THE LADIES' COLUMN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6296, 21 January 1882, Page 3

THE LADIES' COLUMN.

FASHION NOTES. .Dkess skirts grow shorter and fuller. Chamois leather gloves are much worn. Ostrich plumes ornament dresses as .well as bonnets. Surah moire is the name of a new dress trimming. Black fox and black Russian hare arc fashionable fur trimmings. White mosquetaire gloves, decorated with sprays of white snow-drops, are worn by bridesmaids. Hussar jackets of scarlet cloth, trimmed with military braid and. tiny gold buttons, are worn by girls in their teens. Exquisite toilets are made of via de champagne satin, embroidered with silver blossoms and leaves, and combined with pale primrose velvet. Mother Hubbard bonnets of dark olive green beaver or plush, trimmed with full ostrich plumes a shade darker, held by large antique gold buckles, are exceedingly becoming to blondes. Kittens' and monkeys' heads are rivalling the autumn owl in popularity. They are seen upon the outside of new plush and fur muffs, made up envelope fashion. New gilt buttons also show the faces of both the monkey and the English colley in bronze enamel, Handsome cloak clasps to fasten coats of dark green plush or velvet are made of aqua mai iue and mock emeralds; and for coats of a dark wine colour are star buttons set with imitation rubies. These coats are fastened by silk cords which wind around .the buttons, reaching from the throat to about an inch below the waist line.

Party and ball dresses are imported having no sleeves to speak of. Sometimes a narrow band adorned with garniture, corresponding' with that upon the skirt is seen. Solid " pearl sleeves," about four inches in length, ate much in vogue, and with them to correspond, is worn a Medici collar made of the same beads. These are very effective with evening toilets of white surah or satin. Entire evening dresses are made of paletinted plush, which are most generally cut princesse style, with long panels of the same goods laced with delicate gold colour, or with a shade of satin several hues darker than that composing the dress. These panels and other portions of " the dress are otherwise trimmed with soft frills of costly white lace, and large satin bows placed here and there upon the skirt. A very becoming coiffure for a young girl is made hy plaiting the hair in flat braids, then winding it closely around the head, first crossing it low on the nape of the neck, then carrying it up over the crown, where it is securely fastened. Over this, with blonde hair, is worn a French net of gold silk, with tiny gold beads threaded in the meshes. With dark hair silver nets are very effective. This coiffure is very pretty with evening dress. PORTABLE FLORAL SCREENS. A charming house decoration is a portable screen of growing ivy, so simple in its manufacture that anyone could make it. The dimensions will depend upon the place it is destined to fill. A long narrow box must first be made, and mounted upon strong iron casto: s. Then a tellis-work of wire is to be fixed to the back part of the wooden box, the netting being first enclosed in a wooden frame. The he.'ght of this will be dictated by the height of thy mantel or window it is desired to fill. The ivhole screen and box should then be painted a good dark green, and when dry it must be filled with a very rich loam. Then put in plants of various kinds of ivy in front of the wire trellis-work, which, as they grow, must be trained carefully over it, and very soon they will completely cover it. In the front of the box a selection oT quickly growing annuals can be planted, such as mignonette, sweet alyssum, lof.elias, musk plant, or even lilies of the valley, If tiie screen is to lie used in the house to shut out a disagreeable view, in the winter it could be filled with hyacinths, tulips, crocuses, and narcissus, and make a pretty window garden. It can l.c placed outside a window ledge, on the staircase, or area, and fastened to the ground with large hooks; and when the ivy has become large, all the fastenings will bo concealed by the green garlands of ivy. In the garden the portable screen can be used to conceal any ugly corner by a garden chair, or at the end of a green vi.sl.i • and it can only be carried indoors in the winter. Screens of this kind can also be covered with the passion flower, the clematis, or the wistaria, or even with the Virginia creeper, or indeed any of those many pretty and graceful creeping plants which every florist knows, and tho plantß or seeds of which are so easy to obtain. The benefit of the ivy is, of course, that it is always green, and never nocd be shabby if properly care;! for. The leaves must lie carefully sponged every few days to keep the plants healthy indoors, but otherwise they need little attention.—Ladies' Gazette of Fashion. CULTIVATE HEAD AND HEAKT. The LondonTruthsays:—Women say terribly hard things of women, and Miss Phillis Browne, in her book just published, entitled " What Girls Can Do; a Hook for Jlotliera and Daughters," is no exception to the rule. She says: "If we come to look iuto the working of an institution which is governed on broad principles, which works smoothly, and •.rows stron.er as it advances, wc may be sure that there is a man at the head of it; if we find one where the,.wheels creak and groan as they roll, and the hearts of the members are filled with heart-burnings and jealousies; moreover, which believes itself to lio indispcnsible when it is only a make-shift, there a woman rules." There is no doubt that girls are, as a rule, ornamental. Let them, therefore, by all means, I e useful too ; but the usefulness must not obliterate the beauty. The strong-minded woman who outs her hair as close as a convicts ami clumps about the world in a pair of shoes several sizes too large for her, who is iudifferent to the shape of her dress, inay be possessed of every cardinal virtue, but by disregarding the quality of womanliness she brings those virtues into disrepute. Men fly from her and are so filled with dread by such ' a one that they rush into the other extreme, and marry a pretty creature who thinks of , nothing beyond her bonnet and gowns. Ornament must not be sacrificed to utility. Both are compatible, even in a girl, and she who can cultivate head and heart without neglecting the gentle graces and soft prettinesses of of girlhood, is, as Wendell Holmes hath it, "a harp of a thousand strings."

CHIT-CHAT. Three ladies during the last year have made the ascent of Mount Blanc. At a recent wedding in Fulton, N, Y., one of the bridal presents displayed was a receipted bill for professional services from a physician. The Duchess of Edinburgh, when recently urged to buy an expensive shawl, firmly refused, saying, " I cannot afford it, Take it to the wile of one of my cooks." Pet doga are not so greatly in favour with the ladies as they were. But where they remain favourites otter-hounds and turnspits are superseding pugs and terriers. A pack of sixty houuda are kept by the Empress of Austria at her castle of Giidollo, where they have a large sleeping-room, a bath-room, and kitchen set apart for their use. The patents issued in America to women for the year ending July, ISBO, numbered seventy, teu more than the average. Most i of the inventions of women have to do with household appliances. Tho Imperial Order of the Star of India is the decoration lately given to the widow of Mr. Adam, late Governor of Madras. This lady can now say "My stars !" with im- ; punity, if not "My stars and garters !" Spun silk is a late revival; it is soft and at the same time strong. For gathering and gaging, which is so much used for trimming, it is very suitable on account of its pliability. Those who prefer silk to linen underclothing will find tho spun silk very desirable, as it washes well. It is now as popular as surah for garments of this description. Never talk about a child's peculiarities before it. The greatest charm of childhood is its forgctfulnoss of itself, its utter ignorance of tliestateof its own attireand its own mmd, its capability of forgetting whether it is ill or well clad. Do not toll it that it is studious, orplayfuL or proud, lest you make it affected; and do not let it hear its beauty or its ugliness alluded to. A celebrated cantatrice who once " starred" it in Paris received from a Muscovite prince a handsome brooch in diamonds in acknowledgment of admiration; but, not wishing to accept a gift the motive of which might be misconstrued, she returned it with warm thanks. Next day she received a letter from the prince, approving highly of her decision ; but tho writing m this letter had a singularly glistening appearance, and it was afterwards found that the magnate, not to be outdone m generosity, had reduced the returned diamonds to fine powder, with which he besprinkled the wet ink, and had thus insured the acceptance of bis homage. I