LADIES' COLUMN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10908, 12 November 1898, Page 4 (Supplement)

LADIES' COLUMN.

I LONDON FASHION NOTES, [wurnxx SPECIALLY FOE THE :."EW ZEAL.VXD ITKBALD.I Lo>:dox, September 30. Anorr milliner) - (here are still more novelties to describe which have appeared upon the scene since ray Inst notes were despatched to you six days ago. The display made by the milliners this season is a very fine one; colours are gay but in excellent taste as a rule; materials for trimming pur-

poses are very varied, and equally varied are the shapes of the many forms of headgear. Of course, taking the models individually, there are some which one does no'' like, but taking the things collectively the- form a pleasing, tasteful, and effective wholts. As each season comes round we are heard to exclaim that the flowers and foliage, and feathers and trimmings, and styles generally are greatly improved since 1 their forerunners of the previous season, ! though at that time there did not seem room for any possible improvement. Yet, somehow, advances do continue to be made, and things this season in the millinery line arc infinitely superior to those of last. It is not possible Jo picture adequately the h.ve'v tones of all colours which are now so prominent without one sees them, but that time will come to you in New Zealand, though naturally you are beginning to feel much more interested in summer than in autumn garments. Flowers grow more and more perfect, and so does their foliage; and the birds are very enticingly got up. One hat which ] saw was made of gauged velvet, and its crown was high and poured —like the hats of the M elsh national costume; its brim was of course turned off from the lace, and was simply loaded in front with ostrich feathers, and, with the exception of a rosette, also in front, there was no other trimming. This shape is only an experiment yet, though I remember ever so long ago hinting at its possible appearance. Another style was a large wire shape, and this was covered with narrow folded bands of green velvet several tones, and these were plaited in and out until the foundation was quite covered. I thought this a remarkably pretty hat, and its trimming was of shaded green ostrich feathers, a pale green satin rosette, and a paste buckle, Hie plaited effect produced in tiiis manner is quite new. and as the shape was a l arge picture hat the new method of treatment was seen to splendid advantage. Millinery velvet is beautiful, and its surface is so bright that its different shades retleet so many different tones as they catch the light. Shaded effects will be ail the rage for a. time, and so many feathers are in demand. Ihe tones of velvet in different sorts of blue, lavender, violet, orange, pink, red, etc., are exquisite, though I do think that the white silk pe.i spots which so many velvets display on their surface quite spoil the effects of the material. True, more variety is obtained by their innovation, and that is what neoplo like to have. Ribbon is not seen much now; it is not required for millinery for velvet and feathers and wings and osprevs and velvet flowers and paste ornaments are so numerous and in such infinite variety that with them many changes can be. rung, and ribbon is thus comparatively out in the cold, so far as bows, etc., are concerned. That, which is seen has usually a satin surface, and is Ikured with staidly designs done in raised black chetii'le. Rome, too, is spotted, snrno is striped, some is checked, some is shaded, some is tigured with dowers, and si,me is a mixture of two or more of these designs. Of plumage there is this season so many varieties, and each kind is so differently Heated that it may be subdivided again and again. With regard to ostrich feathers, I think I told you pretty well all their forms and modes of treatment in my last article. Since then I have seen many marabout plumes used, and these delightfully soft and fluffy little appendages are nearly always spangled with sequins or tinsel or jet. In one toque I saw such • . peculiar-looking feathers—or rather apolo- ■ | gi"s tor such. They looked as if they had • originally been three beautiful, long ostrich 11 feathers, but now they had had evt-rv bit cf j plumage stripped clean off, notlrng be.ng j left but the 'ere skeletons, 'ihev looked |so bony and stiff and strange, ]', Uil no opportunity of finding out whet, this was their natural state or whether ostrich feathers bad been thus brutally treated in order to constitute further variety. Wings are not now used so much in the Mercury form; they are just in their natural condition so far as shape is concerned. But they are variously treated, and while many are wholly white, most are either shaded or else are coloured at the lower half and white at the tips. With tho-e which are shaded, the dark colour always is at the base. Some, and these are ugly, are plastered over with white or black or coloured spots, looking as if they had been sprinkled with confetti; others have their surface dotted over with chenille spots. The better kinds, those which I described first, often have an osprey attached which goes between the wings, or else there arc two osprevs, and these t-hon spread with the wings. I have seen a few feather Bowers and feather rosettes, the latter being spotted with chenille. Some of the large picture hats are tilted high on tho left side, and the brim comes down in a very slanting manner to the right side. And 011 such a shape as this the only trimming consists of feathers, and these are arranged on the tilled side, the one under the brim to rest on the hair, and the other round one-half of tho crown. They are fastened in with a velvet rosette, in the middle of which is a steel or paste buckle. Viewed from the feather-trimmed side, this style is exceedingly pretty, though when seen from the right side the effect is rather plain and bare. Yet it is fascinating, and one of the most successful 1 have ever seen w"s carried out in sapphire blue velvet, with two handsome feathers of the same tone, two steel buckles, and two pale blue velvet rosettes. The plain side is generally bent about in fantastic ways. Generally on a hat of this kind the velvet is placed plainly over the shape, and is not gathered or puckered or gauged. Sometimes velvet rosettes on hats a«d toques are edged with a quilling of gathered bebe ribbon of satin or velvet, winch is either of the same or of a contrasting shade. Autumn tints are well to the fore, and the newest things are oak leaves with ripe acorns. Virginia creeper leaves, too, are prominent in their golden brown shades, and so, too, are chrysanthemums, which display similar colourings. That is all I can think of so far as millinery is concerned, so now for a brief sketch of a few little details of our attire. Some white kid gloves in the four-button length, intended for evening wear, have long tops made of embroidered net or plisse silk, which reach nearly to the shoulder. Coloured kid gloves are now to bo an established fact, notably green, navy blue, and violet. Some have white points, and somo have black, and some have points a tone darker than the gloves themselves; a few have buttons and bindings and stitchings and points of a contrasting colour. Many gloves now, instead of being buttoned, are laced round little fastenings like those which men generally have at the top of their boots. There are some lovely sashes made of cliiffon and crepe de chine and China crepe.' They are flounced elaborately at each end, I and each flounce is edged with several rows j of bebe satin or bebe velvet ribbon. Now, j of course, sashes of this kind will only be j vcrr. on evening gowns. For day wear when I sashes are worn, they are of broad satin or i silk ribbon, much of which is figured with I raised designs worked in black chenille. A! great deal, too, is figured in the same manner | as the ribbon which I mentioned nearer the i beginning of this article. 1 For the neck, ruffles are made of coarse j .net, very thickly niched. Principally tliev | are either of black or white, though coloured i ones are not unknown. , They are all thickly j spotted with chenille spots, which are sometimes large and sometimes small, and some-1 times two sizes adorn the same piece of I material. White ruffles are spotted with j white or black, or with colour; black' ruffles are similarly figured, and coloured ruffles are treated in like manner. Speaking of neck wraps, by the way, the correct mode of wearing the ostrich feather boas is to fasten them down to the waist, to which point they ought just to reach. They come round the shoulders and straight down to the waist, thus leaving the whole front of the bodice exposed. The effect, too, is very ■ good, and suits the present style in which' bodices are usually made, i.e., with some

sort of yoke or vest coming to a point at the waist. No doubt, when the weather grows more chilly, people will fasten their boas at the neck, but for the present sunny period the mode of fastening them at the I middle of the waist is very becoming. I Ties, if one wishes to be in the fashion, j are of silk-checked, striped or plain—rather wide, with the ends cut off in V-shape. | They are merely knotted round the neck | or perhaps lower down like the knot of a sailor collar, and the ends do not reach much past the bust. They are known as the Windsor shape, and are in every possible shade of glace or surah silk. A "new kind of scarf pin is in the shape of a sword encased in a sheath. In order to put it on the sword is first drawn from its case, stuck through the bow or tic, and the case is then slij ped on the projecting point again. The case is attached to the hilt of the sword bv a tiny thin chain, thus preventing it from dropping off and being lost. These little ornaments are set with paste or with brilliants or with coral or with some form of imitation stone, while some are made of imitation enamel in different colours. Of course, for very swell people, real gold and real stones and real enamel are used, but for the ordinary run of us the imitation I ones do just as well, especially as fashions j in such like little etceteras are constantly ! changing. ' ! Ladies who possess grey hair and feel proud of the same— ought to do it' th'v don't—will I expert be glad to hear of the introduction of grey hairpins. This is one of the latest ideas, and ought to be hailed with delight. These new hairpins are covered with pale grey silk, are quite invisible, and it is said that they will not drop out like the ordinary japanned sort have an aggravating way of doing.

WHY DON'T GIRLS MARRY? Why is it that some girls marry and some dont? Why do so many nice girls, and pretty gills, and girls of whom one can sav nothing hut good, remain all their lives without a home and a husband of their own, when so many plain and disagreeable and undesirable wives are led to the altar every day? It would be a problem, if one did not know how much circumstances have to do ill forming the lives of all of us, and how, no matter what advantages anyone has, they alone do not bring about any desired result.

How can a girl marry when there is no one to marry her? To begin with, a vast number of women in England can never expect or hope to become wives, because there are so few men in proportion to them. Thousands of women can never have a chance of marriage, and they might as well make up their minds to the inevitable.

But it is not only because of the surplus woman population that they get no chance. Many and many a girl confesses that she has never had an opportunity to become acquainted with a man outside her own family since she was a child. How, then, is sue likely ever to be wooed and married since the days are gone by when these things arranged themselves'/ ° 1 erhaps she lives in one of those remote districts in which tho country abounds, where there is not an unmarried'man in her own circle of life. There is nothing to keep young men when they grow up ; they go out into the world and leave the old home. Year after year passes, and the girl feels her youth and girlhood slipping froth her, and yet she has never spoken to a man whose wife sue might be. Sometimes she leads a very quiet life, with no chance of matin" acquaintances. "

It is a pity there is not more intercourse or friendship between the sexes in this countrv, as there is in America. There they see as much of each other as they like, with no special idea that acquaintance necessarily means marriage. The result is that nearly every girl marries; and certainly everyone has two or three chances of it. WEDDING. A change for tho better shows signs of making itself manifest in the conduct of weddings. It is becoming more and more the fashion to have the ceremony at the church witnessed by only near relations and ultimate friends, while the average wedding guest is supposed to attend the reception given afterwards. The filial result of this innovation will probably be the restoration of some sort of dignity to the wedding service as celebrated tor the benefit of " smart" society. Since the hour and place for such weddings will not be published beforehand, that wonderful crowd of well-dressed, bw'.'y behaved and uninvited onlookers will i.emorc or less robbed of what they seem to consider their lawful prey. It is not long since the treatment two tiny bridesmaids got at the hands of this crowd reduced the mites to such a tearful and terrified slate that proceedings had to be delayed for some minutes to comfort them. The women who go to make up the crowd probably meant no ankindness when they blocked the children and examined their clothing and their presents, but that society is beginning to adopt methods that will prevent the recurrence of such things as we have not only heard v. i'.u our ears, but have seen with our eyes, is matter of congratulation.

WELL PRESERVED WOMEN. Miss Ellen Tehiiy is noted for being one of the best preserved women of her day and generation, so the recipe she has given for the tricking of time is naturally interesting to every daughter of Eve. She has ranged herself with the rapidly increasing crowd of intelligent women who complain that instead of taking too little, women generally take a great deal too much, care of themselves. You will never, she avers, preserve your youthful comeliness unless you work, and ork hard. Plenty of work, plenty of sleep, plenty of simple food, and plenty of fresh air all combine to keep a woman healthy, and without health beauty is impossible once youth is left behind. There are many who argue that beauty and ill health are incompatible at any time of life; but in spite of theories there are feV who hwe not been betrayed, at some time or other, into admiring girls whose chief charm lay in a fradness that is often taken to mean spirituality. After 25 the "spiritual" woman generally looks hungry. Now and then she only looks discontented or cadaverous, but she is assuredly not beautiful. 'There are hundreds of people one can quote as going to prove how long the busy man or woman lives in comparison with the idle one, but that in hard works lies the royal road to perpetual youth will come as an unpleasant surprise to the thousands whose object in life seems to be " taking it easy."

THE OCCULTISM OP STONES. The garnet brings with it the twin gifts of health and happiness. Emblematic of constancy and truth, it was the carbuncle of the ancients, who said that it even gave out light in the darkness. January is the garnet's month.

By the Cingalese the cat's-eve is held as a charm against witchcraft, and is also believed to be the abode of a genii. Agates are held to have the good property of quenching thirst, and, when held in the mouth, of allaying fever. They are emblematic of health and longevity. Crystal is conducive to visions, brings good I sleep and charming dreams. Coral insures the wearer against witchcraft, thunder (the legends say nothing about its being a talisman against lightning), and all perils of flood and field. Worn about the person, it wards off and cures indigestion. Strange as it may seem, superstition.? about precious stones have ever been all but merged into religious beliefs, particularly in the legends of the pagans. Whether it be fact or fancy, St. Francis de Sales, in " The Devout Life," says:—"Ail kinds of precious stones dipped in honey become more brilliant thereby, each according to its colour, and all persons become more acceptable when they join devotion to their graces. Household ' cares are sweetened thereby, love is more loving, and business becomes more pleasant." '

DOES LOVE DIE AFTER MARRIAGE. Most assuredly it does if the wife studies herself before anything else, or the husband won't give up his selfish ways for the sake of the woman he has vowed to love and cherish. Instead of trying to make her new home a charming, well-ordered one, she leaves the household management to servants, and runs about after every amusement that comes in her way; while he instead of trying to help her "in her wifely difficulties, shrugs his shoulders, and goes to his club, or his buiness, and Love, finding himself de trop, packs his portmanteau and leaves for a more congenial home.