ITEMS OF INTEREST IN FASHION

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 11 March 1933, Page 9

ITEMS OF INTEREST IN FASHION

STRIPED EFFECTS Women will no longer look nt anything made of or trimmed with spotted material, but they are still in love witii stripes, so long as the stripes are used smartly. Some very attractive little house frocks are 'made of fine striped wool, combined with crepe de chine to match. There may be a plain circular or wrapped skirt and a tiny fitted jacket of the wool with a blouse of the silk. There may be a high corselet wool skirt, meeting a pretty little pouched silk blouse. Again, the skirt may be carried up with pointed shoulder straps into a pinafore arrangement, with the silk blouse just showing through the V opening. I have also seen a whole frock of striped crepe de chine, worn with a fitted jacket of fine wool material.: The stripes are so much alike

in both materials that it is often difficult to know where one ends and the other begins. Brown and white, brown, white and beige, green and white, and deep vine-red and white are the most popular colour schemes. CROCHET LACE BLOUSES Every woman who can use a crochet hook, or who knows someone who can crochet really well, is hurrying to get a sleeveless over-blouse worked in traditional Irish lace pattern, in heavy white cotton thread or in very fine white wool. A famous designer showed some ,of these blouses worn over day frocks, and the effect was so unusual and attractive thafr all the women fell in love with, the idea. Naturally, the bodices of the dresses must be very plain to allow the crochet to set well and be shown off to best, advantage. NEW YEAR COLOURS Designers predicted a violet season, and we. are certainly having it. The

very dark violet tone has already been used a- great deal, and now parma violet is finding favour. There is a beautiful new parma with a tinge of red that makes it infinitely more easy to wear than the true parma, which proves too cold and trying for most people. Women who have chosen this new parma shade for evening gowns and informal dinner frocks are using a very light clear pink lip-stick, pale pearly powder, and soft blush-rose rouge. Armed with these cosmetics, they do not fear the bogey of ‘“sallowness” which used to attend those who went in for unusual colours.

Next to parma comes coral—a marvellous evening shade. Above all, it is for brunettes, who are usually badly served with colours. The coral shade of the moment is again a little different from that of other years, for it shows just a hint of salmon. The crinkled crepes look very beautiful in it; so does a heavy not too lustrous satin, while a thick faille that has the bloom of a grape over it is truly magnificent. All the gowns arc moulded to the figure in semi-princess style, and all three materials are well suited to this line. The new coral colour is good also for sports clothes and day frocks and I am. told on good authority that this and some other warm pink shades, will be the most fashionable tones for the coming season. VARIETY IN VELVET If you see a woman wearing what you take to be a coatee of soft white mole skin—and nearly faint with surprise, as white mole is not yet in existence —have another good look. You will find that the “fur” is really velvet, very fine, soft and light, and so beautifully “crushed” that it is difficult to distinguish it from fur. This material is used too, for short evening capes, little hats, scarves, bags, yokes and cuffs for day frocks, and yokes and broad waist-bands for evening gowns. Finest ring velvet is now found in the lingerie department! Corselets are made of it, on foundations of strong silk net, and there are fitted knickers to match. Black, cream and a soft shade of peach are the favourite colours. The garments are said to wash perfectly, and to be very comfortable. Velvet pyjamas are shown, also, but I prefer soft washing satin, patterned with little flowers, and trimmed with bindings of satin in a contrasting shade—Colline Rouff.

TRACING PATTERNS FOR EMBROIDERY (By a Needlewoman) If you want to copy embroidery from a material, this is the best way. Place a piece of paper oyer the embroidery and rub it well with the back of a spoon. Very soon a reproduction of the design will appear on the paper. You can then make a clear drawing of this, and transfer it to your own material by means of a carbon paper. Should you need an opaque paper made temporarily transparent for trac- : ing, fix it over the drawing to be copied and moisten it with a pad of cotton wool soaked in pure, benzine or firstclass petrol. The spirit leaves no mark and does not render the paper more difficult to trace on. Where a considerable amount of work has to be done, repeated applications of the pad may be needed. Take care not to oversaturate the paper, or you may moisten the original below. i You may want to use transfers for ’ embroidery work over and over again. Here is a good way of dealing with them. When one pattern has been taken from the tracing paper with a hot iron, go over the faint lines that remain with a blue pencil such as packers use. Another impression can then be obtained, and the pattern may be used repeatedly in this way. • j When you have finished a fine piece of white embroidery, you may find that 1 the blue or yellow lines from the tracing paper show near the needlework. Spread the material on a clean table, carefully rub all marked parts with a

piece of white Castile soap, moisten slightly with ammonia, put it over a bowl, and pour boiling water through it. 'The embroidery may then be washed in the usual way, and the marks will disappear. Nothing requires such careful ironing as a newly-finished piece of embroidery. Fold a blanket three or four times, and cover it with a smooth cloth. Put over the back of the embroidery a thin moistened cloth, and hold a hot iron to the west surface until it is quite dry.

PEROXIDE AS AN ALL-ROUND REMEDY Peroxide of hydrogen is now being quoted on all sides as the universal specific! As I left my dentist’s consulting room after a painful interview, he said: “Remember to follow up the night and morning brushing with a mouth-wash of peroxide. Just a few drops in a mouthful of water. Gargle with it and try to retain the solution for a couple of minutes before ejecting it.” In future there will be a bottle of peroxide by the side of the bedroom water-bottle, and spongy gums, I believe, will gradually regain their former firmness. If only I had not waited until the metaphoric horse had been stolen before shutting the stable-door! It is a precaution, this mouth-wash, that should be adopted while the teeth and gums are still in a healthy condition. A few days ago I was admiring the fashionable light streak across the 1 auburn head of a friend. I expected to ; hear she had paid a large sum to have ! it produced by one of the fashionable hairdressers. Not a bit of it! “I just j did it myself with a toothbrush dip- j ped in peroxide of hydrogen. I treated j the same lock every morning for a | fortnight, and here we are!” The joke j was that when next she visited her i coiffeur, he also admired the streak j and wanted to know whether she had j gone to Paris for it! ! The carpenter whom I called in to > repair my old oak dresser discovered that it was suffering pretty badly from wood-worm. I told him I had so often wasted time and money on various specifics for this ill that I was too discouraged to do much about it. “You’re wrong,” ho declared, “you j could clear up the whole trouble very : quickly by soaking the parts in a mix- i ture of equal parts of peroxide of j hydrogen and distilled water. Keep! the wood well saturated for a day or j two, and I’ll wager you’ll have no further trouble.” Remember that peroxide is a volatile liquid, and that you must never let j the bottle be full, otherwise the cork may be blown out. —M.L.