NOTES FOR WOMEN.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 315, 26 November 1910, Page 6

NOTES FOR WOMEN.

[" Patricia " will be pleased to give advice to readers on all matters concerning dress, house-keeping, etiquette and the toilet. Write, giving pseudonym, care of this office.] Wellington, Tuesday. Dear Isobel, —All this week we have been rejoiced with the sight of no less than three men o' war laying out in the bay. Even to people who know nothing about ships, nor the men on board them there, is a great fascination about the grim grey hulls from which the long guns project like huge fangs, surmounted by the mazes of ropes aloft, among which the wireless installation is a prominent feature now. It is a particularly fine sight when the weather is good to see the great length of the flagship "Powerful" lighted up in the evening, and to see the constant flick-flick of the Morse lamps against the dark back--1 ground of the hills. 5 From Morse lights to muslins seems ; to be a long step, but after all I always think that cne sees far more pretty dresses in town when a wari ship is in than one usually notices, ; and this visit is no exception to the : general rule. I have seen quite a j number of "hobble" skirts in town j this last week, and I am more than ' ever struck with their absolute hidei ousness. The only thing about a mode 1 like this is that it foredooms itself by its own ugliness, and the woman has yet to be found who can wear such a skirt with either comfort or grace. When looking through the latest i French fashion papers I often think how our grand-children will laugh at some of the fashions c.f the present day. We ourselves are very amused • nowadays at the enormous headi dresses and crinolines of olden times, but when one comes to think about the matter, one wonders if they were one whit more ridiculous, if as ridiculous, as the fashionable "swathed turbans" which, completely covering the i head and hair of the wearer, make | her appear as if suddenly disturbed in the midst of washing her hair, or the before-mentioned "hobble skirt" in which it is impossible to do anything except waddle about with the none-too-becoming gait of the despised duck. The only banded-in skirts that I have liked at all were made very ! Jong and trailing, of the softest and richest ninon over charmeuse, the encircling band round the ankles being of reasonable width and of the handsomest embroidery or heavy jewelled fabrics. Of course a gown like this would be absurd anywhere but in a drawing room or at a ball, and could never be worn, even if adapted as to materials, etc., on the street. I was shown a fresh batch of summer hats recently, and was struck by the great change in style that has crept into hats and their trimmings parctically unnoticed during the last few weeks. I am very much enamoured of a new straw that I have seen a good deal of lately. It is a very fine make of straw almost resembling a Leghorn, of a pure chalk white, with a dull powdered looking surface quite different from anything we have worn for some years. Hats of this straw have nearly always a wide band of the same material in black round the under edge of the brim to accent the former's whiteness, and give the necessary touch of black required on almost everything this season. One such hat that quite took my fancy was trimmed with wide loops of black tulle fastened with a big oblong buckle of cut jet, and finished at the right side of the front with a long drooping bunch of pure white wheat-ears and white grasses, the former beautifully manufactured from fine silk and white velvet. Another hat of something the same type had huge bows of 'black tulle at the back and two black ostrich feathers coming over the crown towards the front and touching the brim at each side of the quaint "Charlotte Cordey" peak, This hat was lined with no less than three different material*, first the band of black straw, then a band of black lace and lastly finely drawn black tulle. All these were put directly over the white straw, and the whole effect was light arid beautiful. Among other pretty hats that I noticed was a large grey-green model, a fine glossy straw this time, trimmed with an upstanding feather mount of all shades from dark green and grey to a lovely pastel pink, and even a little mauve in it to give the peculiar washed out appearance so much seen this year. The flat feather mounts I speak of, are really quite a novelty this year and when they are good they are decidedly smart. This particular example had the feathers along the upper edge set upright like an Indian's headdress, but was so delightfully soft and pliable that it was robbed of the slightest suggestion of stiffness. Sometimes they are made up to resemble wings and are used at one side of the hat only, but in most cases (the hat I mention is one) they go from one edge of the

brim right across to the other with a graceful sweeping bend over the crown, which, by the way, can only be seen from behind as the feathers are of sufficient height to hide the front completely. I have noticed a deeded tendency in some of the very newest English and French fashion papers to urge a return to the wide revers that were worn for a time a few years ago. This style, which has really not penetrated to New Zealand yet, is quite charming if cleverly managed. I heard of one dress which had a wide collar, square at the back folded on the shoulders in a fairly wide pleat which was allowed to fall loose again at the bust, the front edges of the revers had the pretty old "waterfall" effect, and came right down in a gradually tapering line to below the waist line. The long flat collars if arranged with care are pretty generally becoming to both stout and slim women, to the former it gives the necessary length of waist in front and to the latter any desired width of shoulder and chest that may be lacking. As this is really so new as to be practically unknown out here I will have to watch events and write more fully on the matter, later on in the season, when, I think, it is probable that long coats of "drap supple" and velvet will have these wide revers coming almost down to the foot of furs and rich embroidery.

Ever since coming out to New Zealand I have preached the further use of the lovely pawa shell on all kinds of art work, and I was pleased to see the other day that a lady out here is now using it in place of tha usual antique copper and enamel on all kinds of beautiful leather work. One lovely leatherblotter had a dignified renaissance design tooled on it, in the centre of which was inset an oval piece of the iridescent shell. I have often cut and filed it into shape myself, and used it with good effect on embroidered book-covers and such like trifles, but I was more than ever struck by its beauty when placed on a dark background of dull leather or suede. As the shell is comparatively eisy to cut with an old pair of scissors and a small file, there is a wide field opened up for the girl who can adapt ideas to her own requirements. The shell can be either bored with tiny holes at the edge and sewn down with strong thread, or, if the surface to which it is to be applied is hard and flat, it is quite possible to fix it securely with a touch of strong glue or china cement. I have seen a good deal of pawa shell used in new art jewellery instead of imported mother o' pearl, and on the whole I think I prefer it; as if the shell is well chosen for its colour and marking it has a much better effect with fine enamel than the whiteness of the pearl shell. There have been quite a number of new books by well-known authors published lately. Rider Haggard has a good story of the adventure something after the style of "She," which is being greatly read at present. Mrs K. C. Thurston, the clever authoress of "John Chilcote, M.P.," has recently published a novel under the name of "Max," which I am told is very clever. Both the Bensona have new novels out this season, neither of which I have read yet, but which I believe are as good as these authors' books usually are. The Askews have written yet another story of South African life in "The Rod of Justice," which is on the whole rather disappointing after their earlier effort "The Shulimite," but I suppose the consequence of writing a clever novel is that one is expected to never do anything different, or under the level of the first. —Yours faithfully, PATRICIA.