LUCKY BLUE

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6859, 14 March 1929, Page 11

LUCKY BLUE

No matter what may be tko new shade favoured by the fashion designers as each season comes round, in practice blue always manages to creep in somowhere (says a Manchester Evening News writer). The name may be changed, but under whatever fancy title it may bo known, it is still our old friend. According to ancient belief blue is the lucky colour, which may account for its continued popularity, even in these days.

The tradition of blue as a fortunate shade goes back to the dim ages, almost, in fact, before history. Mummies of the earliest Egyptian eras are still found adorned with. blue bead necklaces and amulets. Indeed, the primitive belief of many tribes and races, that the abode of the gods and the blessed ones is beyond the sky, has another bearing on the subject. Blue is a very favourite colour with the, youn'ger members of our English Eoyal family. It will be remembered that when Princess Mary was a bride ail England, not to mention America, went crazy over “Mary blue?’ raiment and dress adjuncts because that was the Eoyal' bride’s favourite shade. Then, when “Mary blue” was forgotten came the betrothal of the Duke of York, and most women wondered what the Lady Elizabeth’s fancy was in this respect. Lo ,and behold, it was blue once' more. Not of quite the same tone as that of her future sister-in-law, but blue without a doubt. Then “Betty blue” was all the rage, and has, with variations, been in demand ever since.

It is rather curious that green should have exactly the reverse reputation, but the fact remains that green is unlucky. Its influence is supposed to be baneful. One legend has it that it is the colour beloved of the inhabitants of Fairyland, who are jealous if mere mortals dare to don it, and so visit the hapless humans with all sorts of misfortunes as a punishment for their presumption in wearing “the fairies' fatal green” as the poet terms it.