MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 August 1935, Page 9

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OF INTEREST

SAY IT WITH FLOWERS FASHIONS IN DANCE FROCKS Flowers at the waist, flowers -round the corsage, a posy on one shoulder, a nosegay tucked into the belt- —all these are features of the new season’s dance frocks (writes a London correspondent). There is nothing formal nor heavy about these floral decorations. Blossoms may be huge, quite large enough, in fact, to cover almost the entire front of the corsage, but they are extremely dainty, and the materials used for them are as delicate and filmy as a wisp of chiffon. Introducing flowers to outline the corsage of a gown has led to what is now known as the “window-box fashion.” The square decollete of a gown has laid round it a whole collection of fairly large blooms—camellias and gardenias are favourites—and these stand out somewhat and give quite the effect of a windowbox on a small scale. Trails of blooms laid flat, are arranged over one shoulder and brought round to the centre of the corsage; others are draped round the waist, the flowers lying flat and little tendrils of foliage hanging in an uneven line below them; and there are small sleeves in some of the frocks made entirely of petals sewn one alongside the other until the net foundation upon which they are mounted is entirely covered. A posy of small white blooms is often seen on the left shoulder of a frock, the petals resting upon the bare arm, while another one to match it is tucked into the waistbelt on the right side. For the most part flowers match the dress in colour. At one time only white or a very pale pastel pink was considered correct; but now blue flowers appear on a blue frock, green on . green, and so on, and there is quite a vogue for blossoms twisted from a strip of silver tissue to brighten a black gown. Dark dresses are invariably brightened in some way this season. Few all-black gowns are worn, but the colour is introducted, in an inconspicuous way or, rather, as though it were part of the scheme and not added as an afterthought. The favourite way of blending a colour with black or navy blue is by means of linings. The skirt of a black taffeta dinner gown will be lined with scarlet at the hem and then drawn up by means of gathers in one or two places. The uneven hfimline which. results means that the red linin gis visible at either side or at the back and front. Sleeves have beautiful linings, which easily become the feature of the whole gown. Most dinner dresses of to-day are made with quite wide sleeves and the flowing draperies between elbow and wrist are lined with flame colour, bright scarlet, tangerine, or a lovely tone of jade. Sometimes the sleeves are slashed in order that the linings may be more easily seen, but, generally speaking, they are cut so that the flame colour or scarlet is visible every time the arms are moved. Little sleeves in a black frock are frequently lined with colour, also, and then slashed from shoulder to hem so that this lining may be seen. There is still a fancy for very soft shell pink, and the palest possible tone of turquoise blue, on black, these pastel shades being used for the most part on chiffon georgette, or some other soft, filmy material. The rich tones are reserved for the heavier materials, and especially for satin. Brightly coloured slippers match the sleeve linings, and are very effective with black. A black afternoon frock which had scarlet allied with it in the form of a scarf collar of satin radiant was made with a most unusual front skirt panel. At first glance it appeared to be a floating affair not fastened in any way to the rest of the gown, but it was, in fact, stitched, quite high up, to the sides of the rest of the skirt, which, to all intents and purposes, was like a wide apron turned back to front. There was a little fullness, which was gathered into a narrow band, and this band hid the join between skirt and bodice at the back. At the centre front two strands of black satin ribbon were fastened to it and these were tied in a flat bow, just as apron strings might be.

WOMEN LEARN TO WALK. Women are paying hundreds of pounds to London dancing academies —to learn how to walk. They are striding into elegance at tho cost o£ from £5 to £25, in order to learn the secret, of the perfect carriage, which is required by the new flowing skirt fashions’ ■‘Women have lost the art of walk ing,” a “walking instructor” said. "The big hat and wide skirt vogue which the Duchess of Kent has launched for summer society events has revealed the ugly slouch which modern women hai’e developed. "Society fashion leaders are now coming to us for private lessons in deportment. They arc ready to pay practically anything to acquire a graceful walk."

“MISS AMERICA’S” ESTIMATE. DRESSING ON £52 A YEAR. Compared with her English sister, the American working woman earns more money and spends more on clothes. A complete wardrobe for the average American young woman was recently on display at the Industrial Arts Exposition in New York. It was assembled to fit the purse and requirements of a woman of 21 earning £5 a week, and sharing at flat with another woman, . “Miss America’s’’ annual dress allowance is put at £52. Her wardrobe included:

An evening dress and summer and winter afternoon dresses costing approximately £3/10/- each. A summer office dress costing £3 10/-, and a winter office dress at £3. A spring coat at £6/17/6, and a spring suit at £3. Four pairs of shoes ranging in price from 15/- to 25/- a pair, four hats costing from 6/6 to 30/- each, and £5 worth of stockings.

Four handbags costing 11/6 each, two girdles at 14/- each, and underwear costing 15/-. Two or three washable summer dresses are included at a total cost of 25/-, while the wardrobe also includes ,a skirt, two pullovers, two blouses and four pairs of gloves. This typical American woman is not provided with a winter coat, evening wrap or summer sports coat under the allowance of £52. It is assumed she had these left over from the year before. Similarly it is assumed that some of the items in her wardrobe, such as her spring coat and some of her dresses, can be used the following year. For cigarettes “Miss America’s” budget includes the sum of £4 a year, which in America will buy her three packets, each containing 20 cigarettes, a week.

TWINE GLOVE MASSAGE Beauty culture is so serious an in stitution nowadays that, whereas the application merely of powder years ago was a shameful thing and to be hid, its non-application is to-day the crime, and a vast number of people feel unclothed without a good many other applications as well, states the “Manchester Guardian.” But while make-up in general is at bottom suggestive not of the golden but of the primitive age, and while our black and brown brothers set a fashion which we copy now in principle if not in detail, there is at least far more stress laid upon cleanliness, massage, exercise, and all those institutions which keep one in condition. No horse is more groomed than the average young woman, and, while he is made to shine and she is preferably dulled or dimmed, the idea is the same. With regard to massage, there is the foreign habit of frictioning, for which one pays unduly abroad if one adds it to- the haircut. Friction means that rub with a rough towel or a loofah which is suggested by the more breezy film stars. It treats chiefly with skin, and the good rub all over the body is pleasant and healthy for the skin. Some people do it with a loofah strap, some only with the towel.

A neat idea is a string glove. This must be made of stiff and rough string, the sort of twine with which the heavier parcels are tied up. It can ! be easily made on ordinary glove lines, with only a thumb, like those worn by babies. The string is knitted on four needles ,and, but for the divergence of the thumb, is only a cylinder tapering off at the top like the toe of a sock. The string is rather hard to work with, but as it is thick the work is soon done, and a formidable weapon is made for dealing with the skin after the bath. The twine glove has the advantage over the loofah strap in that it can be worked with one hand and is a good deal more flexible.

AMERICAN SCHOOLGIRLS.

EXPENDITURE ON COSMETICS

Some engaging observations on tho school pupils of Wellington and a frank comparison with those of the United States were made by two American school teachers who, after a characteristic hustle round the schools of the capital city, went on in the Makura to Sydney, in the course of a holiday. They were Miss M. N. O’Connor, of Newark, New Jersey, and Miss E. M. Waterman, of South Pasadena, California. “I was deeply impresesd with the ruggedness and glowing health of your schoolgirls,” said Miss O’Connor, "The complexions of your girls arc just wonderful. Our high school girls arc all made up with cosmetics; yours don’t seem to use them while at school. Our girls look theatrical; they aro all done up with red lipstick and rouge, and the only way to tell if an American schoolgirl has a complexion is to see her after her morning bath.” “That is not altogether true of California,” Miss Waterman protested. Miss O’Connor went into details: — •‘American girls from 12 years upward pluck their eyebrows, pencil their faces so as to alter their expressions, and tint their fingernails. They copy film stars, whose every foible they like to adopt.” Miss Waterman admitted that the proximity of her high school to Hollywood did not diminish the difficulties of the dean in stamping out the cosmetic habit. Her strongest ally was tho depression, which tended to reduce expenditure by girls on cosmetics. Before the slump it was hard to make the American student get down to serious study; they used to have their own automobiles standing in tho college precincts, and spent a lot of money on dress. "That brings mo to the uniform, which I saw at your colleges,” said Miss Waterman. "How nice your boys and girls look in their uniforms. In most of-our high schools the young people wear ordinary dress, and the children of loss well-to-do parents suffer by comparison with the richer ones."

"The depression has cured most of that," said Miss O’Connor. "The depression has done good to the American school child.”

C ONCE R NIN G TEAPOTS. This may throw light on the origin of the teapot. Tea was first introduced into England in the seventeenth century, and was at that time made in ordinary tall coffee pot l. Later these became shorter and wider, and were made with curved spouts, instead of straight spouts. They then became known as teapots. Tea being very scarce, and also expensive (30/- to 35/- a lb.l, teapot - were small. During the eighteenth ccnturv —the golden age ot pottetj making in England—teapots weie made in curious shapes. The mo: t popular were the camel, cow, swan, and elephant, the tail ot the animal forming the handle, the tea being poured from tin.' mouth. At the beginning of Queen \ ictoria. s reign tea became much cheaper, so teapots became larger and rounder. The ambition of every housewife was to own a silver teapot.

Although tea is the oldest beverage in the world, the origin of the teapot as w t . know it is comparatively recent. It comes from China In the T ang Dx nasty tOlk-t'lG A.D.i cover'd bowls were used for infusing tea, the cover when slightly tilted allowing the tea to flow out. but holding back the leaves. Teapots with spouts were a novelty of the Yuan Dynasty (12S013671. They became part of the ritual

of lea drinking in every Chinese household, and were made of the beautiful porcelain for which China is famous. In the Salting collection at tho Victoria and Albert Museum there is a lovely peach-shaped teapot in porcelain of the K’ang-shi period (If>62-17221.