MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 8 November 1933, Page 9

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OF INTEREST

historic beauties.

POMPADOUR’S CUCUMBER

Each beauty of every age has had her favourite recipe for the preserve tion of all, or a favourite part, ofthat beauty that was noticeable (states a London writer). The oiange diet of the famous Maquis© Crespy has become a part of the beauty creed of all who have stud.ed the preservation of beauty. Chroniclers of the charnns of women of hei time assert that when she lacked but two years of being 100 years old hti complexion resembled an apple blossom. For th© secret of this marvellous pieservation we are informed that for the last forty years of her life she ate as many as eight oranges Madame Pompadour, who was celebrated for having one of the finest skins of the day, used to wipe her face every morning with a soft cloth dipped in the juice of cucumbeis. Nearly all women have been aware of th© fact that a clear, smooth complexion of delicate tint and textuie is one of the greatest assets that a an can possess. Queen Elizabeth oi Hungary bathed her face solely and often in water distilled from rosemary, the recipe for which she obtained from a hermit. This is said to have preserved her beauty to old age. An analyst of her superb beauty declared that her features possessed a fascinating irregularity, to which defect the beholder was blinded by the dazzling radiance of her skin. She was famed on three continents because she never learned the unhappy

art of growing old. . The celebrated Duchess ot Marlborough, called the “queen of society under the reign of Queen Anne, was captivating- as a wit rather than as a beauty. Yet her loveliness still remained during middle age. Her hair, preserved by the use of honey water, was abundant and untouched by time. Th© beauties of the Royal Courts of Louis XIV and Louis XV used to brighten the complexion by sprinkling their faces with a vinegar composed of honey, vinegar, and shredded sandal wood.

TEST BEFORE YOU TASTE. If you are doubtful about your butter melt a little in a tablespoon over a flame. Pure butter will boil quietly, but “faked” butter splutters. Eggs may be tested m two way s. A will not float when placed in a solution of salt and water (loz «alt to 1 pint water) and when shaken the inside should not move about. Again, cut an egg-shaped hole in a niece of cardboard, put in the e&&, an hold it before a candle. Even. one dark speck showing means that it i is uneatable, and in a new-laid egg the air-cell at the larger end should be milk by dipping in a knitting needle. Adulterated milk will run down quickly, dripping from the end, but pure milk trickles slowly, foim-

ing a large drop. Gorgonzola and otner mottled cheeses are sometimes “doctored by being probed with copper wire. This means that much of the green is copper and the cheese is unhealthy, it net poisonous. Take a little cheese on a crutch (the kind, costing Id, that are sold to support incandescent mantles), and hold it over the flame of a spirit lamp. If the flame is green, copper, is present and yon would be wise to change your grocer. Game must. be hung, unplucked, and undrawn, with a small piece of wood, baked black in the oven, inside it. Its freshness, like that of Y en m° u ’ is tested by running a. skewer into a bone. If, when wKhdrawn, it smells well and is not sticky it is in good condition. . Test meat by pressing with the linger. If fresh no imprint remains. Ham is tested by running a sharppointed knife close to the bone. When withdrawn it should he clean, and not r and have a good flavoui. An exchange. ■<

MASCOT JEWELS

Jewellery experts declare that never since the war has there been such a vivid interest in charms, talismans, mascots, and amulets (states a London correspondent). These “lucky signs” are being bought in steadily increasing numbers, and their sale is limited to no special class, while men are showing as equal enthusiasm as

are women. ’ . Astrological signs are particularly in demand, and zodiac and swastika rings are being worn by many women, while aviators and athletes, sportsmen and owners of motor-cars, are all involved in this new cult of good luck. A woman physician at a well-known and very large London hospital declares that the practice of wearing talismans and lucky amulets is extraordinarily general, while another doctor says that over 40 per cent, of the children under his care display lucky charms. In such a material and practical age as the twentieth century it is curious to find this revival of mystery and magi<‘.

WOMEN’S DRESS.

WHAT MEN LIKE.

Women have the reputation for being variable by nature (writes a wellknown actor). Clothes, which by common consent arc expressive of character, indicate this tendency of theirs. Does not one year see women swathed in silken folds reaching to their ankles and looking for all the world like Egyptian mummies: while the next, voluminous frills billow and swirl well above their knees? One moment fancy’s flight carries, them to ethereal heights in clothes. 1 hej | mystically soar on clouds of lace and I chiffon leaving us men uneasy and perplexed by the age-old and eternal problem of elusive femininity. Next moment they swoop down on us in the most matter-of-fact and prosaic of tailor-mades, the line of which is so severe and uniform that it causes us to wonder whether they are trying to emulate our own sartorial standards. Men might quite reasonably, as the result of these frequent fashion revolutions 'in feminine realms, be forgiven if they suspected women of unsuccessfully searching for a standard of dressing destined to capture their susceptible selves. „ I will try to give an outline of the standards of clothes that most men set in their minds as ideal for women. For fashions, we men care little, unless the fashions of the moment happen to coincide with our ideals. That is just the irony of things—women will spend a whole fortune and endless pains on some particularly ravishing and right up-to-date creation that is destined, firstly, to dazzle the male, and, secondly, to excite the envy of women friends. But mor® often than i not it will leave men cold. I think I am expressing the average masculine sentiment when that women who wear clothes that are essentially feminine are bound to win our approval. By that I mean that men like dainty clothes that give support to the male theory that women are frail and fragile, and so the fabrics with which they drape their lovely limbs rightly should be as delicate and ephemeral as themselves. But, although men like dainty and diaphanous frocks that show a woman’s grace and physical charms to the best advantage these must be. extremely simple in line and design something that the male mind can understand. Perhaps it is that we have been accustomed from time immemorial to uniformity and regularity in our own clothes that reconciliation to women’s waywardness in dress matters is difficult. More than anything else men loathe gowns that are a. maze of bits and pieces, with ends and ribbons . and trailing trains and lace frills. Neither do they like their women to be cased in dresses of luminous scales or sequins, as though they are monsters risen from the deep, nor to shield their forms in bands of metallic embroidery like armoured knights of old. There is another thing, although men like women’s clothes to be distinctive and to command admiration, most of them would run miles rather than be seen in the company of z a woman who wears clothes that make her conspicuous. All women who want to please a man by their dressing—and, of course, every woman does, for it is well known that most women, however vigorously they deny it, would rather have a stare of ill-disguised admiration from a bus conductor than a whole string of insincere compliments concerning their' clothes from their women friends —should never resort to imitation in dressing, for this is man’s greatest abhorrence. By imitation I mean bows that tie nothing, buttons that only pretend to come through button-holes, and clasps and buckles that don’t do any work, but are put on as ornamental afterthoughts. To my mind, too, these certainly do appear futile, and I can quite imagine all men disliking them. I am sure we would never countenance our tailors constructing pockets that were merely decoration, nor ties that looked as precise on our dressing tables as round our necks for the reason that they were ready to

wear. But perhaps the most important thing a woman out to please men in her dress should study, is avoidance of fashions that tend to ape male attire.

CLOTHES FOR THE HEAT. Women with children can save themselves a good deal of work and worry by dressing their youngsters in the minimum of clothes during the sunny weather (states a correspondent). For garden wear and country wear little sun suits should be quite sufficient; very young children who are used to he out of doors a lot will bo ideally happy clad only in little trunks, which can be bought very cheaply in most stores. Otherwise swimming, siuts for play wear save a good deal of botliei. They can bo rinsed or washed in the ordinary way when necessary, but they do not need ironing. A swimming suit and a. light, shady hat is enough protection for any child who ■wants to play in the garden. Piet >s tremendously important m the.' hof’ weather. Most people ate bori with a rather light meal at mi.ld;;v Oro m two meatless days a w-L‘ek are advisable, and meat, when it. iskaken, is best taken in the evening An"ideal lunch is one of egg mayonnaise or scotch eggs and salad, or tomato, cheese, and brown bread and butter, with a. banana, and cream or fruit and ice cream to follow.