LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 1890, 10 February 1888, Page 34

LADIES' GOSSIP.

— A yellow wedding is one of the latest freaks. The bridesmaids are in yellow, the decorations yellow, the laces yellow, the ilowers yellow— everything, in short, but the bride, who is of course all white, wears that jaundiced hue. The effect is somewhat trying and more suggestive of a rousing bilious attack than the gentle, amorous scene a fashionable marriage ceremony seeks to be. —The Duchess of Edinburgh visited Rome during November, preserving the strictest incognito duri2ig her stay. " Madame Rolf e," as she chose to be called, doubtless found it more agreeable to visit the many interesting monuments and splendid galleries of the Eternal City without being encumbered by ceremony. Her children joined her the moiTiing she left for Naples on her way to rejoin the Duke at Malta, and the Duchess caused her little girls to be conveyed straight from the railway station to St. Peter's, in order that their first impressions of Rome might be associated with the great basilica and the galleries of the Vatican. — A novel entertainment was given a short ime ago at Newport (U.S.). It was a dance n the stable on Mrs Gilbert's estate on Bellevue avenue. The stalls were adorned with flowers, and transformed into charming little sitting rooms, with rugs on the floors, small tables with lamps, and comfortable chairs. There were flowers in the mangers and flowers on the sides, and bunches of straw tied with ribbons in the corners. There were also flowers in the carriagehouse, which was used as the ballroom. Saddles and bridles, tennis nets, balls and bats, bows and arrows and oars, were artistically arranged, and the effect was as picturesque as it was unique. —Miss Lefiler-Armm's statement, in a lectare she recently delivered at St. Saviour's Hospital, that she had heard of ladies holding on to a cross-bar while their niciids laced their waists in the 15in corset, has excited many expressions of incredulity. The lady has, however, The Queen remarks, but told of a practice of tight-lacing which is, if not carried to such exaggeration, yet a prevailing habit, growing rather than diminishing since the fashion of tight walking-jackets has come in, —It appears almost incredible that in Paris no fewer than 30,000 women find their living by making artificial ilowers. The majority of them are said to be real artists, imitating Nature almost to perfection, with exquisite taste and well-developed imagination. The rose, in the workshop of the fieuriste, is the masterpiece. If theartof making a rose is acquired the maker is supposed to be able to imitate any other flower, the rose being considered as particularly developing the imagination of young artists. As in other branches of industry, there are specialists in the flower factories, the buds, the foliage, and the mounting being done by different people. ' —The English Rational Dress Society has had the impertinence to forward to the Empress of Japan " a letter of respectful remonstrance on her Majesty's departure from the healthy and rational fashions of her jancestors to adopt the barbarous innovations of fashion." The occasion which seems to Ijave called forth this protest is the fact of the Empress having ordered from M. Worth 3, number of gowns, rpade according to the Jatest Parisian fashion, for her own use, and that of her ladies-in-waiting-. "With that Jove of flowers for which her nation are so distinguished, the Empress has directed that the hues of the dresses are to fqllow the polour-scheme of certain blossoms, the designs chosen for her Majesty's own wear being chiefly based on the chrygantheraum—

emblem of happiness, and the imperial flower. —Only 33, a grandmother and twice a widow, isn't found every day in the week, but there was a pretty little woman on Chestnut street, Philadelphia, on Saturday afternoon who enjoys that rather remarkable distinction. Her name is Mrs Gertrude Gadden, and she is the widow of John P. Gadden, of San Francisco. At the age of 15 she married a gentleman named Herbert, and a year later became the mother of a girl baby. At the age of 20 Mrs Herbert lost her husband, and donned widow's weeds, which she wore for 12 years. Her daughter, rather precocious, mentally and physically, followed her mother's example on the day Mrs Herbert became Mrs Gadden. A year later a child was born to the daughter. Six months before this Mr Gadden was killed by being thrown from a horse in Los Angeles. Mrs Gadden is a rosy cheeked, prettj little woman, and looks very little older than her daughter.— Philadelphia Press. —One of the counties in the State of New York has lately been the scene of a spirited contest between Miss Ella Cook (Prohibition candidate), and Miss Nellie Clark (Democratic) for the position of school commissioner for the district. The result has not yet reached us, but although Miss Cook had at last advices "made four campaign speeches " it was prophesied that her rival would win the day, the Republican party themselves admitting that Miss Clark was " making serious inroads on their vote," the reason of her success being apparently that she was " particularly handsome and vivacious," only two-and-twenty, was possessed of " a fortune of her own," had sown the country broadcast with her photographs, and had all the younger men at work canvassing for her in every town and village. —Heels on shoes first originated with the Persians. A person of low stature was regarded as an object of contempt, and, therefore, the heel was the happy thought of some one of the unfortunates, thus providing by the ait that which Nature denied. But, as in modern fashions, it was carried to excess, persons who were already too tall to look well adopting them because they were the style. —The Queen of Spain, who has a sweet voice, has been persuaded by the Infanta Isabella, herself an accomplished musician, and by other friends, to take lessons of M. Napoleon Verger, who is famed in Paris as a vocalist, master, and instrumentalist of great ability. —A full length mirror in the vestibule of an American church enables the bride to see how she looks before she marches up the aisle to be married.

— In the most recherche circles of Zanibar the ladies wear gold dollars on rings inserted in their noses, and the more gold dollars a woman wears the more exclusive she considers herself. A woman who can string 25 or 30 gold dollars on her nose ring is acknowledged to be an aristocrat from away back, and can snub her less favoured sisters with impunity. —The following items are by the Home correspondent of the §outh Australian Chronicle: We have just seen the 43rd anniversary of the Princess of Wales' birthday. To look at our beloved Princess one would hardly credit that she had passed tho meridian of the span of human life. Her face and figure seem to belie the chronicles of time. Although consideiably older than the Princess Beatrice, she has the appearance of being her junior; this, perhaps, is owing to her girlish, graceful figure, the Princess Beatrice being rather matronly looking. The Princess of Wales is of a very sensitive temperament, and her nerves have been highly strung by her motherly solicitude during the recent indisposition of her daughter. Her Royal Highness is unfortunately very deaf. This infliction she inherits from her mother, the Danish Queen. The Princess also suffers from sleeplessness. The medical faculty attending her Royal Highness prescribed bromide to promote sleep ; at first it had the desired effect, bub latterly the draughts have not been so effectual, and restless nights add to the nervousness that affects the royal lady. lam glad to hear that the Duchess of Cumberland is progressing favourably; the baby prince is said to be very healthy, and makes the sixth child born to the duke and duchess. —Last summer ladies freely patronised white silk gloves ; they are most economical wear, and if of good quality silk will bear repeated washing and look well to the last. The all-white toilets of our ladies during the hot weather were greatly admired, and not only young but quite elderly women appeared in white, and looked charming in what at one time was considered a juvenile colour only, and to wear which after 30 would have certainly provoked uncomplimentary and satirical remarks.

—In Paris ladies of fashion no longer wear " dittoes," as they are called, meaning that every detail of the costume must correspond in colour. lam sorry, for I think women never look so well dressed as now, when every item is either of one particular colour or otherwise is shaded up to it by harmonious gradations. Some women have no eye for colour, and their contrasts are often as startling as hideous. Hats, mantles, hosiery, and gloves are no longer bound to be of one particular hue. —Shot silks are all the fashion, and the palesque shades they emit give a gown quite chameleon-like aspect, for in one light one could positively assert it was blue, in another pink, next green, and maybe purple or steel. It is surprising how many surfaces a piece of shot silk will present in the course of the day. M. Worth, the great costumier, does not make entire gowns of this silk, but introduces panels of it in woollen textiles. Frequently these panels are embroidered with flowers by hand, and their elegant appearance is thereby greatly augmented. Milliners use shot ribbons to the exclusion of all others.

—It is pathetic to read that when the new President went to the'Elysee to put himself on a familiar footing with the household, and announce himself more particularly to the dethroped statesman, he found President Grevy surrounding by his grandchildren. It was a touching and dignified situation, and full of pathos. It is s,aid the late. President was greatly beloved by the servants and other officials employed at the Elysee.

—The brides of to-day are wearing white mpire trammed with, golden otter fyr, Qn.e

! set of bridesmaids looked charming, dressed in pink surah with bands of beaver both, on skirts and jackets ; their bonnets of pink silk ; were edged with beaver; they carried beaver fur muffs; and their gloves, hose, and shoes S were of the same colour as the fur, or as near a match as might be. Lemon-coloured China silk is also worn by bridesmaids, and may be j trimmed with white or beige-coloured lace, or with feather trimming. —Shoes are made in coloured leather to match costumes worn with them, and paste | buckles are in great request as a trimming ' for them. The " Queen Anne " shoe has given place to a more elaborate style— straps, bows, and other trimming coming well up on the instep. Mixed colours are used to form | some shoe trimmings, and very special attention to chaussures is given by all leaders of fashion. —Braiding and embroidery are the fashionable trimmings at the present moment. Many ladies are executing the work themselves, using Briggs' patterns for a guide. These patterns are to be had in sets, different shaped pieces to be employed for the bodice, I and also for the panels of the skirt. A Beautiful Experiment. The following beautiful chemical experiment may be easily performed to the great astonishment of many at a party. Take two or three leaves of red cabbage, cut them into small pieces, put them into a basin, and pour a pintof boiling water on them ; let it stand an hour, then pour off the liquid in a decanter. It will be a fine blue colour. Then take four wineglasses ; into one put six drops of strong vinegar ; into another put six drops of solution of soda ; into a third the same quantity of strong solution of alum, and let the fourth glass remain empty. The glasses may be prepared some time before, and the few j drops of colourless liquid that have been placed in them will not be noticed. Fill up the glasses from the decanter, and the liquid poured into the glass containing the acid will quickly become a beautiful red ; the glass ! containing the soda will be a fine green ; that poured into the empty one will remain unchanged. By adding a little vinegar to the green it will immediately change to a red, and on adding a little solution of soda to the red it will assume a fine graen, thus showing the action of acids and alkalies on vegetable blues.— Youth. A Chinese Imperial Outfit. The choice of the bride for the young Emperor of China has at last been made, and in due time the daughter of the Duke of Chao, the brother of the present Empress, will be Empress of the Celestial Empire. Although the wedding will probably not take place before 1889, thousands of hands are already busy with the lady's trousseau and wedding presents, which have probably never been equalled in wealth at any other court. The following, says the Pall Mall Gazette, are the ] presents which the young Emperor is presenting his fiancee before their marriage, after the actual engagement present, which j consists of a gold seal, richly inlaid with jewels, the handle being formed by two gold dragons. Up to a month previous to the wedding the lady is presented with 10 piebald hors.es, with complete trappings ; 10 gilt helmets and cuirasses, 100 pieces of satin of the first quality, and 200 pieces of cotton \ material. As wedding presents the bride re- I ceives 200oz of gold, 10,000oz (taels) of silver, one gold tea service, consisting of teapot and one cup, with a lid ; one silver tea service, two silver wash-basins, 1000 pieces of satin of the best quality, 20 horses with complete trappings, 20 horses without trappings, 20 saddles for packhorses and mules. The parents of the lady receive also lOOoz of gold, one gold tea-set, 5000 taels silver, one silver tea-set, one silver wash-basin, 500 pieces of silk, 1000 pieces of cotton material, six horses completely harnessed, a helmet and cuirass, a bow and quiver with arrows, each parent one court dress for summer and one for -winter, one everyday dress and a sable coat. The brothers and servants of the bride also receive rich and costly presents. The bride's hats are the most remarkable articles ; among the rich trousseau. The winter court hat has a rim of sable, the crown is made from red velvet, from the centre of which rises a button composed of three parts, each ! of which is ornamented with three small oblong pearls of particular beauty and 17 j ordinary pearls, while in the centre of each part another splendid pearl is set in gold, and surmounted by a gold phcenix. The button is surrounded by seven gold phoenixes, of which each, is inlaid with seven large and 21 small pearls and a cat's eye. At the back of the hat, below the button, a gold pheasant is pkced with one cat's eye and 16 pearls. The tail of the pheasant is divided into five parts by 302 small and five large pearls, forming a pendant, the centre of which is made of a lapis lasuli surrounded by pearls. At the end of the pendant a big coral is sus- j pended. A collar is fastened at the back to ! the hat, the outside of which is of sable, the inside of bright yellow material, with velvet ribbons embroidered at the end with diamoncs. The three gala court dresses are of a dark blue colour, with borders of gold embroidery, and large dragons embroidered all over the dresses, while down the front t are sewn in gold thread the words " WanFu" (eternal happiness) and "Wan-Shon" 1 (eternal life). The necklaces and chains are of an enormous value, and composed for the most part of pearls, turquoises, corals, and diamonds. A handkerchief which is worn in the belt is green, richly embroidered, trimmed with tassels of jewels and yellow ribbons. A gala apron of red and blue satin, trimmed with otter skin and embroidered in gold, dragon fans, and skirts of- many different kinds are also part of this gorgeous outfit, and the furniture for the future Empress is keeping every trade brisk throughout China. French awl English Coolting. A London writer, in explaining the difference between English cookery and that of the French, says:— "ln preparing butchers' meat for the table the aim of French cookery is to make it tender, of English to make it hard. And both systems equally effect their object, in spite of tho difficulties on each side. The French butchers' meat is : tough, coarse - grained, and 6tringy ; yet i French COOkery sen#s it to tbe talple tender. The English butchers' meat is tender, enough when it comes home, but domestic cookery sends it to the table hard. Don/t tell me the hardness is in the inpat itself. Nothing of, the &nd j it ip a,ltogQvher an achievement

of the English cuisine. I appeal to a leg of mutton, I appeal to a beefsteak, as they usually come to the table; the beef half: broiled, the mutton half roasted. Judge for yourself. The underdone portion of each is tender ; the portion that's done is hard. Ergo, the hardness is due to the dressing, not .to the meat; it is a triumph of domestic cookery. — Cheer. New Mode of Washing, The ill effects of soda on linen have given rise to a new method of washing, which has been extensively adopted in Germany and introduced into Belgium. The operation consists in dissolving 2lb of soap in about 3gal of water as hot as the hand can bear, and adding to this one tablespoonf ul of turpentine and three of liquid ammonia. The mixture must then be well stirred, and the linen steeped in it for two or three hours, taking care to cover up the vessel containing them as nearly hermetically as possible. The clothes are afterwards washed out and rinsed in the usual way. The soap and water may be reheated and used a second time, but in that case half a tablespoonfnl of turpentine and a tablespoonflul of ammonia must be added. The process is said to cau?e a great economy of time, labour, and fuel. The linen scarcely suffers at all, as there is little necessity for rubbing, and its cleanliness and colour are perfect. The ammonia and turpentine, although their detersive action is great, have no injurious effect upon the linen, and while the former evaporates immediately, the smell of the latter is said to disappear entirely during the drying of the clothes.