MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 July 1932, Page 3

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OF INTEREST

( Notes by

Marjorie )

PRACTICAL STYLES.

(By Hon. Mrs C. W. Forester).

The exclusively dressed woman this season has chosen her Ascot clothes with great forethought. Colours are darker and fabrics have taken on a less transparent air. No doubt ecor- 1 omy and good taste are largely responsible for this “change of front’’ at Ascot; dress worthy of the occasion must do for several other functions, and now that we are weary of black, our designers have given us some beautiful dark shades to take its nlace. <

Prune, purple, bottle and olivegreen, burnt sienna, and the biegebrown range are smart summer shades. The hat and accessories can introduce a brighter note. Hence the prevailing popularity of the white, pale, pink, pastel blue and parchment tone in hats, with matching scarves and pochettes. Sometimes^hats will have a contrasting crown in black with a white brim or vice-versa, while light straws with wide brims may be lined arid stiffened with dark satin or velvet. The magpie alliance is easy and very smart; the all-white or half-black and white hat will have white . pochette, gloves, and. shoes with touches <-f black inset, and possibly a narrow scarf of the two colours in summer ermine, or crepe de Chine, or a silver fox-tie. A dull-faced romaine in black looks well with a (op of pale beige Irish crochet suede, gloves with fril’s of similar lace, and hand-bag also of suede.

The best hosiery is still in the beige range, varied by a compromise with the grey and mole tinge known as “shadow shade.” They are good with black frocks and gowns with a hint of grey in them. All-grey hosiery is very drab, find only permissible when there 1 is a complete plan of matching greys. The variety in the shadow scheme is smart and most helpful. Hosiery is also on the darker side, though some of the pinky beige tints to go with the new coloured shoes are pale, for at Ascot shoes will be seen in sober shades to match the dark frocks. All-prune colour, dark green and darkest-blue or deep purple look very well in the plain court pump with high peg-top heel. Very novel are those in ribbed kid; the severe style ensures them looking well in any colour.

White suede shoes with insets of black patent are favoured, for .suede or glace kid are certainly ideal wear in the event of a heat-wave. Another novelty is white kid with trimmings of grey, beige, or black lizard. Again, the more practical side of dress is shown in the choice of shoes; flimsy crepe and satin footwear is not favoured. The smart dresser will be ready this year for all weathei changes. Sandals abound, but are kept for lawn and beach. Smart shoes in dark brown are worn with lighter hosiery, and look well with the thin tailored ensemble of sinfilar shade. The smartest handbags are not fantastic. A favourite is white in duh or shiny leather relieved with black, or the dark hue of the frock, with initials in onyx and diamonds or a medallion of simple design. Olive-green is an ideal choice for summer, and. smart from the point of view of accessories as shoes, pochette, hat and gloves all in a paler green, to relieve the deeper olive, are most effective.

HOUSEBREAKERS?

OBSERVANCES IN HOMES

“You are a house-breaker if - you come in late to meals, keeping waiting a dinner on which a lot of anxious thought and pains have been expended. Just think of all the processes that go to making a pleasant meal! (says a writer in an exchange). ’“The thought—what shall I get them tc-day? The thrill when you think of something ’ exciting; the anxious search through the shops to find exactly what you want; the preparation of all the ingredients, and the final triumph when your cutlets are beautifully coated with golden crispness, your asparagus just exactly right; your souffle rising to exactly the right height. “Isn’t it rather rotten not to come in to a meal at the exact moment, when it is such a masterpiece of care and skill ?

“You are a houste-breaker, too. when you throw damp towels on the bathroom floor, when you don’t wash the bath or basin after you have used it, when you fling clothes about your bedroom and rush off leaving them for someone else to cart away. “You are a housebreaker when you bag a hot bath out of your turn, when you come into the house with muddy boots, when you strew cigarette ash on the carpet or the polished floor, when you borrow a book and don’t return it.

“And. if you live in a flat you are a house-breaker, if you drag furniture about over people’s heads after bedtime, or slam doors or come in with a party after the theatre talking loudly and wakening your neighbours and their babies.

“A great deal of labour and thought go to the making of a home. A man toils to find the money for it, a woman toils to keep it beautifully smooth and comfortable.

“Thoughtlessness, slackness, laziness, selfishness can destroy it and all its peace so easily; courtesy and a little thought can contribute to all its beauties.

“Don’t be a house-breaker. Be a home-maker, even if you are only a child, a. visitor, a servant, or a neighbour.”

THE WOOL SHEET.

REQUIRES CAREFUL WASHING

A good many people with rheumatic tendencies are warned against sleeping between anything but blankets. During the war, too, many of the returned soldiers fpund sheets chilly after a blanket regime. On the other hand, there are still more who find wool—-and even the softest blanket — very scratchy and troublesome and who would almost rather go on suffering than submit themselves to its irritation.

For these people very good woollen sheets are made which are also presentable in appearance. They are of a thin material of the texture of nun’s veiling, but they are of the very softest kind. Where they are to look very smart they are bound with satin, but this is.not necessary, and it is an unfortunate fact that satin has a way of wearing out before the sheet which it is binding. The woollen sheet is very light and is fairly open in texture, to that it can be easily washed. There is no reason why it should shrink if washed properly, but it has to be remembered that one bad wash ruins it for ever.

Soap must be dissolved in the water and never applied by rubbing, and the water itself must not be more than tepid. The sheets are best when rinsed in another solution of soap and water and not in water alone. Soft water is, of course, a counsel of perfection. As a rule wool sheets can be washed at home much more safely than at the laundry, mA they become clean a. good deal more easily than do cotton or linen sheets. They are a real boon for those to whom wocl is a necessity and who yet have delicate skins.

ENGLISH PUDDINGS. The pudding seems to be a characteristic of England only and one with which the foreigner is often, if not always, impressed. It seems to some extent to have been invented to ease off sharp appetite for carnivorous food, since it used to be served b ■ fore, instead of after the meat. Even now Yorkshire pudding goes with the meat, and not so many years ago a plain, steamed pudding preceded many a joint, being well basted with the gravy that had dripped from the joint as it turned oii the spit.

A good many excellent puddings are often forgotten at a time of year when they make a pleasing sequel to the not very pleasing phenomenon of cold meat. There are all the steamed puddings, with their accessories of treacle brown sugar and various sauces. There is the steamed pudding which is put on the top of some treacle and which comes out well basted with this liquid. There is the .boiled batter pud., ding which is so delicious with plenty of cold butter and brown sugar. In each case black treacle —not the . genteel yellow kind —and Barbados sugar have a. real instead of a blended flavour. There is the jam roll which must be eaten while it is hot and not have to be warmed up afterward; the ginger pudding, which can more easily be warmed up; the canary pudding- — all the race of the boiled and steamed. In the pastry direction there are the various “crusts” which, with very little trouble, can cover apple, treacle and jam respectively, and which, to a normal appetite, are exceedingly delectable. Puddings have an immense advantage over .meat, and even over vegetables as grown in England, in that they are widely varied. In their variety and the capacity for surprise lies most of their attraction.

PARIS IS COLOUR MAD. “Paris is colour mad,” writes a studio designer. “No woman can afford to ignore colours this year, because they are the salient feature of the entire season’s mode.” The message indicates that the selection of shades and tones will not be an easy matter, since there are no fixed rules for colour contrasts. Every costume must display two colours, pre. ferably three. The dress is light or dark, and the coat accordingly is dark or light in another colour. Examples of the last-minute colour schemes discovered in the smart salons of the Continent by Banton are warm brow a and copper red, deep blue and ripe corn yellow, dark red and ink blue, navy blue and maze, brown and budgreen, brown and rusty orange, and dark blue and grey.