THE FEMININE TOUCH.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4804, 30 June 1939, Page 3

THE FEMININE TOUCH.

FURNISHING THE HOME. Every woman loves pretty thing's, not only to wear, but to have about her in her daily surroundings, at home, or in the office. Austere and masculine furnishings are all very well in their way, but no one will deny that “the touch of a woman’s hand” will make all the difference to creating a home out of a house. Nowadays home decorating is considered one of the arts, and at the present moment home decorators are turning again to the best of the pretty things which our mothers and grandmothers cherished and displayed in their homes. For a while nothing was acceptable unless it was “modern,” but with designers so often consciously striving after effect, our eyes soon became weary of garish colours and restless patterns. During the last few years, however, there has been a revival in popularity of what five or six years ago, we would have despised as “oldfashioned.” *The cubist designs have gone (for which let us offer a prayer of thanks) and in their place have come again the graceful and charming floral designs beloved by our mothers and grandmothers. And these floral designs are so feminine they enhance the charm of any woman’s house. There is a cycle in such fashions, of course. Not so long ago our taste favoured the very plain—plain walls, plain hair styles, plain fashions. But now our taste is turning again to femininity, and with Edwardian hairstyles, frilly and fluffy dresses, we are reverting to “pretty things.” Graceful period furniture is coming into its own again—ousting the “stream-lined” furniture which captured our imaginations for a while. Housewives who are lucky enough to have period pieces stored away in attics and spare rooms are bringing them out again, dusting them, and polishing them, and giving them honoured places in their households. Even the family silver, heavily ornamented and once despised, is shining again on the family board—and this in spite of the fact that servants are hard to come by and the silver with its scrolls and medallions and monograms, not the easiest to clean. To match. the furniture and the silver, old cloths, old china, and old draperies are enjoying a return to favour. Or, if they are not old, faithful replicas of old and lovely things are playing their part in recreating the pleasantly feminine atmosphere that means so much to the making of a home. With the return to popularity of Edwardian favourites has come a revival of some of the crafts so well executed during that period. Tapestry, petit point, and fine crochet work are all in vogue again, and many beautiful old designs are being made once more. Perhaps Queen Elizabeth’s well known and active interest in beautiful needlework has had something to do with the revival of these gentler arts—or maybe it is just the swing of the pendulum. But certain it is, the pretty things of the days before yesterday are back again, and are making our home life the pleasanter for their reappearance.