to the throne seven years later. It was a betwixt and between period both on the Continent, and in England. The excesses of an earlier age were dying a. natural death. At that moment. Antoine thought fit to write notes. “A woman who respects herself,” says Antoine the perfumer’, of Paris, “will avoid crowds. She will walk neither too fast nor too slow. In her glance there will not. be too much vivacity nor too much langour. When she is seated her legs will not be crossed, and she will give the impression that, she is neither too little nor too greatly at her ease. At table she will hold hei - peace except when the service languishes.” Presumably man was to be permitted to monopolise the conversation when the service did not languish. Antoine is full of surprising hints. The ideal woman, according to his day, never sneezes, or yawns, or even blows her nose where she can be seen or heard. In an extremity this perfect specimen of womanhood must retire to another room to blow her nose or yawn, or sneeze. A room full of women with colds in their heads must have been a. somewhat restless place. No woman of 1830 ever allowed a smile to break into a laugh. As- for proposals of marriage: “When a woman perceives that a man is making advances to her she should delicately turn the conversation.” Women who are pleased to think that they are different from their mothers will perhaps find cause for satisfaction in the days of 1830.

BEAUTY OF ENGLISH GIRLS. WHERE TO FIND IT. Who is the reigning beauty iu England now? Sir William Orpen, who has painted, perhaps, more beautiful Englishwomen than any other artist of our time, told me of the lovely girl who, to his mind, is going to ravish the imagination of this generation and charm the eyes of Europe as Lady Diana Cooper lias for the past. 25 years, states a London writer. “It’s no good looking for the new beauty among the society women,” he said, stopping abruptly every now and then and looking at me over his spectacles, “because she isn’t there. You won’t find her at fashionable weddings and parties, because she doesn't go to those things. She’s got something better to do. “But you may find yourself suddenly sitting next to her in the tube, or she may pass you in the morning on her way to work or she may serve you at a shop counter. "She isn’t a. society girl, and has never had it drummed into her tlr.it she’s a ravishing person. She’s an or dinary, hard-working person like you or me. And she’s the loveliest thing in the whole length and breadth of the country.

“Mind you, it wasn’t always so!”—again Hie sudden stop, and the pier - big, humorous glance ovci the sp'T“When 1 was a young man Hie middle and working classes didn’t pro-b<-intifn| women. The working pii-l har. hmome a beauty in Hie las' 15 —po, tn ilip last 10 years! "ftoniHhe said, “I see girl- in 'he iiaiii. and omnibuses so lovely, so lovely, that I don't, know how to look al them cnougb They don't paint their faces: they’re smart and neat' they walk like girls, and there’s life in their healthy faces . . . that’s beauty for you! “That’s the sort of girl who’s inheriting the society beauty’s laurels!

The one is dead and the other’s alive, and it’s the living' one that posterity is going to remember as the beauty of her generation.”