WOMAN'S WORLD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13456, 5 June 1907, Page 9

WOMAN'S WORLD.

THE MERETRICIOUS APRON*. j These is nothing, to my mind, more nearly approaching the ludicrous than the attire of a latter-day servant when on duty;-' :: A leading abomination is the cap entitled!, the Geisha, comprising a couple of minute 1 muslin rosettes, united by a correspondingly! small flat oblong of the same transparency. Disposed .well behind a puffed-out Pompa- [ dour, tho Geisha is, perhaps, the most isn-j pudent acknowledgment of domestic service; ever promulgated. ! Meretricious to a degree, moreover, is the modern apron, a wretchedly -made thing; that parts company at every turn, with its addenda of strings, bretclles,- pockets', and the like. ,*, And that, which is the. most amazing thing of all, writes Mrs. Jack May in the Bystander, is the frankly expressed dislike to being gratuitously supplied with a daintier and more fitting emblem of the pursuit. To the stubborn British mind of tho lower class, this offer savours far too much of compulsory servitude. -. -. ' Quite the most attractive dress for the! visible maid of a household is grey alpaca or beige, the neck finished by crisp turnover linen collar tied with a "black ribbon j bow and cuffs en suite. Or in lieu of the black ribbon, I saw a bright cherry" shade substituted the oilier day, and the "innovation was exceptionally pleasing. Another interesting item of a waitingmaid's attire entirely overlooked is footgear. Silent soles should be made imperaj tive, together with moderately low heels. \ There is a certain little instep-strap velvet shoe, affected by hospital nurses, that 1 have for long expected and hoped to see adopted by really first-class parlourmaids. ■ These, are quite cheap, running, as a matter of fact, merely into a few shillings, BEAUTY, FROM A JAPANESE STANDPOINT. • Beauty, from a Japanese standpoint, consists of a long, oval face, regular features, almond-shaped eyes, sloping slightly upward, a high, narrow forehead, and iibundanco of smooth, black hair. The movements of Japanese women are graceful, although the style of their, dress; prevents them from walking with ease; their feet mid hands are delicately formed, and their manners unquestionably charming. They take little or no exercise,' and one wonders sometimes how the little ladies employ their time— there seems so little to be done in a Japanese house. To begin with, there are. no regular meals. Thejsliopvnear at hand supply daily numberless dishes, which seem to be eaten at all hours of the day and night— a few pecks at a timewith those impossible little chopsticks. Very little is kept in the larder, except some slices of daikon, fer-1 mented turnip, some rice, arid sweet biscuits. Eggs are cheap and plentiful; bread is never used, so there is no necessity for an oven. The great standby is tea. - A Japanese lady is seldom seen in her home without the quaint little tea-tray by her side, and the inevitable pipe, containing one whiff of tobacco, which is .in constant requisition.

AN AGE OF FREEDOM. It is a. commonplace to.say,that women of all ages enjoy a much greater freedom now than in the past. Of course, the most conventional state of society is savagery'. The progress of civilisation is a progress in the abolition of propriety. Among savages propriety is worshipped like a god.; It is true their ideas of what is proper are not the same as those of the ; English nineteenth ; century, but they are quite comparably absurd. Even in the straitest suburb a woman is less the slave of what is proper than with the savage. The sternest apostles of propriety, prunes, arid prism allow maidens;to dine at the table of men. Savages would think this even more awful than riding-un-chaperoned in a hansom. These ■ things are beyond reason, is the opinion of the London Telegraph.. „ The. notion, that, freedom' ; .of manners is a fount and origin of vice is the notion of pessimists. The people who are most frightened of what is improper are the people with the lowest opinion of human nature. It is natural and inevitable that if you are always alert- to discover the offensive you should think about it more than is good for any merely human soul, , We are pretty well agreed j now that the mid-Victorian young lady, who would never call legs anything but limbs,-was so nice that she was entirely nasty. But you find good people still exulting in prophesying an evil fate for all who will not obey the most antiquated and uncivilised edicts of Mrs. Grundy. This zeal in discovering the nasty needs no praise. "A nose for carrion," as Thackeray said, "is no credit to its; possessor." As a, matter of-plain and simple fact, ■■ we know that in these days, ■ when young men arid-maidens meet each other and go their ..way"; at their own sweet will, there is a good deal less sentimentality than when everyone was agog for possible and probable improprieties. ■■ It is sentimentality that 'is■ the cause of woe, not good-fellowship. We begiu to see that. We become civilised and we become sane.

j . ' , FOOLISH LOVERS. ;[ ; Some girls complain that their sweethearts : take too much for granted. 'Having once de- • j dared their passion, and having secured the ' i sweet , admission - from J the lips, they, adore ! that their feelings are returned, they never j refer to the tender, subject of their emotions . again, nor make any inquiry as to those of their fiancee. / . ' " • : , . ] Their programme is; one of self-satisfied ( quiescence. Rapidly settling down into the '' "I'm quite sure of you" state of existence , that,is so .commonplace they drift placidly along the stream of courtship, .to;the realms ' of matrimony, where boredom, pronounced and unalterable, awaits. them. Girls -don't! appreciate programmes of that dull type. They hug to themselves the conviction that ; their lovers are just a little unhappy, just \ a little uncertain as to whether they are '' really hugely, and absolutely dear in their sight. They want to be asked over and ! j over again to whisper ,the sweet assurance ' l that it is really true that this boy is the J | dearest boy in the world, and that there ! never was, and never will be again, just such [ a perfect person as this boy is. ,:; '' But they don't want to be worried tc distraction with,hair-splitting questions at> to ; the measure in decimals of their affection, A * little doubt that can easily, and, oh! so enjoyably, be dispelled, by blushing glances J and the language of loving eyes, is one phase J of courtship that is full of delight; but to be placed on the rack every time one meets l ones fiancee, and kept in torture while one tries to answer all the searching questions ? i that are put to one as to the height, depth, . j breadth, and square inches of one's love is J I a sure way of making courtship a misery. ' ; * [ Men are much more prone to open intro- ] I spection than women. A girl will ponder in J • her heart her feelings towards the man she * has accepted, and will sometimes wonder- c whether she is giving her fiancee the full J measure of love that he deserves. ■. ' Not to her sweetheart would the discriminating and sensible girl breathe a syllable ' of her self-distrust. In all probability he ! would laugh at it, calling it nonsense, per- ' chance without even faintly comprehending i it. And if he were to understand it he* would be "hurt." . _ i No it is best for women to keep their 1 own bitter-sweet doubts and fears to them- ' selves, than to arouse in their sweethearts ' that spirit of wounded vanity that" makes a ' man peevish and disillusionised at once. Why, then, should a certain type of lover ' pester the girl he has won with his agonis- ' ing excursions into the .'ramifications of self- 1 analysis? He loves' her unutterably, with ' all the profound intensity of an individual ' temperamentally sincere, and yet ho ■ seizes ' every opportunity of informing her that he is not sure that what he calls love is really J love at all. -' i She is worthy, he avers, of love in its ' supremest- splendour, of devotion so intense i that before it the affection of which ordinary individuals are capable pales into pigmy- ' like insignificance: Is a fellow like himself i capable of such transcendant devotion? ' This kind of raving passes off, if it is met with patient t kindness : from the astounded ' , and probably very ordinary individual to ; whom it is addressed. : V , . , But it should be checked, or it will resolve : into a habit of starting scares that affect i " not only the lover's own. emotions, but thus?)' .of; his lady.. -v ; ■'''■ '-■':■::;•;•. '-■''< " """ ;; i

A NOVEL HEAD-DRESS.. , , :

An unique head-dress, which is likely to be copied freely during the 'tauten, has'recently been introduced by one-of the great Pari«»u •jewellers. : It ia composed of ordinary art;ileal dowers mounted on platinum to (orm | a crown, but every petal and teat of tbc*a i dowers is 'outlined in diamonds. " ' ".'

The effect of this costly crown .i» charm-' ing, especially on a tall woman, but, of course, it is not intended for state occasions, when u, diamond tiara would be considered' .correct. ■."■■'' '■■' "'■ ,;;;■ :.,.■■■ -