MAINLY FOR WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 September 1939, Page 9

MAINLY FOR WOMEN

ITEMS OF INTEREST

VICTORIAN FASHIONS. MODERN INTERPRETATIONS What exactly constitutes the Victorian in fashions is a moot point. Wc do know, though, that flowers and ‘frills, curls and chignons, every feminine foible short of swooning, flourishes again. For this reason alone it is well worth while to contemplate tin modes of the last century and especially those worn in the sixty gloriout years of Queen Victoria’s reign. This period covers a diversity ol changes, for not only did the crino line hold sway for several decades, but it was eventually succeeded by the bustle, which grew and had its being in the last 20 years of the century. Contrary to general belief, the vogue for poke bonnets, macassar-oiled ringlets, and tiny mouselike feet does not imply more than the phases of fashion that were in evidence when Queen Victoria was young and to which her name will be given to the end of time Ten years ago the vogue for the Victorian, as we now know it, was an un-heard-of-thing. Wax flowers, antimacassars, red plush, and yellow fringe were as despised as were the overloaded draperies and Highland cattle paintings. The desire for purity ol line in fashion and furnishing found expression in feminine apparel ol amazing brevity and severity, while houses, both inside and out, were streamlined to represent the utmost in utility. Veneer and ornamentation were handed lightly for a time, and there were those people who regarded any superfluous elaboration with contempt as being the height of ugliness. It is true that a certain amount of Victoria nisms were obtained by the meaningless overloading of already poor designs. But there was something rather charming in the overcrowded decorativeness of the era that is being revived to-day in fashions and furnishings. What we are now calling Vic‘torian is really as much responsible to the Baroque as it is to the nineteenth century. With modern industrialisation, the process of changing fashions has been speeded up to such an extent that a *£rock or a room designed in the height 'of style one year will be quite dated the next. ‘ In Victorian times the crinoline was favoured for many, many years before it was finally ousted by the bustle which in its turn was popular over a ■ long period of time. Last year crinolines were again reinstated with a large proportion of their former importance. Now this year we have followed through the cycle in one jump by discarding the crinoline and demanding the Edwardian bustle. The modern bustled evening dress is essentially a provocation for more feminism in fashion, accenting, as it does, the bust and hips while apparently reducing the waist to a mere 'nothing. The Sarah Bernhardt “Polonaise” frock is to be another favourite . type. The bustle outline is achieved with bows, panniers, and draped loops, while the Polonaise has a flatter, more draped movement, that becomes the 'older woman especially. Poke bonnets are another steal from the Victorian, and, massed with flowers, do look most charming albeit worn with modern coiffures. The Victorian in the modern home ?s treated with the contemporary loye of all that is light, spacious, and practical. The dark, sombre draperies are relegated to the past, but valances, flouncings, edged with jigging fringe, slipper chairs and dainty dimity curtains, ■ornate vases and stiff little arrangeiments of flowers are penetrating into 'the most modern homes again just as trank feminity has taken the fashion world by force.

FOUNDATION GARMENTS. The new foundations try more and more to give you a waist—to define you. They let this new waistline run into moderate curves below the waist: high, wide and handsome ones above. But they do not leave you as hourglass as you might expect; for they do not give you the old pouter-pigeon bosom, but divide, lift and point the poitrine to bring it closer to the Hollywood idea of glamour than anything. They flatten the rear to the English taste. And while they are at their best in controlettes, they also run to something new and interesting in separate brassiere and stepins, cut rather higher than they were and lined across the front with that excellent fabric boning. They mould the figure through the waist perfectly—and' they’ve got a list of other virtues too. One is the way in which they take care to let you breathe in the, very best approved modern style; another the room they do really allow at last for the bosom —the thing being that under the new clothes one needs all the bosom one can get. For an extra fillip for spring, the spring of lastretch is in everything from satin to cairo cloth (that cloth that locks like fine linen, and wears like it too—cool and clean for Summer). And there are some very new corset materials—matched perfectly in skintex too, so that the whole of one’s foundation matches right through from skintex back and lastretch sides to non-stretch front. You would never suspect they were actually differentpurpose- fabrics until you. discover one stretches this way, another that, and one has inwoven bands to do the work of bones. Stardust, twinkle, starsheen . . they have names like that . . . and they look exactly as you would expect with such lovely names.

TOWEL CAPE Nothing is more irritating than to find soap and water trickling down one’s neck during the delicate business of shampooing the hair. An ordinary towel is usually too bulky to use, and its ends slip into tho water and cause, more trouble than ever. The solution of the problem is a dinky little cape- made from a small, rough towel. Fold it in two, cut circle in the middle and slit it down Hie front. Hemstitch all round your cut edges, attach tapes at the neck, and the cape is ready for wear. Do not use too big a towel. A small eno costing about sixpence will do admirably.

FANCY CAKES. TWO GOOD MIXTURES. Small cakes arc much cheaper when made at home than when bought, if a good foundation mixture is prepared first, different finishing touches can be given later, and a large number of cakes for a birthday party or bridge evening arc made at little Cost. Here arc two mixtures which arc cx.cellent for this typo of cake, states the ''■Manchester Guardian.” (a) AVhisk four ounces of castor sugar with three eggs. Put the basin over a pan of hot water and whisk for ten minutes. Melt two ounces of margarine or butter without oiling it .and whisk into the rest. Remove from the heat and wjiisk for another few minutes while it cools. Lightly fold in three ounces of well-dried flour gifted with a pinch of salt. Pour into t» shallow tin lined with greased paper, and bake in a moderate oven for about half an hour. (b) Cream together two ounces of butter or margarine with four ounces of castor sugar. Separate the yolks from the whites of two eggs, and beat in the yolks well. Beat in four ounces of flour sifted with a pinch of salt. Whisk the whites of the eggs to a sfiff froth and fold lightly in without beating again. Put in the greased tin, find bake in a moderate oven until firm. Both these mixtures can be baked in small tins. Double the quantity makes a good number of cakes. They can be finished off in many ways. If baked ill a flat tin, cut into squares or fin gers. Cover with pink icing, r ’and sprinkle with chopped pistachio nuts. Or cover with coffee butter icing and roll in chopped browned almonds. Or slit in two, spread with jam, and put the pieces together, then cover with icing. Or put a soft marzipan mixture between the slit pieces with a .thin layer of jam to make it stick. If baked in small tins, cut off the tops, scoop out a little of the inside, and fill with jam and whipped cream.

ANTI-MOTH CAMPAIGN Spring cleaning should have cleared the house of any possibility of moths, for what they liked most arc dust, darkness, and lack of disturbance. There arc many preparations now obtainable for keeping one’s possessions free of moth during the summer. Fumigant paper which is 30 times as strong as naphthaline can be bought in discs of 3Jin. diameter for scattering among clothes in drawers and cupboards, or the papr-''’ can be bought in continuous rolls. All smell will go from clothes so treated by an hour’s airing. Cedar paper can be bought for lining drawers and cupboards and so keeping them clear of moths. There is a pine tar paper for the same purpose which can be bought in large sheets and is useful, therefore, for rolling up carpets or curtains to be put away for the summer, as well as fur coats and heavy clothing. A moth-killing liquid is sold in bottles with spray for using it, or an outfit can be bought with a bottle of dry cleaner for removing stains and greasemarks from' clothes before putting them away—a bottle of liquid and a bulb spray. Packets of scented powder made from flowers and pine trees can be used to keep clothes free of moths, or a special powder put up in sprinkler containers for use on carpets, upholstery, and tapestry. In additions to these preventives there is a big selection of inexpensive chests, cupboards, bags, and boxes for storing clothes in the summer.

THE LATEST DRESS TRICKS Have you ever considered any of these dress tricks —just picking out one notion or two to freshen up your looks? Have you thought what a gay tartan-silk ribbon, about 4in. wide can do bunched up in the front of a little jhat you find dull? You can match it with narrow tartan ribbons sewn to your gloves and tied in a bow at the back of the wrist. Have you noticed the -wideshouldered styles with tiny waists and wide skirts with feather or fur-edged capelets? When you saw Merle Oberon ■in “Wuthering Heights,” you saw a perfect example in striped green silk with the hem stiffened by green velvet, 'a very short but wide shoulder-cape of green velvet and a hood to it, edged with lace ruffles. Girls are wearing them now to parties in stiffened net or eyelet-hole muslin. They give you a sort of drop-shouldered look, the kind of look an old-fashioned dolman cloak had.

Have you noticed, too, that just as girls are giving up the platinum blonde look and taking again to darker .hair, furs are getting more and more platinum blonde? If you are buying tfurs and want to look fashionable, buy a pale and not a dark wrap or scarf. Platinum, is the best-liked shade, then .auburn, but some have silver hairs /mixed in with the red, and they are called “auburn gold.”

PARQUET FLOORS. Parquet flooring has a charm all its own. There is no denying, however, that it is rather a trial to keep it looking at its best, particularly during the Winter months when muddy feel and dog’s paws vie with each other in covering every inch of it. Parquet, of course, should not be washed, but paraffin oil will do the job thoroughly for you. Paraflin, while excellent for cleaning purposes, leaves the floor looking whitish, which naturally docs not improve the look of it. The next step, therefore, in the beauty treatment of parquet flooring is to apply linseed oil sparingly, but seeing that it is well rubbed into the wood. The oil feeds the wood, and while giving il a rich appearance it alj-o brings up the hidden lights hero and there which arc so attractive. A pa i o.net floor treated in this 4at rune a. week and in. the meantime polished in the ordinary way wiih a mop will add a great deal to the ,n|. tractive appearance of any room or ball, while at. the same time, the actual wood of the flood will benefit wonderfully from the oil treatment.