These are Fashionable Fads.

Otago Witness, Issue 2363, 8 June 1899, Page 52

These are Fashionable Fads.

juce this change-? Tie cause lies in the loss of the true old German character, such as one saw in the -days of the first Strauss. Vienna was then a purely German town, and the Germans represented the intellectual and elegant elements in the daily life. Vienna Is, however, no longer a German city, but a conglomeration of the worst elements of other inferior ra<;es. At the Court alone dancing is to be seen as it ought to be.' Herr van Hamme, the leading dancing master of Vienna , said that the modern successor of the .old 'Laendler' and the knightly torch dances ■ — the waltz — was danced in Europe as ungracefully and inelegantly as possible. .There was far too much 'hop' and too little of the glide/ and people no longer recognised in dancing an essential bodily training and an indispensable element of deportment. Dancing was considered as something superfluous, and people only learnt it Jialf-heartedly, being satisfied if they were fcible to keep themselves turning on one foot #nd then, on the other."

— Princess Louise Marchioness of Lome, Jias made the art of forestry one of her 'studies and pastimes. Since Lord Lome jbought from Bis father the estate of Eose(a transaction which took place in avowed avoidance of the death duties) she has interested herself immensely in the wellbeing of the glorious timber for which the Neighbourhood is famous. Two giant silver firs, named respectively Adam and Eve, Which grow in the lovely wood known as Lady Carriers Garden, are the chief pride Eoseneath. Their trunks girth over 20ft Jit, lyd from the" ground, and they are 130 ft pa. height. They were planted by a Marquis of Argyll 300 years ago, and tradition jleclares they were brought from the Continent in two flower pots. Princess Louise noticed with dismay that the tops of the jboughs were showing signs of decay, so the jsoil round the roots has been trenched and jenriched to give the noble pair fresh strength in their struggle with the centuries, i

— Madame de Navarro, better known to fame as Miss Mary Anderson, is so ideally happy in her married life that she shudders at the very thought of returning to the Stage, which she adorned so much and left so soon. First in Tunbridge Wells, and $hen in the charming Worcestershire village i()f Broadway, their present home, she and tier husband have been supremely happy, .Tfith their, singing, music, picnics, and country rambles, and, later, with their son and heir. They have wandered all over the Continent together. —No matter what is the style of the moment, the foremost costumiers are called upon nowadays to make each garment more or less unique. Fashionable women nearly always insist that there shall be some little detail in each article to distinguish it from jothers of similar pattern. 1 — The flowers that bloom in the spring millinery are a veritable flower show, and represent all the well known and many Jittle known blossoms As usual, the violet ttH everywhere, and in combination with many unlikely friends. Quite a novelty is & toque of pink-toned satin straw, decoxated with violets and the rare Edelweiss, 'a, lovelj r combination. Time was when roses did not dare to bloom on millinery till the Rummer, but the spring models show clusaiers- of full-blo^h blush-pink roses, and big Jbunches of rich dark damask roses. In coloured straws mauves and pinks predominate, while long black ostrich feathers ifigure largely in the garniture, held together by a large buckle or diamond true lovers' knot.

— Perfume pills a_re the latest fad. Most <of the West End chemists sell them in lieu jof the fashionable sachet powder. The spills are very fragrant, scented with violet, Jteliotrope, white lilac, and rose, and are £old in little round boxes, like a tiny 'feonbonniere. And now as to the use of They ar& certainly not swallowed. iThe woman of fashion slips one in her pocket, another in her glove, and the third sucked in her corsage. The uninitiated plight take her for a walking medifiine chest, but the iip-to-date girl knows better. She understands that the pills are warranted to be sweet-scented, and that they are the latest substitute for the sachet bag. They give just that faint, delicate suggestion of fragrance desired by the refined woman.

— It is estimated that since Madame JPatti made her debut in New York 40 years ago her voice has brought her more than £1,000,000, or the astonishing average income of £25,000 a year. During her South American tour, 10 years ago, her 24 concerts produced no less a sum than j£90,000 ; and of this amount, her own Bhare was £38,400, or £1600 for each conjbert.

— The old order ever changeth — giving jplace to the new — and very often coming found again to the original ancient fashion pr custom. The button, whether meant lor use or ornament or both combined, is mo exception to tliis rule, and this season an old mode of garnishing our garments ;with quaint and beautiful specimens of the "same is to be much in vogue. Of course, if real old silver heirlooms of this description are possessed, they are to be valued 'beyond the price of rubies, from the modiste's point of view at any rate, but the most coveted, perhaps, of all these ornamental fastenings are the buttons formed of cameos, each "a perfect treasury in itself. &s it is only given to the very smallest fraction of womankind to be the proud possessors of these relics of a bygone age, latterVlay nineteenth century ingenuity has set to work to produce as perfect imitations as possible. And many of these newlvmanufactured productions are quite as dainty and picturesque as their older fellows, but. of course, miss the odd charm of association which always clings about the latter. — The girl of the period Relights to have every detail of her costume en suite. and certainly this is one of the secrets of smart dressing. So umbrella, purse, and " even hat pins introduce the prevailing tint in the well-dressed woman. Keeping this ' fact in mind the manufacturers have put upon the market the very daintiest of cream-coloured morocco purses to be in keeping .with our jwhite suiting when the bright • days come — pretty soft gilt-bound articles which will not soil even the most delicate of white gloves. — Home paper. ** — ft was Madame Marchesi, the famous teacher of singing, who said of Madame Melba,, her pupil, "As a rocalist she more

The end of the century is marked by an abnormal growth of fads in fashionable circles. Many of these are eccentric and foolish to the last degree ; whilst a few embody graceful conceptions. Among the latter must be reckoned the " engagement dinner," which has come to us from America. This is, as its name implies, a dinner designed in honour of an engagement to marry. At such a dinner white flowers of every description are used in abundance. The dining room is converted into a bower of white roses, and over the dining table the fragrant flowers droop in festoons or arches.

At more than one recent dinner swans floating on mimic lakes in the form of silvered plate-glass, have formed the central decoration of the table. The menus are printed in silver, and bear the embossed and intertwined initials of bride and bridegroom. Another society fad in vogue in Paris takes the form of a " menu dinner." Each guest must appear in the guise of some particular dish of which the menu is composed. One lady, for example, will wear, as coiffure a representation of " mayonnaise salad," another will figure as "lobster patties," wine-jelly, or even Stilton cheese. The utmost rivalry and skill are exercised in making these mimic dishes as realistic as possible. When the guests are all assembled at table in the exact order in which the dishes they represent will be served, they form a living menu as uniqu* as, truth to say t it is ridicaknuk

Another foolish. fißshion. which is

„~. x«.»x~. — growing in popularity in Paris, and lias alreadytaken root in London, is the practice of a

wearing live jewel." Tliese are usually m the form of two diminutive tortoises dangling fi'om each end of a gold chain of very delicate workmanship. The tortoises, which come from Bengal, are covered with tiny gems of all the tints of the rainbow, and as they dangle or crawl at will over the bosoms of their fair if foolish wearers, they throw out a fitful blaze of manycoloured lights, which, to the uninitiated,

is full of mystery. - Amongst a hundred similar fashions, graceful and g f ote S(l ue, perhaps the mosfsensible is the grooving practice with society women of spending a few days each year in retreat, where they can detach themselves from vanities ancLtake spiritual stock of themselves. These retreats are numerous in America especially, and are usually the convents of some order of sisters. To these convents jaded society women nock every year in hundreds for a period of three or more days. This time is spent in rigid silence,- in meditation, fasting, and prayer. All intercourse with the outer world is forbidden, and white caps are worn as a badge of sisterhood.

When the stay is ended, they flock back again to the haunts of fashion and qualify by another round of dissipation for next year's brief penitence.

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