"ALIEN'S" LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 26 August 1908, Page 75

"ALIEN'S" LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

' '' A, "R^- (Specially Written* for the Witness Ladies' Page.)" t^V-; >• "PHUKCH PARADE," AND OTHERS.

Just as,,msß?h.. as- Hyde ' P, ark- Corner, is an institution/'- of -the " London season, ■where,^affyjtfineV afternoon, all/ or the best - part "of; may be seen driving or -strolling % underline shade, of the great trees,- while- thousands look on at • display of fashion and so "church ] parade" on Sunday \ morning is among . the recognised fashionable doings of the - I/ondon.day. In the afternoon the parks 1 are given over to the - people. Another •.world comes out to air itself and its ' opinions^ and Jisten to the bands. The • great lower "middle class" and the upper '•'lower -daes'.' are ' to' be seen' in thou- , sands — men" and women- who work- all the week and take their' rest, and wear their. best clothes on Sunday ; mien and women honestly fill their work-a-day " iiche, and- are grateful to the powers that _ be for this provision of shady avenues and . .green ilawns, blooming flowers, and- music .- "wherewith, to beguile- their day- of 'rest. '' Here, too, the upper' ''lower orders" come ' from their; crowded ' .mean* streets arid " stuffy rooms to breathe a; sweeter air, '-■and ape the fashions of ' their. " betters" , in a cheap and shoddy caricature of their v ■clothes — a however,- blatant and ludicrous, and pitifqL too, in that it has demanded the price of food, but yet an indication to the optimist that human, nature Even from Whitechapel has its ideals and dreams. And who shall grudge the girl from' nowhere her fond illusion that she will be mistaken for the •heroine of , her latest novelette when one xealises what self-sacrifice went to the of her cheap buckled shoes and . .Tier flower-decked hat, for which the roses' and rhododendrons blush as she passes by?. But at "church' parade" the girl from -the slums does not appear. ' She is in her Twck "top floor" with her hair in curl ,pins putting the. last startling touches ' i;o the - ' 'at " purchased ' late on Saturday t night fcr^ll^d ' after her week's, wages . "were, paid. * She goes ' without "Sunday dinner.;', for the extravagance. - Last Week : *h> did likewise to' buy the sheaf of v blue ..joses -and yellow r cbniflowers- she stitches -3n place.!- - .Anyhow, the • lasting assists ■ * the figure 'demanded _ by- the mode, and many»a^,society matron now on- -parade would*;giy|s ,hdlf of her kingdom for that flat stontia'cfe! - c'A Sima&y or so ago, when the season ' was at ' its zenith, I made one of "the , thousands of occupants of the green chairs .under the trees of Hyde Park watching the. "church parade" ; those .society thousands wh6 are, or are supposed to be, taking the fair after church before luncheon. Here «and there a church" service carried in* the- hands of a parader- emphasised the original, meaning of thii Sunday- morning gathering of beauty, styjg^>^ealth,- • aftd Jasbion- ; but for the mbs£ part there was w> pretence about it: the people had ■com© to see and be seen. The previous week had been crowded with social •events ; the night before weighted with ' "balls, dinners, receptions, fireworks at . Hurlingham, and innumerable, demands on 'the.houfsitill dawn. Yet here, Six hours •' ff. "j*> ; -^K%': the rising of the sun, tliis -•large .'.contingent of- society's ranks was •#^'<°l^ paJwJe -- -And. \they looked! * liorcdom'jwas the prevailing expression — Boredon^'^pa an infinite self-.consciouenees. " .Not thrTßalf-oonsciousn^s of a yokel who, . under ;-%bservati on,' loses the control "of .arms and legs and betrays his wish that the {ground would open "and cover him from critical eyes, but the trained, refined self-consciousness that ajjpears self-con- " tamed, self-absorbed, and utterly oblivious to critioism, and yet is acutely conscious, . though too well bred to betray consciousness, of 'the battery of curious, attentive, mocking, or admiring eyes levelled at the individuals of this smart- march past. The men jio less than the women were • dressed for their part. Well- - groomed; immaculate -as<■ to linen, e-Hk-tatted for the most part, their morning -. coats fitted with the perfection that in some cases suggested stays, they s&emed to the casual onlooker who could not attach to their uniformity of (garb their c title or position .hi the social ..world 'vet to be divided into several distinct- daises of a class. The gentlemrtn with quiet and dignified courtesy, whose birth and '■position is -too" assured to elaborate .or emphasise by the- unusual, and the society * dude and.*' bounder," whose loud speech and lack of manners proclaim the freak , of fortune or adventure that placed him i in the smart set. The "dude, en masse, ;r.; r . has:? "-ass " stamped all over him. If • the.- .society woman is vain and frivolous she hjLs^ some subterfuge in her sex. But , tho^dudc of society is a- caricature on maniioott|- ,-xlespieed by ra&n and women equally ,~ for,^ although he be permitted to^fetcK. and' carry for her she uses him sjrnply -as a tool, a dummy on which io her coquetry— a puppy who ."follows -without a leading-string.* And . lieajVeh preserve England if to this ty-pe of her eons her interests were committed. But they afe r.ot. This species of tvrolegged poodle .is occupied in making itself look pretty, in dyeing its moustache and arranging- the latest- in ties round the neck that supports its small head. It may be titled sometimes, and sometimes wealthy. but it is usually un-dersized — much than the lady* it. is escorting, — without individuality or distinction ; converses in stock phrases/, performs the same society tricks, speaks in one thin voice, dresses after one pattern, and does nothing but exist. Fools, like the poor, are always with us, but whereas the ,yoor during the season withdraw to their burrows, the fools of society parade their folly. The /impression left by that "'fashionable 'maTch past was anything but artistically satisfying. The women, with not-able exceptions, were — as I overhe'ar-d a girl express it — '* faked " — made up, many of

' them to suit their costume to carry out the idea of the picture represented. Thus •-one elegant woman whose every movement was grace was picturesque in exquisite ./black and white lace, her oval, ivory, f white face with the great dark eyes set off~b"y the plumes' of the black and' white ' Jiat ; but when she came nearer you saw I that the deep shadows under the eyes and the ivory pi the complexion was art — part' of the. "study in. Mack and white."" The same with the vision in 1 rose and blue. . She had " built " round -her. one notable feature — her blue eyes. « Her rose-leaf cheeks, the little red gleams 'in her -fair hair^-the cunning little- blue " touches in. the rose costume- had all been j " faked " to emphasise the.,, blue eyes. : And 1 the unusually, tall girt- with the : natural, dull, .gofcF haiT. Sne was not ] j pretty, but she was {graceful. As a girl !of the people, she would probably have t haid the" freckled /skin that goes with that *■ coloured hair, but science and the beauty '• doctor , had' eradicated the freckles, her ( 'skin was milk-white, and her cream gown 1 with sash of .old gold was chosen to show ; up- her one beauty — her hair. Here and ! there -was a"* debutante with- the fresh, unspoilt girlhood" smiling in frankly-ex- ! pressed pleasure from eyes and lips at the • enjoyment of her first "season, as yet uni toned to the set pattern ; or one of the ! brid-es of the season with hex disfcini guished husbands Jueside .her, newly re- ' turned from their- honeymoon, and enjoying the court/ and dignity of j ' early matronhood ; or the foreigner, irrepressible and chic in Parisian costume ; j or the grave and dignified Oriental, as unbending, as at an Eastern Court ; or j a bronzed and smiling colonial, undis- ' iguieediy interested. But for the most j - part this Sunday morning parade is of j men and women who conform to the 1 order of the season and move like auto1 matons, undeniably tired with its exac- i j tions, "doing" the right thing to do at j j-that- houT — and- bored to death. - On the ] whole, , the _middle-aged women were the best-looking" and, the "girls abnormally tall_ 'and well drilled. , Bui the natural handsomeness of miny" of the women was ]osf; jin the "make up" and . the "figure dip- 1 torted. from natural grace by the mode which has decreed "Thou shalt have no fat." And when the curves are there one is inartistically aware of the steel and j whalebone and straps by which too solid •. flesh must be regulated when possible, i But with the thermometer 80deg in the I shade, some elderly ladies were on that Sunday morning doing awful penance if their march past was of vanity, and were stoics if the duty of chapero*iage had called them from the bliss of an armchair and a loose print wrap into swathings and pinchings <and trailing, skirts, in which they waddled, purple in the face and on the verge of a heat stroke, almost ' smothered in the huge head gear which J wobbled on false and elaborately piled I hair of ebon black or flax colour. Where ' are the dear old grandmothers in lavender i silk and white lac© with silvery hair? j Not in the church parade in Hyde Park '. on Sunday morning anyhow. Not many |in Mayfair drawing rooms ; for the old ' woman no longer eiists. One of the last 4 of the. elderly gentlewomen .of her school ] died with Queen Victoria, and little of the ] Victorian is now in vogue except the i Bonnet she wore when she was eighteen. Of the extent of the manufacture of the society woman's appearance of to-day, "Madge," of Truth, gives some idea in a recent article. Within a circle of half a mile in the West End of London she declares there is "one pcreat hive of beauty_j factories," where there is scarcely a defect that cannot be remedied by "beauty doctors. " She says : — j Diaraeli called vanity "that divir.« gift ' which -mak^s woman charming." There is no doubt that it is part of every woman's ! iuty to be as beautiful as sbe can, for ■ beairly has«grreat force in itself. Bv.t every ■woman hal her own idea of how far it is legitimate to supplement the gifts of ; Nature by the achievements of art. ! In tiies* days there is scarcely a defect which cannot be more or less remedied by "beauty cuMure." Tihe up-to-date beauty doctor would cheerfully undertake to change . tbe Ethiop skin and efface the leopard's • spots. There is a curious old Act of Par- ,, liament dating from the time of Charles I II which Bays: — All women of whatever age. rank, profession, or degree, whether virgins, maids, or widow?, that shall from after the passing of this act impose upon and betray into matrimony any of his Majesty's male subjects by scenfts, paints. oosrceiics washes, artificial teeth, false hair, Spanish wood, iron stays, hoops, high-heeied shoes, or bolstered hips, shall incur the penalty of the laws now in force against witchcraft, sorcery, and such like misdemeanours, and tha-i the marriage, upon conviction shall stand nu.ll and void. i Although some of the?e items Found rather grotesque, and it is difficult to believe that tire act is in the law of Eaigland and not in a Gilbert and Sullivan opera, a similar . list of modern aids to beauty would be equally • startling To -change the shape of- one's t -nose is far from being one of the most . complicated of th>e processes known to the , modern beauty doctor. But we have long left behind, she continues, the covering up of a faulty com- .! plexion by paint. The woman of to-day J aims at real possession of beauty, and what she has not inherited, she seeks to .-, cultivate as aesiduously as a "blue stocking" cultivates her intellect, and, in- ■ credible as it may sound, thei - e are women who wiJl suffer tortures for a re-created self — skin deep. Real dimples are manufactured, wrinkles eradicated, and a per- • nianent colour tatcoed in that will defy the weather and vrater and late hours. j To suck lengths has the art of the beauty factory proceeded that we are told that it { is possible to have a blush' provided which j shall very naturally, according to the state

of health, never die a/way, and is noi liable to the distressing accidents of outwardlyi applied colour, since it is tattooed into the skin. The client '-however, is Tvarned that ioi three days a-fter the operation her face will be brick-ied; but those wlio seek for beauty must naturally be oourageous in so high a cause. It is some years now^ since the factories began to tura out 'dimples. ' These also or© achieved by means of a trying operation, and it is curious to see how delioate "women who have never been trained to fortitude and nearly perish from, frigh* if their doctor mentions the -word "operation" will unflinchingly submit to .the knife if it is in tfaetj-eause of beauty.^ There is no- doubt that th« art of the beauty -doctor -is far • -preferable to the plas-, tering of- rouge on the -laoe without any- attempt at subfiety. J>ry is ruinous to the skin, and' grease pairrl anfoTtunately requires footlights. •Another point in fa-vour of the beauty manufacturers is their, cult of 'cleanliness. It ia a^ shock to any -woman 'devoted, like most of'foer kind., to soap and water to ccc' the -amount -of dirt which a beauty specialist -will ..remove fiom/iber" face by mteans of certain cr-eama. -In of 'the hair, --too, this ultra-clean ilirtess, or perhaps one should say_this scientific cleanliness, brings out undreamed-of beauty and colour, and even improves it "in texture, j And in the matter of time and money • also • the beauty 'f actoaries axe exigent. 'Besides long seances there-is an elaborate system of baths and treatment at home. Some well-known women spend an almost in- ' credible . amoutit on the -art , of prqducing,beauty.<' The ljaibh , ywith' its cjostly soaps and, ' ungvJeais, coats- fr<mfr t -tv/-p~'?h.vt&dted "toftKreo hundred 'pounds. a^-Tear. '-"Ch'smpagne aaid milk baths,\.of cbuTse', are extra. The hair, with washes, electric brushinga,, crimipings, , and supplemenfa¥y^Jocks,^f>ith.^ theix^c'on-i. stant n-eed,-'for "'rjehew^l, " oome^,'to perhaps two hxujdfi^i : and ftfiy guinWs", a year. "Dead hair " as it is called, soon gets out of condition, and besides th« fashion of transform<itions changes very ,oiten. So does th.c fashion in combs. Slanyf .women whqL have quite abundant hair never theJesaSprefer" to have about a dozen wigs and "tran«for- ■ mations" .aheady arranged, some for evening, some for hats, some for toques aill to save troub'e. Ths natural hair is dressed as a support for this transformation. In addition to these ch/arges, there are those for, the trea.tmen;ts,. a ,^.t tilie,,. h,*nds of the beaSfy. doetors^'an^4we.aot > 'anotn4r hundred potmds a ye^r-must; be, piU aside for washes and creams ''for the' complexion; The manicurist and chiropodist add on a little'td tihese yearly expenses. In' fact, one may regard eight hundred pounds a year as a fair sum to expand on beauty. In addition are hair dyes, dimples, blushes repairs to nose and ears, padding, removal of wrinkles, spots", superfluous hair, etc., and instrumejits»_for horn©-- use, - such .as' ''chin-bands,, rubber "[garments for reducing size,- and all % *t}»«' £***$?' - forms ' of, ooT^e-i 1 ' whic^ come ' far "m^oie^ uh<Jer' the* Heading ;v of 'beauty Insfer^imerits th»n of gaimfen'ts.* 4 "*'" ' ■"**-').; I i Two uhours a day 'at tome — one ' v 'for the" hair and one for the complexion and bath— must be given up. in addition to lengthy treatments two or three times a wieek, a-nd occasional disappearances of a few days when any radical alteration is on hand. No woman who bas 'not good teeth can be p&rfiectly beautiful, so frequent visits to the dentist are necessary, besides constant outlay on mouth-washes. Indeed, to be beautiful is a:n ( arduous profession, unless Nature has undertaken the work beforehand: 'It is "-sauce this great revival in beauty culture anScl the establishment of the beauty facfcries'&fchiat the practice of meeting at breakfast* Treis fallen, so much, into disuse. People are not ready for inspection so early in the day, and the tedious proce&ses of rf preparation are really tiring and one needs repose when they are finished. The results may be studied any day in the park. Like most other pictures, they are batter viewed from perhaps two yards distance, when their full beauty becomes apparent. Disraeli, wlio made the remark at the head of tlhis article about vanity in women, was notoriously the finest dandy of his day, and one must not forget to mention that the beauty factories of 1908 ur* not ex~clusively occupied with the need* of women. The liair specialists, skin .doctors, eorsetieres, manicurists, and chiropodists,all have many male clients and line woman . who wears a chin-band is kept in countenance by the mail who owns a clever little contrivance of webbing and elastic to be worn twice a day for five minutes at a time to keep his moustache at the esacl curve required by the 1 mode of the moment. j

"The -woman v irte>" 'a^at^^mm I ' tw<i to three hundred pounds- a % year batlis should " certainly 'sbejcleafft .jAnd-jfche \ dandy ■with, his moustache ;ifi .ra.-frainie^le'fc^-tis; hop© he finds hie,. rewarifcH^fl; rewards,' the women who endure.-s6Uoh>fier6isins i .for ,

| his sake. .But I am afraid there are noS *• many iHsraelis among them. j . *— The"'^ Swiss * Cabinet oensista of seven > ~ members, each of whom draws £480 per annum.