THE LADIES' CHAIN

NZ Truth, Issue 890, 16 December 1922, Page 14

THE LADIES' CHAIN

TRTRTR

"Pussyfoot" Johnson recently stated that "man is the only animal that drinks," but he conveniently forgot the beer that gets into the hogs-head. Joking apart, every scientist knows that s all animals, some birds, and almost all insects, ldvo alcohol. As a strict- matter of fact, a story was told at the recent meeting of the British Association of Scientists at Hull, m England, Dr. Griffiths mentioning that at a menagerie one day a keeper was taking the elephants to drink. The keeper noticed that one of the elephants coughed, so he gave the animal a bucket of water m which were two bottles of whisky. Next day, added Dr. Griffiths, all the elephants coughed! :: :: :: • When visiting Paris the first thing to catch the eye of the "tourist is uhe dainty footwear worn by the women. Whatever station m life to which they belong one and all contrive . to have I their feet looking neat and well shod. Undoubtedly the sense of coquetry 'of | the Frenchwomen is the reason for this, as one and all agree, that the first thing a man looks at when summing up a woman is her ankle; so needless to say ankles come up first for consideration m the toilette. Now th£t the skirts- are worn longer the vamps of the shoes have also been lengthened to fit m with the new styles. When the skirts were worn short the round short-vamped shoes were worn, which was m keeping with the length of the skirt Although the pointed shoes are -worn the style is not m the extreme, but the footwear is considerably longer than lt haa previously been worn. The shoe emporiums ln Paris .are calling into force the old-fashioned styles iof buckles. These are m almost every shape and. form, m paste, m cut steel and m cut steel and colorefl beads. Besides the floral and indefinite scroll designs, there aro also many new models. Some of the designs- are m pretty little scenes, work-, cd. m brilliants or cut steel and colored beads. Birds of all descriptions are also shown m buckles, an owl sitting on the edge of a crescent moon, and animals of various kinds. The buckles are small, never more than an Inch and a half long, but very effective when worn on a court shoe. In some of the buckles colored beads are worked m, which tone with tho color ot the frocks worn, and which just give the correct finish to the whole outfit. Much to the. disgust of;-. England's Labor candidates Bonar Law's new Cabinet is strongly represented by the blue bloods, including two dukes three marquises, four earls, threo viscounts and several other sons Of peers. The Homeland still clings to the old traditions, that the aristocracy should always lie at tlie head of affairs. s: ■ :: ,!» The fashions for the summer of 1923 are already m hand and the manufacturers are now well advanced with these goods. A staff of designers is kept on tho premises of every spinning factory. Some of the artists are women, but the actual designs that will be used, and. in what colors they will be printed, rests with men. The reason that men excel at this work, is that they keep In mind the various types of women, while a. woman making the selection, is apt to think only of what would look smart on herself, •and should' she be slightly built, tall and dark, naturally the same material and color would not look so well on tho buxom girl with flaxen' hair. This is the reason why men control the fashions, for they can give an unbiased opinion on the beauty of a design and its commercial value. Women would not cater for what seems so exceedingly hideous, but man' looks further ahead, and from • a business point of view, has the material on the market with Its ugly color and crude design. Men argue that if a woman has a fancy for what, to the designer, is extremely frumpish, let her have her way and she is happy, and so the business goes on and man is once more* to the fore with hla commercial" Instinct. ' :: >: ci ' Tho correct fashions from Paris are tho painted gowns. These robes are m orepe, silks, and organdie muslins, arid are painted with the favorite fruit or flowers of the wearer. They are a decided change from anything we have had before. When first seeing these beautiful gowns with their bii'.liant coloring, one could almost fancy they were passing through an orchard A description of one gown given, is m whito silk, with largo bunches of purple grapes and sweet peas intermingled, making a glorious combination of colors. To bring out the horticultural effect a girdlo of tiny bunches o^grapes with the green leh.ves is painted agulnst^a back-ground of the white silk. Another beautiful gown waß of organdie muslin vividly painted with apples and cherries. No doubt tho painted gown Is the correct thing. t: i! ji Another novel Idea which gay Paree has brought forth m the wearing of .holiday or morning dresses, is the use 'of the wearer's monogram. Usually these gowna are ln material of a light texture, such as white flannel, and are trimmed with blue braid. About the neck hangs a narrow etrip of blue velvet. Reveres turn back from a Vahaped neck, and m the contro of this if worked, m large letters of dark blue silk the wearer's monogram. Worn round the waist is a wide girdle of material the same as the frock., i: ti ii The old adage about never counting, your chickens before thoy aro hatched, was forcibly brought home to the Prohibitionists m Wellington last weok. So sure were they that Prohibition would be carried thai, tho Town Hall was engaged for a big Thanksgiving Service. ! In America lately they have been trying to find out the reason of the divorce disease. Ono judge, commenting on tho subject, cays: "The 1 woman who allows a corps of servants to run her home while she races from golf courso to bridge party, to dinner dance, to theatre, to cabaret and back again, cannot hopo to make hor marriage a success. '

"Would Like to Know" (Welling-, ton) : Read It again, old dear. Who said It was the New Zealand Cup? Find out what Boadicea paid and then you will realise the correctness of the paragraph. Glad to see you take such an interest ln this: column." ! "Bamboozled" (Dunedin): Webster gives the pronunciation of "Contrary" as optional, with either a long "a" or a short "a". The complete ' failure of the Prohibition vote has convinced one of its advocates that it -is no use going on, and the best thing to do now is to press for reform of the licensing trade. The advocate concerned is the Rev. Fielden Taylor. He stated his mind m his sermon last Sunday, when he told his congregation that.it was no use being o"bstinate and continuing the fight, for the people had said plainly that they would not/ haye it. He confessed himself sick of the whole, business, and saidVhe did not want to see another vote for twelve years. We can now expect the Canon to join the reform movement advocated by some of the leading lights m the Church of England. "M.8.C." also hears that the Prohibs. have lost two very keen workers at Feilding m the persons of the Cobbes. Father and son were both very outspoken m their condemnation of the Trade m the past, but if half one hears is true they will m future withdraw their support from the Prohibitionists.