LADIES' GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2808, 8 January 1908, Page 73

LADIES' GOSSIP.

— One of the signs of the times (says "Pearl" in the London- Reader) is that woman is not considered a facetious subject "now, as used to be. There was a .time when the toast of "The Ladies" was known to stand, for a> fire of remarks

rut amusing enough to bs called jokes and - not sensible enough to be worth listening to on any other score. There are some lifter-dinner^ speakers wao still cling to this idea. It lingers yery strongly in the - class which still has a sit-down breakfast and speeches .after a wedding. It is associated with the abhorred phrase, "the fair sex" ; it is coupled with the incessant chaffing of engaged couples and eligible pereons in each other's presence ; in -fact, it* is a remnant of a phase of " vulgarity - which w». are fast leaving behind., : . — Attractive - manners sura even more necessary to the success of a woman than a man doctor. When (flays fche Grentle- * woman) ;a man is brusque in his manner there will always be found women ready tot make excuses for him— that he is "bo good '«t heart," that he has "such* a nice TOaßterful way," and co on ad infinitum. 'But a, woman -who- is "not. sympathetic, kind, and long-suffering gets but scant, toleration, Women are always ready tb criticise tneir own. sex ajid to suspect tftem of incapacity. They often have a? lurking suspicion, at the back of their minds that it js utterly impossible' for a woman ooctor tc- be reliable, simply- because ehe ffe * woman.. Many patients like to conde all their family secrets to their doctor $ ttt the mistaken conviction, that- women

cannot keep a secret may 6eal some patients' lips and prevent them from unburdening their soule to the feminine physician, •** Woman's long skirts must be % dread.-

ful trial to her in wet weather^and Lady Harberton thinks there are signs just now of a reform. One sign is that within the last year or two a considerable number of ladies have taken to riding astride, instead of making use of that instrument of tortare both to themselves and their horses knows as the side-saddle. She suggests that men should try- walking upstairs dressed in a skirt and carrying a coalscuttle not too brightly -■olished, and then they would be much more sympathetic towards dress reform. Lady Harb&rton made these remarks at the. opening of an artistic dress exhibition, being herself t attired in a voluminous "rational costume. In a dress like -that, she remarked, she had cycled many thousands of miles, and she had never felt anything but the most sincere pity for the women who called out and laughed at her because of her drees. —In seeming contrast with her artistic tastes, Princess Elizabeth of Belgium has a practical turn of mind. Some time ago she founded a -cooking . school for ladies in reduced circumstances in Brussels. She hag. now followed this up with a school of millinery, where young women of the middle and upper classes can, by a six months' course of study,, become accomplished modistes."^ The Princess isaregiilar visitor to this, establishment, and throws out hints and • suggestions to the pupils herself. A celebrated Parisian dressmaker, after having made a tour of the Continent . extending from Lisbon to Bucharest, declared : "Princess Elizabeth of Belgium is the best-gowned princess in Europe to-day. She is a natural-born artist, as we all know, and her artistic temperament is particularly evident in her manner of dressing. The Princess, as a matter of fact, designs her own gowns. , Her latest creation is an adaptation of the prevalentByzantine fashion — a violet blouse and skirt trimmed with Byzantine embroidery and gold-threaded lace. The pattern for this embroidery was made by Princess Jiiizabeth herself, and is perhaps the most artistic design of the kind I have yet seen." The Princess's favourite colour is violet, and she" has done much to make tms tint fashionable in the Belgian capital. — For many veal's now the wearing of deep mourning has been losing importance. From a common-sense point of view there are many things to be said in favour of its abolition, and in this age of -itilitariaiiism we find many to advocate moderation in the adoption of outward forms of grief. The conventional widow's weeds are rapidly falling into disuse. Nor is it only widows who are ceasing to put on ostentatious trappings- of woe. Grape is left almost entirely to the very poor, though even among them it is less popular than it was, and>-the external signs of grief are less. ' uncompromising in all classes. I doubt if this, argues: an increasing callousnesiS as to the loss of our nearest and dearest, "for, as. a general rule, I have noticed that the denser the mourning is the slighter the grief. It i& more .likely to "represent, a tendency to greater simplicity, t and a feeling that ' grief is mocked by a of woe, and from the point of view of economy it is a. matter for congratulation. A black dress figures in nearly every woman's wardrobe, and now that elaborate mourning is out of favour she can be saved great expense by. wearing it in preference to other colours when she suffers a bereavement. The conventional widow's mourning probably owed its long life to the iact that Queen Victoria clung to her sable robes during her 40 years' widowhood. WMi such an example it was only natural to find that . there were few of her subjects who did not. think the wearing of widow's weeds compulsory, although the form of dress was so noticeable and marked that many women would have preferred some■thing less ostentatious, not because ..their grief was less profound, but that they did mot care, to publish flhe fact before -the world. Black and sombre clothes may be appropriate, and one may shrink from donning anything in the way of bright colours when one's heart is sore, but there can be little consolation in informing every stranger why the mourning clothes are worn. Therefore, many sensible and' sensitive women will doubtless find relief from the fact that fashion or custom uo longer demands that she should robe herself after a particular pattern. — Home paper.