WOMEN IN THE HOME

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 14 July 1938, Page 13

WOMEN IN THE HOME

CLOTHES CAN BE AN ADVENTURE FOR EVERYONE THERE IS A SPECIAL COLOUR WHAT IS YOURS ?

Clothes can be so many things, . : a business, a pastime, an anxiety, \ ' or a joke. They can express con- j fldence or dismay, put the last « touch to success, or turn failure ' into a lout. And new clothes are the very essence of adventure, for they represent what we hope to be instead of what we regretfully J acknowledge we are (says Rosita J Forbes the well known journalist, t in an exchange.) ( l None of us knows exactly what the , latest and most ingenious fashion is go- j ing to do to us. It may make saints. , witches, or outlaws of us. But, when ( we turn fashion to our own purposes, it is as if we chose arms for the , greatest of all advantures, the exploitation of ourselves. I There are no rules for such a?? en-! , terprise. It may end in disaster or on ? one of the hundred modern stages \ \ limelit by publicity, but to be wholly j satisfactory it must discover, not new ( country or a new way of breaking the y speed record, but a new version of oneself. There are no rules, I said. * for every woman must plan her own i escapade. All she can do is to take f note of the routes by which others have reached their goal, or fallen by ( the way. 1 There are. of course, a few dangers. | j as well known as glaciers which guard , Everest, or the shifting sends of the! Sahara. Patterns are among the most) destructive. Hardly any woman is im-1 “ proved by a pattern. »Vhy should she) be? It is the civilised form ot lattoo- j ing. Clothes are only really adventurous when they tell just a little more-1 c about the wearer than the world s already knows. Patterns are too busy j s talking about themselves to trouble i I about the person inside them. j r 1 1 BLACK IS NOT EASY TO WEAR i c Another signpost before we reach the| C uncharted realms where each woman j ( must venture for herself—black is not' r easy to wear. Heaven alone knows s how the fallacy grew. It is one of 5 the most monstrous the world has everij known. Black can be infinitely smart!, without being at all becoming, and, to j be smart at all. it has got to be twice c as well thought out as any colour. ; f The very young and the very fair s can wear black with success. A few of ; the middle-aged wear it with distinc-j tion. The old, the brown, the frecked, the too tat, the too thin, above all. the! uncertain, should never wear it at all. [ r Grandmothers with white hair, who! would look lovely in silver grey and all! the hydrangea shades, are extinguished x by black. Other generations are anni- 1 i hilated by it. Black needs jewels—-

, real ones—a figure—also real—ancl an i unshakeable consciousness of success. Yet. for everyone there is a special colour. It is only a question of finding it. The fortunate know it by instinct. Thus the Vicereine surrounds herself with purple, and the Queen of Egypt with the indigo blue that we see in the robes of the Pharaohs. I or* not know if the one draws her energy «nd the otner her philosophy from these colours, representing according to the newest medical science the quintessence of physical and spiritual force, but certain it is that colours have different effects on different people. The cleverest hospitals in New York test the reactions of their patients with colour screen round the beds. Clothes provide the same mental opportunity for mental adventure. You may feel healthy in red. savage in. green, benign in yellow, ordinary in blue, earthbound in brown, and completely irresistible in white, or the other way round —I don't know, but you must find out. Most men dislike brown, adore wnite, and pin a touching faith to the woman who wears grey because she must be fundamentally “right.’’ Most women feel terrified of white, doubtful of grey, and completely safe in brown. But white now that it has so many shades, is the easiest and the kindest of disguises. It even does its best with hair blooming in herbaceous strangeness and complexions that have slipped. WE DRESS FOR OURSELVES Of course, nowadays, we dress for ourselves, but to make a spectacular success of it we ought to dress for the self or selves that nobody else knows. Perhaps we do. Perhaps, inside the most conventional there is an adventuress with an undaunted sense of humour, hence the modern hat, as precarious as a balloon in the stratosphere. The time has gone when we thought of a dress without its natural complements in the way of shoes, hat. gloves, stockings, bag. and so on, but it is still something of an adventure to think of it as sauce to the dish of one's personality. When a woman succeeds in wearing clothes that are not only right for their purpose, but right for her own private self, it is an adventure of which she is fully conscious. WIIY THE PARISIENNE IS SMART METICULOUS ABOUT ACCESSORIES The city of chic women, where black with white is always the mode —that is Paris. The French woman never tires of

black, no matter what new colours are invented by Schiaparelli, or any of the creators of the modes of each season, j Black reigns always supreme in the heart of the French woman, and in Paris one realises why the French woman still remains the smartest woman in the world. It is not because she has large quantities of clothes. She is of the economical type, thrifty in. every way. Her secret of being well turned out is that she depends on the accessories which, to her, count for so much more than quantities of clothes. Her belt, gloves, bag, and shoes, must all be built around the lines of her gown. They must all tone or match. Then her hat. It may be some foolish-looking, eccentric piece of felt, or velvet, or a feather, but when she puts it on it becomes something chic or exotic. She knows the exact angle to wear it. Perhaps one eye is hidden; perhaps it is away back off her head. No matter what type of hat It Is, she knows how to wear it, and how ! to get the best out of it. A hat to her is something to be adjusted to suit the face; not to be placed on for mere protection against sunshine or rain. There are no untidy wisps of hair hanging out of place with madame’s coiffure. A PURPOSE IN LIFE The Parisienne is also very particular about the way she walks, and is entirely outstanding in this respect, for she hates a blase air and the English ; slouch. She likes to appear to have a purpose in life, so she has cultivated the animated strut. Madamt goes along, aiming to appear to be, happy and busy, and to have in her life an object in view. One does not see bored faces in Paris. The neatness of the French woman, the smartness of her walk, the absence of a blase air, combined with the alertness of her manner, have all helped in gaining for her the credit of being leader in the world of fashion, j HOUSEHOLD HINTS To give cauliflower an ice white appearance. add a spoonful of vinegar to the water in which it is boiled. Always cook cauliflower in an enamel-linecl | saucepan. « If you want the potatoes to be specially white, pour off the first water as : soon as it boils, refill the saucepan, and they will be quite while.

If a costume has been packed badly and is creased, do not press it, or the new look will vanish. Hang it by a fire or radiator for an hour or two, and the creases will drop out of their own accord.

When browning flour for cooking, be careful not to apply too much heat, or it will taste bitter.

To tighten scissors, press a red-hot poker on each side of the rivet. This will expand the rivet and tighten the scissors. SOME WAYS OF MAKING COTTAGE CREAM CHEESE So-called cream cheese is one of the-j most delicious and healthy forms of| delicacy, and in these days, when! American salads and vegetable savour-j ies are used so much by hostesses at all parties, cream cheese is a necessity. I Cream cheese can be used as a tasty | garnishing for salads. Celery sticks j stuffed with cream cheese are delicious. Cream cheese sandwiches, made with i white or wholemeal bread, with chop-i ped gherkin, olive, or nuts, are also' highly appreciated. Fresh home-made cream cheese is!

very simple to make. The following are recipes: (1.) Heat milk to blood warm; add; lemon juice slowly until it curdles. | Drain it well through a fine cloth bag. I Mix the dn>ied curds with cream and | a little salt. (2.) Use milk that has soured naturally. Set the basin containing it in some hot water on the stove and heal gradually until the curds and whey sep- | arate. Do not overheat, or the curd will be tough. Drain, and prepare as in the first method. (3.) Use junket essence or tablets Use according to directions on packet. Let stand or 18 hours. Gently heal until the curd is well separated, then drain and prepare as in the first method.