MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 May 1937, Page 9

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OF. INTEREST

HARTNELL’S HALLMARKS.

HATS AND FROCKS.

I Criticism o£ Norman Hartnell’s I Coronation collection, shown this week, was not given until the end, which is reserved nowadays for Court and Coronation gowns (writes Betty Wilson, in the “Sydney Morning Herald” from London on May 9). Hartnell showed two—both longsleeved, high-necked, extremely severe, and extremely grand. The swing away from evening gowns with a deep decolletage was interesting . and significant, remembering that the. Queen chose Hartnell to design many of the gowns which she will wear during the Coronation season. The gowns he designed for her were dignified but discreet in line. Norman Hartnell seldom alters his standard names for his gowns; prefers to supplement them, if necessary, and always prefers small type to capital letters in his programmes: *haut monde” was none the less grand for not being given capital letters. It was of exquisite lace patterned with .the'rose, the thistle, the shamrock, and the leek, a design which the Queen has chosen for one of her gowns. The white lace was outlined with gold thread and tiny gold sequins. The round neck was cut no lower than the neck of a most discreet i dinner frock; the sleeves were wrist length and bell-shaped. With this gown, the mannequin wore a tiara of diamonds and three strands of pearls. His second Court gown, “holding

court,” was cut on much the same lines, high neck, longjsleeves. It was made of chiffon, covered so closely with microscopic opalescent beads that they looked as if they had been woven into the material. Wheatears, again reminiscent of the design which the Queen chose for the embroidery which will glisten on her six train bearers’ white frocks, were embroidered in tiny silver beads at intervals on the bodice and on the slim, straight skirt. DESIGNED FOR ASCOT.

Norman Hartnell’s grey lisse Ascot frock, “dove-tail” he aptly called it, was perfect. Made of pale dove grey lisse, it had' a high neck with a demure turn-down collar. The dovetailing came in in the intricacy of diagonal tucks. The adorable little hat which went with it was a.s flat as a soup-plate; worn perched forward over one eye. Its crown was dovered with hum-ming-bird sized birds made of grey and soft pink feathers. Elis navy blue lisse frock with its white bird at the throat, matching the white, bird' which swooped forwards on the flat crown of the matching hat, will probably repeat “dovetaiEs” success. Another black crepe romaine frock, worn with a black coat printed with marguerites, had the authentic Hartnell touch in its stiff white Organdie collar which had little organdie marguerites appliqued round the edge. All these intricacies of detail, these splendours of embroidery, hall-mark a Hartnell dress. He seems to be able to find the best flowers in all London. He throws a handful of simple primroses on a sophisticated frock to achieve ultra-sophistication. His tucked crepe romaine evening gown, “citron,” in that curious yellowgreen colour, had a cluster of primroses in exactly the same colour tucked in front of the bodice. They were arranged so that they showed at the of the coat which went with the rfock—a magnificent, fullskirted coat made of white and silver brocade, belted’ with brilliants and finished with a deep collar of soft white fox.

His printed Ascot frock was made of chiffon printed with enormous blue and pink orchids; a handful of orchids was thrust into the softly draped sash; another Ascot frock was made of chiffon printed with blue and rose coloured poppies with an enormous cluster of matching poppies pinned at the waist. And, in contrast to his Court gowns, he showed a sort of night club frock; called it “boite de nuit.” The extremely low-cut frock was made of shiny black sequins, its coral pink sequin jacket was belted with jade green sequins and worn with a jade green chiffon scarf tied Ascot fashion. His hats were charming, frivolous affairs. For suits and simple frocks he often showed shallow-crowned, wide-brimmed hats of felt, encircled with a double strand of matching cord. For more elaborate afternoon frocks the shallow crowns still persisted. A narrow-brimmed hat of black lacquered straw had the crown covered with shiny lacquered fruit in different colours. An enormous sailor hat with an upturned brim went with his orchid-printed chiffon frock. POWDERED APPLES. USE IN BABIES’ DIET. New possibilities for the apple have been opened up by experiments begun in Germany, and now being continued in the University of Oregon Medical .School, U.S.A., writes the Agricultural Correspondent of the “News-Chron-icle.”

It has been found that an apple powder can be made which loses few of the properties of the original fruit, and is particularly well adapted for mixture, with cows’ milk to benefit infants and young people. It provides uronic acid to destroy toxins in the body, speeds up the digestive processes, eliminates organisms that cause disease and may reduce the high death-rate of children under two years of age. This death-rate, it has been thought, is caused by lack of acid in the stomach in summer, and by respiratory infections in winter. Apple powder, which -will not be put out as a patent food, but in doctor’s prescriptions, may become the most important item in the nursery medicine chest, and the old saw nitty have to be changed to: “Apple powder makes mothers prouder.”

MUCH CHIC ON LITTLE MONEY.

THE WAY IN PARIS

“The chic appearance of French women—even when the'y have. to dress on small means—is due to what style suits their particular type, and in not being satisfied with near-niatches in colours,” said Mrs F. Aarons, when she returned from abroad recently, after spending nearly a year in England and on the Continent (states the “Sydney Morning Herald”). “The French woman chooses, with the help of ah experienced assistant, powder and rouge suitable for her colouring or to match a. particular frock. “I have seen this exemplified in Paris,” continued Mrs Aarons, “by a girl wearing a Peter Pan collar of clipped pink feathers and with a red chiffon scarf twisted around her neck. ■ Her face was pink to match the collar, and her lips red to match the scarf. A second instance was a woman who was wearing a beige scarf patterned in red and black. The colours of the scarf were perfectly reproduced in her make-up, for she used a beige powder, which formed a background for her scarlet lips and black eyebrows and hair. “Eyelids are shaded to match the frock being worn. A violet frock requires violet eyelids and a green frock green eyelids,” added Mrs Aarons.

NEW WAYS WITH SCARVES. “One of the more daring ideas sponsored by the Parisian women,” said Mrs Aarons, “is the wearing of flowers tucked into their coat pockets instead of pinned in lapels. A new way- of wearing a scarf is to thrust it into a pocket and have the ends hanging out, and pin a. brooch matching the scarf in the lapel. “Just now French designers are making a great effort to bring colour into women’s clothes. While I was on the Riviera I saw one woman wearing a turquoise blue suit with a cerise hat —both the shades were new and looked glorious. A new range of colours for the spring includes a soft duillishi yellow fawnbeige, rose-beige, and pale-blue with a greenish tinge. “Molyneux now rejects! black for

navy blue, with pouches of white, cut on simple lines for day wear. For evening he chooses crinoline skirts with voluminous wraps, sometimes of transparent material. Lanvin shows puffed sleeves still, and embroidered boleros without sleeves. Worth sponsors full sleeves. for evening dresses and bouffant sleeves for printed coats. Maggy, Rouff clothes suggest the Tfyrol. Trains are out, and dresses are being worn to the ground or just below the calf of the leg for dancing. “I do not agree that Parisian designers are being outdone by those in London,” added Mrs Aarons.

THE DAILY DOZEN.

EXERCISE AND SLIMNESS.

Slimness in maidens seems- so natural a thing to an older generation in whom curves wore appreciated that it is taken for granted as having come into being of its own accord, states an exchange. While it is l true that less stuffy food is eaten and that breakfast is nowadays at a. discount, it is l not altogether realised that the slimmest of maidens work very hard indeed at their figures and that it is- not entirely based on orange juice. Diet counts, and self-denial is exercised in the interest of vanity, but every form of exercise is added to this, ranging from squash to pedalling with the feet in the air. Series of gramophone exercises aid many people to keep up what is a rather arduous habit and one which, like piano practice, to miss is to court disaster. It is of no use merely to get through the daily dozen. Heart and soul have to be behind them, so that when muscles are stretched and superfluous fat is to be removed it can be done with the utmost thoroughness. Many people, 'therefore, who simply cannot bear merely to lie on their backs day after day and endeavour to rise without lifting their heels'take to the more strenuous forms of dancing, do ballet exercises which really mean work, or tap-dancing, which also is calculated to keep the figure trim. Ballet exercises take hold of those muscles and sinews at the backs of the legs and persecute them into doing something of what they are told. The really exercised person should bo able to sit. on the ground with her legs straight out and to touch her knee with her forehead without raising that knee one iota from the ground. There arc those who can do it; more who find it impossible until they have broken down resistance bystanding. placing one leg on the back of a chair, and then bending their foreheads to it. These arc much more exciting than the usual exercises, and many people have taken to a great weariness of the flesh to prevent a greater weariness of the spirit.

REWARDS FOR HOUSEWIVES. Good housekeeping—long extolled in Germany—has now been accorded official reward, says a correspondent. All efficient, housewives there who have fulfilled certain conditions arc, in future, to be given the title of ‘Master of Household Economy.’ To attain this distinction the housewives must be over the age of 24. and they must have conducted their own households for five years, including the running of accounts, and have taken a special course in household duties lasting two years. The course includes training in such household duties as dusting, sweeping. polishing, laundry, ironing, sewing. furnishing, cooking, hygiene, education of children, training of maids —the Nazi ideology. More than 700 German women have already fulfilled these conditions, and have been granted 'the new title, which enables them io train young girls to be “perfect" maids.