LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 1834, 14 January 1887, Page 31

LADIES' GOSSIP.

— Prince Carl, of Sweden, is 6fb high and 23 years old, the favourite of the royal family, with broad shoulders, and a face of the classic type. His photograph is found in every window, on bottles of cologne, boxes of face powder, packages of candy, and everything else that will catch the eye of the women of Stockholm, who adore the handsome young Prince. He is democratic in his manner, and a favourite of the, people.

— The very newest of all the agonies is fora young lady to have her hand photographed and send it. to her best young man. This signifies " "Twas mine ; 'tis yours," etc.

—A Japanese lady, Miss Hirata, has entered West Maryland College for a three years' course, preparatory to entering on mission work in her native country. •

— The Empress of Japan has ordered £15,000 worth of dresses from Paris.

— In Philadelphia there are eight women practising as physicians, who earn over £5000 a-pieceper annum.

— It is a curious fact that the designate of the arch enemy of mankind is given to so many places, and adopted by certain corporate bodies. For example, the Inns of Court volunteers are familiarly known as the "Devil's Own," and a curious anecdote in connection with her Majesty is related of this corps. When the Queen held the great review in Hyde Park in 1860, " The Devil's Own," were a very dashing set, and marched proudly past their sovereign 664 strong. "What is it they are playiwg?" said the Queen to the staff officer. " ' Go to the devil and shake yourself,' your Majesty," was the relevant and truthful but apparently outrageous answer given to the royal question.

— The bride's veil originated in the AngloSaxon custom of performing the marriage ceremony under a square piece of cloth, held at each corner by z tall man over the bridegroom and bride to conceal her blushes. The veil was not used at the marriage of widows.

— Florence Nightingale, in her letter of reply to the request that she should unveil the statue of Sister Dora, lately erected at Walsall, says : — " I would fain say what I cannot say, how deeply touched I am by the feeling of your town that I should unveil the statue of your own sister Dora, and of the world's honoured Sister Dora ; and wonld you kindly tell them so, as 'well as my deep regret that, overworked and a prisoner from illness for years, as you have favoured me by calljng upon me I cannot answer to your, (jalir

I* —A. bridal couple ,'tnat I ' sailed^ from New York for Europe the other 'day A hlad sent to them, as a present, a liye/'doye with a jewelled collar, '" ', ," ' ' ' o —It is said her Majesty 'the Queen at last recognises the need „• of providing a separate establishment for." Prince, and Princess Henry of Battenburg, and. that she "is desirous of taking Princess Irene of Hesse to fill the place, of Princess Beatrice as companion to her Majesty.;' ' , '/'/jV,; ; —At a recent New..lor|c wedding the bridesmaid was herself engaged to marry the bridegroom a year ago. ,L, is f> ' ' —Short waists,'" after the!styie.of the first empire, "are p be" the . f asbiori .""in , Paris this winter, if trie leading dressmakers "can manage to persuade, their fair, customers to dis^ figure themselves like .their ancestresses. . —Lady Eden has added ,fhe making of cigarettes by machinery, to the many varieties of work which; the guild, founded by. her for finding lucrative employment for educated women; has .plaqed within the reach of those who " to' beg are ashamed." —The social position of the English clergy was not always one of respect and consideration, as, happily, at the" present day. From the latter half of the seventeenth century down to about • the middle* of the eighteenth, the 'position of the inferior clergy was regarded somewhat in the same light as that of tipper- servants, to whom no young lady wo.uld -be guilty "of showing any favour, much less of giving Ber hand. The domestic chaplain was relegated to the servants' hall for his4neals; wa¥ expected to do " a bit of gardening " ; and in< short to make himself generally useful in return for his bed and board, with, perhaps, a salary of £10 a year. A waiting-maid, or one of the upper femile servants was -considered good enough as a wife for his reverence, and not infrequently the onus of such a helpmate was tacked on to the gift of 'i family living when the time came for .rewarding the' chaplain's services with a pension', thus killing t;wo birds with one stone, and with' all due econony. — Photographyon silk has been successfully tried, and is expected to provide us with many novelties. The process' will enable'us to add to the floral and other designs on dress fabric* and upholstery stuffs, with which we have hitherto had to content ourselves, many new and lovely patterns; And if the long-sought art of photography in colours can also be perfected and applied 1 to" silken • materials, just think of the lovely dress panels,' parasols, curtains, &c, &c. which we could have at small cost I

— It is related that while United State* Minister Cox Was in Constantinople he and his wife asked a- lady of high birth, but a native "of the country, to take a drive with them one afternoon, and she consented to go. As soon, however, as they> drove ori to the street the driver was arrested and the carriage ordered back by- the police. This was owing to the existence of a law in Constants nople that no native woman of noble family shall be seen driving in public 'with foreigners or persons not of the Moslem faitb. —The London market is flooded with diamonds. The yield, in the Eouth- African fields is said to be" about 'one<ton per month. — Rosa Bonheur .and half-a-dozen other ladies are knights— form- the .masculine for Chevalier is retained in their ckse— of the Legion of Honour: 1 An addition'has just been made to their number. ' Madame Dieulafoy, wife of the. head of thte" Archaeological Mission at Susiana; was recently formally decorated at -the Louvre. She has in the last five years made several archaeological journeys in Persia 1 , and has enriched the Louvre with some ancient and admirable friezes. M. Goblet desired the ceremony to take place in ■ the room where these treasures are deposited. .'Madame Dieu» lafoy is a yonng and delicate-looking woman.

—The Queen of Scioba (Africa) is said by the famous traveller, Count Antonelli, to be quite a power in her husband's kingdom. " Woe to the man," he remarks, "who does not carry oufe her wishes."- The royal pair intrusted the Count with some commissions to be executed for them in Rome. Both of their majesties order shoes and stockings, but the queen alone specifies of what sort they must be— gloves and stockings of .black silk, shoes of black satin ; 12. Crystal toilet bottles; 25 pictures ofi,, sacred 'subjects, one a J copy of a Madonna of Raphael. Two portraits of hideous but saintly Ethiopians are also sent to be copied in the European manner and returned to their admirers. ' THE COMING FASHIONS.

■' The are no' toilettes so chic as thbsfe which represent one colour only, or otherwise carefully graduated tones of the same colour. The dyers have discovered certain lovely shades which go by those designations, but they are a great improvement on the colours so-called in by-goneyears, which had, as a rule, most disastrous effects on the complexion. The heliotropes of to-day have a pinkish huo which can be seen in the petunia flower, and this is far more generally .becoming than the unrelieved mauve which we- -wore so dangerously to our good looks in the year.-* that are no more.

At several fashionable weddings I noticed mauve as being worn by the bridesmaids. In one instance the dresses were of tulle, trimmed with two-inch- satin ribbon of the same shade. The ribbon laid on across the draped fronts of the dresses gare the idea of diagonal stripes. Wide sashes .of mauve silk pinked at the edge were tied in big dropping loops at the back so as to give a bunched appearance, the ends of the sash reaching the edge of the gown. ' Bonnets of, inauye tulle trimmed with a flower botanically named " scabious " were also worn ; they were stringless and raised high in front. Gloves of mauve and kid -and. bouquets o£ heliotrope completed these charming, toilets. The second batch of .bridesmaids, whose gowns attracted me, wore mauve surah silk,- the intricate draperies being caught ; up' here and therewith quaint silver .buckles. -Bonnets of the same material made Be,be fashion, with small white*borders inside.* 'These gave a quaint look that was uncommon and much admired. ■ ,-,- , ■

Though for too&oldifor- us to wear them now, I will remind my. reade.es. of .the information I gave sowe^ months* back, .-in relation to the mauve cottons with patterns of spots, or stripes \n white or otherwise }n d»rk#

setf-cojour, which; were worn so popularly in , .'England during/ the, past summer. 1 These* lovely cotton's made up' with' white' or -blade 1 lace ' were transferred! ' into really ; elegant gowns, fit to Wear at fetes of any sort when taking place, in' what is known in society's vocabnlary as'tfte jnorning, even though that, means literally 'an advandedhour in the afternoon. . • „ ' ' , , ' Kid gloves are again dyed in many of the old-fashioned pronounced colours, sneh aa vivid yellow greens, jinks', bright blues, and even yellows:" As English women as a rule, haye 1 not small hands, the" objectionable ' tendency of. stfofi : 'colours' is to' givd an appearance bf"jßize,and would not be overlooked. ' The yellow-greten -I refer, to is a distinct return to a shade of colour that I have never seen before except in a ohest of olothes that . belonged to my mother in her girlhood. ' It is' 'rather a taking' shade, but I fear it will prove terribly unbecoming. For how few can boast that typicaJ'delicacy' of skin belonging to the sweetheart of, a certiin enam'oureq son of Erin, who declared — • Her cheeks are like rosee. 'Her Ilpe nre s the sumo, Like a dlah of fresh strawberries, timotliered in c ame. The exigencies of rhyme compel the mispronunciation of the final. , Very charming^ are,the,silk, net, and lace arrangements .for the fronts of our dressbodices; most of- the, newer ones are made in pointed stomaoher .fashion,- lying, quite flat over the bust. ' •• 'Point d'esprit " (fine spotted net) is much used for these ; beads* of 'various , colours and pearls and black beads are added to stud heavier;' materials. , ,I,,saw:ione silk stomacher covered with tiny falling rings of black beads. • In ; a'nqther case fine seed pearls 1 were sewn on in the same way on a foundation of 'blaok^ilk.- A pretty way of fashioning a dress.b^odiceisthefoUowing : — Makeit pointed back,a«&fr<M (long points)and very short on the hips. , ;C.ut ? away^ the upper part of the , corsage until you have a long V both back and front. ,On the shoulders the material should be cut aw,ay to , the. middle of the shoulder seain^ Fill in with velvet, and have a high velvet collar at the throat. Outline the opening , with folds of silk, wide at the.shoulders, bnt ,narrowing to nothing when /the point.is reached." There is a seam down the middle of the back, and both velvet and silk folds on. either side are sewn into St. " - ■ , •' • Among other -dress trimmings now in vogue are sailor , collars and ties, made in various coloured They are a tasteful adjustable addition to many toilettes, and somepf the more expensive are rather, ela- , borate. jOne I specially remarked had an upper covering of open embroidery worked in red silk on a red foundation. This open work wbb laid over • a plain red , sailor ' collar, the bow- 'and ends in front being made of • plain and ' embroidered material •everally. I have seen a red collar of this class worn above a dark blue gown, there being a panel on the left side of corresponding , red material. .1 have also seen in another case the red silk embroidery laid over a blue, silk foundation ; in short, there ' are endless- ways of varying these pretty adjuncts to the toilette. Beaded nets are universal, and my readers , in Australia, can. utilise them for mantles when those additional coverings are needed to give required, substance and additional elegance without adding to the warmth of the garment ; a coloured lining of soft silk is more desireable. . All aorta of quaint silver and oxidised metal clasps are worn to confine waistcoats, skirts, draperies;' to fasten mantles, jackets, Jic. ; The old Norwegian silver is in great request, but as.it is very costly excellent imitations of. this lovely filigree silver can be bad at a moderate cost. Delicate and dainty underwear is significant of a certain refinement, of taste, and a , great deal of attention, is being given to the decoration of nightdresses and other garments which are intended for day wear. Fine coloured cambric in navy blue, pale blue, and pale pink is used for such articles when silk cannot be afforded, but washing hilk oil cream tor.c dotted closely with ilnest spots, in various colours is the material par excellence for ladies' underwear. The garment is cut and frilled just, as calico and Irisli linen us^d" to be, but there is now to be seen a band, a heading beyond the frills, and this i« worked in cross-stitch with blue and, red In "grain .'cotton. Books of designs, more or less elaborate, are sold at the fancy repositories, and with only a little expenditure of money and trouble most, beautiful trimmings are wrought. These bands when laid on the spotted silk prove an elegant set-of to the original beauty of the material and the garments of which it is the basis. — S. A. Chronicle's Home Correspondeni.