LADIES COLUMN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8306, 12 July 1890, Page 4 (Supplement)

LADIES COLUMN.

HAIRDRESSING. For the present millinery, especially for bonnets, a certain style of hairdressiug is needed which is quite different from anything which lias been worn for some years. These illustrations give a very good idea of the present mode, and by their aid girls who dress each other's hair will have no difficulty in following them. Fashion is at present more than liberal in the matter of coiffures, any tasteful and becoming arrangement of the hair receives her approval ; but the conspicuous must always bo avoided. The most fashionable coiffures are those thai have boon recently revived, and they are becoming to nearly all types of face. Notable among them uro the low coils and mats of braukvl liair that have superseded tho classic Psycho knot; and for faces requiring a more pronounced background or framing than is afforded by those styles there are moderately high coiffures formed by soft curls, loops, or twists of hair arranged at the crown of tho head or nearer to the front, as is most becoming. The fluffy fringe and the Pompadour are both worn ; tho fringe is more loosely curled than formerly, and the

Pompadour is more frequently seen with a short fringe than rolled directly from the brow. Both the method of curling the fringe anil the adaptation of any coiffure must depend largely upon the quality and quantity of the hair, as well as the outlines of the head and face. A soft rather than a frizzy effect must be produced in tho fringe, and when the hair is crisp and dry this is best done by putting it up jn papers and pinching it. The hair must not be rolled around tho papers : it. should bo coiled itself, tho paper being merely folded about it us a protection, and to retain it. in curl. Never use an iron without lirst trying it on a bit of soft paper to judge of its warmth ; and never use an iron that has become rough. The tirst engraving is especially well suited for evening dress, as well as for the small velvet and llower toques now so fashionable. The back hair is coiled at the top of the head, and the coil is nearly concealed by a portion of the front hair

arranged in a wavy Pompadour, hack of which the ends lie in a mass of curls that arc deftly fastened with invisible hair-pins to the coil. A short fringe softens the outlines of the face, and a few short curls arc worn at the nape of the neck. A STRAXGE REMEDY FOR STOUTN ESS. Mrs. Crawford, the Paris correspondent of Truth, supplies that journal with the following extraordinary statement: —'"I should often talk to my readers behind a fan. Thero are so many things which it s no harm to speak of openly, and yet that are hard to air. Last week a paragraph went the round. o of the papers about a journalist, broader than he was long from extraordinary over-fleshiness, who underwent the operation of degrawxage. What an inelegant word ! but 1 can't think of one that might replace it. On reading about this feat of the scalpel, I did not at first believe it. Jiut 1 find I was too incredulous, and also that tlegrausage is nothing new to the princes of science here. It dates from the time when those robes which mould the figure like a glove and fall into a train behind came into vogue. In the early stages of their evolution inner garments were minimised. It was then discovered that embonpoint must be got rid of. But how do so with advantage? Jt skin once distended by fat were made to contract through leanness it would wrinkle up. Anti-fat was found to injure the health, to bring on ann'inia, with its low spirits, hysterical laughter, wan cheeks, and unloveliness. What was to be done ? Some vivisectionists hail pared the fat oil' dogs without killing them. So Beauty determined to be vivisected in the same manner. However, as she did not seem to owe anything to art, she kept secret the suffering she endured to remain beautiful, and tin , surgeons had no opportunity to advurl i*e their skill in paring oir adipose tissue, until the journalist went to them to be relieved from his load of fat. " Last evening 1 had a talk with one prince of science, and then with another, on this matter. On asking the former whether a figure misshapen through embonpoint could really bo pared down to conformity with her dressmaker's ideal, heanswered, 'Certainly. I can give you (between ourselves, of course) the name of a beautiful woman who owes, what passes in ball-rooms for a perfect figure to getting her waist, and ,a good deal else that goes into her corset, pared down.' 'No!' 'Yes. I assure you I'm not joking.' ' Do I know her ?' ' You do.' ' Her name— whisper it if you fear that other ears than mine may catch it.' Me whispered. A puzzle was explained. The beauty in question is an American, and a member of a great plutocratic family, and, by marriage, nf a noble English one. Her name figures constantly in fashionable intelligence columns. She comes here for her dresses, bonnets, the Salon, and for surgical operations when rounds of lunches and dinners, too tempting not to be eaten, have a little spoiled the waist. You hear of her being ill, and not receiving. In five weeks or so you meet her again at a picture exhibition, flower-show, bazaar, or see her enthroned as a Queen of Beauty at the opera. Glasses converge on her in the entr'acte. Her form being again divine, and her face charming, she is perfectly happy, and looks so. 1 used to wonder how there was such ripeness in the bust and shoulders, and, without squeezing,such girlish slimnessin the i/albe. *"1 further asked whether it was an American belle who first resorted to this heroic mode of keeping statuesque. ' No ; it was a singularly pretty actress, who is no longer young, and Has a great stage reputation. She is delightful in comedy, but has a f.ico only good for billing-and cooing parts spiced with espiegkrie. Am a stage mother she could not be of much use. But while her face and neck kept shape and freshness her waist grew fearfully clumsy. She tried Turkish baths and spent a fortune uselessly in massage. You can iill up wrinkles on the stage, but you can't hide superabundant fat. What was she to do ? Somebody showed her a scientific feuilkton about the degraissage of a lap-dog too obese to walk. Professor Demurs was consulted as to whether such an operation on a human being would be not only possible, but safe. Both one and the other, he opined. Another great authority was reverted to. He thought on a healthy subject that a skilful operator could pare away all the adipose tissue that was de trop. Nor would in such a case the recovery bo tedious. The actress made up her mind, and in a few weeks went back to the stage with the same plump and pretty shoulders, and a waist and hips which, in a dress that moulded them, looked almost slim. A famous Russian beauty was next operated upon, and then a lady who was a few years ago reputed hero to supplement Baron de Alohreuheim as an agent of the . Czar's Foreign Oitioe. She is a fiue, tall '

woman, with an ample bust and a waist that might almost fit into her bracelet. If the fashions were reasonable one might think her figure monstrous. But as they are'absurd, they suit the artificial outline of her galbe. Beauties who are fat, fair, and forty should wear flowing garments. In tight clothes they look ill at ease, and, therefore, ungraceful.' " I ventured to put another question. Howdid adegraisse galbe look after recovery? Most unlovely. The skin was puckered and did not lie as in its normal state. Growing fat again would only obviate this drawback. ' Main a/ors tout ntraUa recommencer V ' Sans iloute.' But what conquest over nature is not toiijourx a recommencer ? What does it matter to have a puckered skin when one does not contemplate standing a.s a model for a Viennese painter or sculptor ? All that society asks for is a fine bust, line arms, and small —or, at any rate, well-shaped feet.