OF INTEREST to WOMEN including Fashion Forecasts

Stratford Evening Post, Volume I, Issue 90, 25 March 1931, Page 2

OF INTEREST to WOMEN including Fashion Forecasts

- Some English shops recommend to their customers a novel way of keeping neat 'the pleated skirt which is so much* in vogue at present. For this purpose an old stocking is used. The foot of the stocking is cut off, and after being folded in its pleats the skirt is drawn through or kept there until it is heeded again. * * *

Miss Ruth Nichols, in her recordbreaking coast-to-coast flight in America, created what is believed to be the fastest journey of its length ever made by man or woman in unbroken flight. Her actual flying time bettered records of Colonel Charles Lindbergh and Captain Roscoe Turner, and she broke all women’s! records. * * * Although short hair is not considered smart in America, there is to be a revival of the shingle -in the spring. But it will be known as the

long shingle. To achieve this effect only the underneath part of the hair cut short on the neck. The top ‘ part is left fairly long and softly swathed. The smartest coiffure shows fewer waves, and on the top of the head the haTf is dressed flat. » * * The only woman in South Africa to receive the Florence Nightingale Medal is Mrs. E. R. Stanford, 0.8. E., R.R.C., who did splendid service both during the Boer War and the Great European War, At the outbreak of the latter she organised the Union Military Hospital at. Wynberg in a dual capacity as matron of that hospital and as matron-in-chief of the . Union Forces. Mrs. tSanford is still following her nursing profession in South Africa, » * * A Russian linguist who, when she first visited New Zealand in 1920, could not speak a word of English, is Miss Catherine Tscheremissinoff. After her arrival in New Zealand Miss Tscheremissinoff learnt the English language, and within four years had secured her Bachelor of Arts degree at the Victoria University, Wellington. She taught at a school at Hamilton and was later appointed language mistress at Wellington Girls’ College. Later Miss Tscheremissinoff went to Australia, where she occupied teaching positions at several schools, and she has now left for England, where she hopes to complete her study of English by gaining a degree at Oxford, or Cambridge. Miss Tscheremissinoff speaks five languages—Russian, English, French, German and Italian.

Gossip flies round about the quiet marriage of Roberta Lady Ossulston, writes an Englishwoman. “There is no need for gossip, but when a wellknown and lovely woman chooses to be married very quietly in a registry office it causes a slight stir. Few of Roberta Lady Ossulstou’s friends knew that she was married until they read their papers the morning after the wedding. About thirty guests were asked, and these were bidden over the telephone. Lady Ossulston married Mr. John Wilson, and after the wedding Lady Burney gave a small reception at her home in Carlton House Terrace. Mrs. Wilson, who had not only her husband paying attention to her, but her two small sons. Admiral Mark Kerr and Lord Elihank, looked charming in a suit of dark brown velvet, with a brown velvet beret, and a tiny amber ornament at her side. She wore a tuck-in blouse of orange crepe de chine. * * * Society has lately found a new slimming method which is already proving much more popular than drastic dieting, states a Londoner. This is patter dancing, which used to be a Lancashire speciality; but, such are the whims of fashion, is now being taught to the smartest members of Mayfair’s younger set. So groups of earnest young men and women — for men also yearn after slimness — go to a certain studio and give their attention to the intricacies of this new form of amusement which combines healthy exercise and slimming treatment. Lady Plunket, considered one of the most graceful ballroom dancers in London, is a recruit to patter dancing, so is Lady Patricia Moore, while Miss Rosalie Wiloughby has proved such an" adept at all kinds of dancing, patter steps included, that she has recently gone on the stage to use her talent to the fullest advantage. * * *

A most enjoyable afternoon was spent last Friday, when the members of St. Andrew’s Ladies’ Social Union held their quarterly social in St. Andrew’s Hall. There was a large attendance, between 40 and 50 ladies being present, including visitors from the country districts. Mrs. Poison, president, occupied the chair. The usual business routine was followed, after which a dainty afternoon tea was served. The afternoon, which took the form of a “hint and recipe” afternoon, passed all ton quickly, while the president read out the useful and varied hints and recipes contributed by the members. The community singing of old Scottish songs was heartily joined in by all and thoroughly enjoyed. Those present included Mrs. Poison, Mrs. Martin, Mrs. Lilley, sen., Mrs. A. Lilley, Mrs. Browning, Mrs. Savage. Mrs, Blair, Mrs. P. Thomson. Mrs. Lithgow, Mrs. Huston, Mrs. J. Aitken (Ngaere), Mrs. Hoskin, Mrs. Fletcher, Mrs. Sangster (Wharehuia), Mrs. Lash (Wharehuia), Mrs. McGillivray, Mrs. Christianson, Mrs. Stewart, Mrs. Young, Mrs. Parry, Mrs. .McCluggagfT, Mrs. Mills, Mrs. Fraser, Mrs. G. Reid, Mrs. Kilpatrick, Mrs. Le Rois, Mrs. Clark,, Mrs. Morrison, Mrs. Hardy-Jones, Mrs. Milne, Mrs. Turnbull, Mrs. Findlay, Mrs. Von Stunner, sen., Mrs. Von Stunner, jun., Mrs. Hall, Mrs. Cursons, and the Misses Findlay (2), Lilley, Milne and Hoskin (Napier).

■pt, "to . . - - Gift from Britain A fact that is not generally known -was told to a Wellington resident recently by Mrs. Wilson, Chief Commissioner of Guides for New Zealand. Mrs. Wilson said that, the first flag carried in front of the colours at the raly last Saturday afternoon at the rally last Saturday afternoon to the Guides of tills Dominion by the British Government from the Cenotaph in London.

Ladies’ Maids in Request The return of long skirts, frills, laces and flounces means that women are much more dependent on the services of their maids, or “abigails, as they used to be called in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, to ensure the freshness of evening frocks after travelling. "One of the amenities of a well-known London club, that is much appreciated by the members, is the valeting service. Every morning ladies’ maids come round to the members’ bedrooms to iron, press, mend and repair clothes, and members from the country up for a few days’ enjoyment are quick to take advantage of this service. There are also bedrooms for the maids of members, with connecting bells. INCREASED POPULARITY

PASTEL “HEADS”

The increased popularity of pastel portraits among women is not surprising, for the delicate tones and half-tones of this essentially feminine medium coincide with the return to dainty and feminine modes in dress, and the portraits look so well in their beige wooden frames. Olive Snell, says a writer in a London journal, has done pastel “heads” of nearly all the pretty women in society, and has just added to her collection the Duchess of Westminster, the Begum Aga Khan and Lady Ashley. Mrs. Pike’s recent head of Lady Louis Mountbatten reveals the fact that she is growing her hair again.

FOR EVENING WEAR

THE CHIFFON HANDKERCHIEF Fashion has given way on the point of the handkerchiefs. After a vain attempt to send them into exile by bequeathing to ns seasons of evening frocks which llatly refused to pander to secretive concealing ways, it 1 has gone to the other extreme. It now offers us big . handkerchiefs for evening in the choicest of blending shades. Five out of six members of a party at a recent dance wore them caught at a bracelet — long, floating wisps, so line that they i might easily pass through the proverbial ring. Artistically speaking, they are but one more graceful adjunct to (he delightful impractical and wholly feminine lines of this seaso'n’s evening gowns;'but strictly speaking, though they are almost man-size, being chiffon they couldn t be relied upon in a crisis—they can’t even mop a damp brow with any degree of comfort! CAN YOU COOK EELS? According to the experts, eels are one of the most healthful of Ashes, being full of nourishment and goodness. Probably they are served so seldom because the average housewife thinks of no other way of cooking them than the famous “jellied eels” of East London, But there are many very delicious ways of cooking them.

Fried Eels.—Get the fishmonger to skin the eels and cut them into pieces about two inches long. Dip in beaten egg, then coat well with breadcrumbs and fry in deep fat a golden brown. Serve with a Tartar or other piquant sauce. * Sauted Eels.—Have the eels skinned and cut into two-inch pieces before parboiling for eight minutes. Drain well, sprinkle with pepper and salt, dip in ground maize, and saute in pork dripping.

Stewed Eels.—Skin the fish, and cut in two-inch pieces. Take a large glass jar with a screw top and place in it the eels with half a cup of water, three tablesponfuls of butter, a finely-sliced onion, a teaspoonful each of chopped parsley and piquant sauce, and good seasonings. Place the jar in a saucepan with enough water to cover, bring to the boil, and let it simmer for , two hours. Serve with the fish heaped in the