DRESS NOTES

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1799, 29 August 1906, Page 25

DRESS NOTES

fThe disappearance df the middleaged woman (writes 'A Society But ter#7 ”) is a suggestive sign of the times’. In 1906 there are girls, young.married women, and old ladies who are great grandmothers. But the ,; fair. fat, and forty”' type of mature motherhood is no more seen in smart society. Modern mothers look as young as their daughters, and we are now familiar

with a race of juvenile grandmothers. The correct recipe for eternal youth would make a multi-millionaire of its lucky possessor. But this priceless discovery seems still in the future, and the best available prescription is a compound of time, trouble, and money. Deep breathing hails from America, and is reckoned by some folk .as a sovereign remedy. Rest cures have come to stay, and disciples of the “Don’t Worry” doctrine have commonsense on their side. Diet cures, massage, physical culture, and careful face treatment all help towards the preservation of youth; and so, of course, does good taste in dress, and money freely spent on perfectly planned costumes. The old idea.that mid-dle-aged women must wear black has now entirely disappeared. Hand-painted silk corsets form the latest acquisition of the elegante, and the most lovely examples are to be seen in pale coral pink taffetas, covered with a design of faded roses, or in the most delicate shade of mauve, the pattern of shaded lilac being carried out in mauve and white.’ Lady Mary Sackvilie, who has just become engaged to Captain Griffin, may be said to have introduced "the now very prevalent fashion of wearing a single big diamond suspended round the neck from a platinum chain as fine as a hair. Apropos of her big diamond, Lady Mary tells the story that some few years ago the house in Grosvenor street in which she lived took fire in the middle of the night. Lady Mary herself managed to escape before the flames reached her room, and her maid, following her, in a panic threw her mistress’s jewel-box out of the window into the street below, with the idea of keeping it out of possible danger when descending the stairs. The box was picked up outside, but had been broken in the fall. Only Lady Mary’s big diamond was missing! Weeks later, walking along Grosvenor street, she espied it glittering in the .sunshine among some stones in the road. The stand-up turned-down collar is seen on many of the latest boleros and cloth capes. The collar does not meet in the front, and the pointed rovers aro invariably embroidered. Some of the high corselet skirt, and bolero costumes aro worn with blouses that have frilled shirt-fronts, stiff collars, and little ties.

Royal ladies who have passed their first youth are often to ho seen in white or cream colour. The story of the Dowager Queen of Italy and her white gowns is too old to bear repetition, and the Dowager Empress of Russia and our own Queen Alexandra, seem fond of white on the occasion of Court ceremonials. Then we have several oldish women who wear their hair white, but aro still beautiful,'and appear gowned in white satin, brocade, or velvet.

A very lovely hat, which was worn dii the occasion of Princess Ena’s entry into Madrid, is a large shape in Tuscan straw, the shape slightly bent high above the brow. The top of the brim is embroidered in v.n outline design of ivy leaves in Tuscan straw. The crown is in gauged and tucked cream-coloured chiffon held by tiny Tuscan straw buttons, and the lining of the brim is soft, tucked tulle. The trimming consists of a'double knot of pale blue mir-oir-faille and a couple of Malmaison carnations.