MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 22 December 1934, Page 9

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OF INTEREST

MORE BECOMING MILLINERY.

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

In.tlie earlier part of the season the new hats threatened all manner of eccentricities, but. hats may now be voted becoming and easier to wear. After the extreme shallowness of crown, hats of the higher order came. Hats fit the head once more without need of elastic. When hard of texture, too square and undented, tlio higher crown added to age, and so made no advance. Then the experts began to pull the high crown about m all directions. The variety of Hornburgs and the Cowboy shapes have also the benefit of a pull-about brim, as well as their soft fur or velours crowns. Another interesting note about these styles in headgear is that novelties' in jewelled pins, quaint ornaments and wings in ay be used. A Lrooch or clip can hold a dented fold in place. Some felts have a couple ol slits half-way up the crown, where a velvet ribbon or cord can pass through and tie in a bow or knot. Such trifles are helpful in the dull winter days, for much black felt is worn. For the country, and with the severe tailored suits, felt for the head is a “chic” choice. Dark grey, green, or brown make a change, and are often more becoming than black. Red millinery for the moment has given place to these darker tones. The helmet hat, like the Cossack caps, are best when made of fabric, soft ’enough to drape and pull into becoming lines. The helmet hat. is square at the top. Other toques have pointed crowns or top-knots. Velvet and stamped velvet, fur and furry fabrics are all used for this variety of cap. Swathed turban effects are good for velvet and fur. Some of these are classic and follow the lino of the head. Veils play a decorative part, either worn in the Yashmak way or providing a stiff fly-away border to break the line.

The most flattering effect is given by a rolled brim of velvet. A Riviera model, in white felt has appeared; it is a. pliable draped felt with a fairly high crown, but its feature is a softly rolled, uneven brim of black velvet. It is “chic.” and yet an easy-to-wcar shape. The pill-box turban is chiefly adopted as a fashionable favourite on account of Princess Marine’s preference for its simple lines. This shone should onlj r be attempted

by young people with fairly regular features. Dented crowns and rolling brims are kinder to the average face. The newer cult of eccentric smartness enables women possessed of a great dress consciousness to adopt the hard and even unbecoming styles and to “carry them off.” Sometimes their success lies in the real novelty, and such styles have a verj’ short season. When a woman realises she is the exception she may be able to gain distinction in dress by bringing eccentricity to a fine art. The American woman is best at carrying off odd movements and novelties in the dress and hat world. She studies the subject seriously and will alter her personality to suit a fashion of short duration.

The new peaked narrow’hats are an example of “difficult” shapes. English women as a rule require some becoming note in a style that they make their own, even for a brief season, and a peak is a hard hat-point to look well in.

CARPET WEIGHS A TON. The largest single-piece carpet ever made in England was laid at the Empire Theatre, Leicester-square, recently. It is luOft long by 43ft wide—big enough to cover the entire entrance halt foyer and central staircase. When th.'j theatre was opened six years ago, the carpet had to be made in Czechoslovakia. The new carpet was made in Great Britain. Twenty employees have worked incessantly for six months turning out a deep red pile, designed by a famous aitist. ft weighs a lon, and will stand the wear of 100,000,000 feet.

FASHION PIRATES.

(By a Fashion Expert). Fashion piracy is to be stamped cut. That is the aim of leading dress creators who are endeavouring to make London a headquarters of fashion. A new’ declaration of war was made recently in the dressmakers’ quarter in the West-end. The copying of designs of new models for reproduction, often on a large scale, is one of the most serious problems with which Cushion creators have to deal. “If London is to become a centre of haute ' couture, something must be done to stop this menace,” I was told yesterday at Molyneux’s London house in Grosvenor-street. “Once cheap editions of on© of our models are on sale it i. simpossible for us to sell it. The potential loss, if the pirated copy is u ■winner,’ may amount to thousands of pounds. The worse the copy the greater the damage. “There are many instances of models that are wrongly described as ours. Dress designers have also been forced to declare war on this ‘passing off’ of models.” In Paris dressmakers are protected by the Government. If a dress creator recognised one of his models in a Paris shop he can sue on the strength of his statement, that the model is his.

An example of the harm done to the creative dressmaker by the pirates is the fact that models may even be copied and displayed in London shops before the designer has shown his collection.

The leakage is difficult to detect. The design may, be taken from the workrooms by a'little workgirl, who conceals in her hand -a slip of paper on which the model has been roughly sketched. She may even memorise it. There are parts of the West-end where pirated models are shown in the shop windows, with the result that the dress designers are robbed of hundreds of potential customers. The shops are unaware that, the models supplied to them by tlie wholesaler have been pirated; and they are ready to co-operate with the dress creators in the matter.

A woman who passes a window and sees a cheap copy of a 40 guinea gown that, she has ordered immediately cancels her order. Should she see the copy before the original nothing will induce her to buy a, dress that has been copied for other women to purchase.

FIGHTING THE MOTH. As soon as the warm weather arrives, the clothes moth makes its appearance. • A great deal of trouble is saved if the housewife goes through everything in the wity of garments, woollens, and bedclothing as soon as a warm spell makes itself felt. In this way the hiding place is disturbed and the clothes moth looks for fresh quarters. But it is easier to prevent , moths than to rout them. Sun and air are their deadliest enemies. so that everything possible that can be hung out of doors for a time should be treated in this way, then beaten with a light cane to ensure that any moths or eggs hidden in corners or embedded in woolly layers are dislodged. Everything should be treated to camphor or some other moth preventative before it is returned to cupboards or placed upon or under mattresses. Camphor can be made to last longer by wrapping it in sheets of newspaper. Moths hate the smell of printers’ ink us much as they do camphor, and the combined odour keeps even the most aggressive moth at a distance. Aitides of clothing that are being packed away for the time being should be wrapped in sheets of newspaper, a sheet being placed between each fold of cloth or fur. Pieces of orange peel which have been dried in the oven and cut in slices should be. placed between the folds with the newspaper.

Meths lay eggs in all sorts of queer places, and the space that often exists between the skirting and the floor, and the crevice running along the top of the picture rail, are places seldom suspected. See that these likely breeding places arc well washed and constantly dusted. Many people imagine that moths are exterminated by cold. This is not so, although stul'fj rooms arc more, likely to become the habitation of this pest than those which are frequently aired, washed, and scrubbed. —An exchange.