THE SOCIAL ROUND

Sun (Christchurch), Volume 1, Issue 7, 13 February 1914, Page 4

THE SOCIAL ROUND

■MOTES NEWS. on of the Petrus Van der /velden/§ art collection yesterday was se,eneof quite a fashionable- gatherThe exhibition was opened by his ytß " U £xcelleney the Governor, Lord Liverj pool, who was ' accompanied by" Lady Idverpool and Caiptain Eastwood. Her Excellency wore very pale violet satin, the skirt arranged -in knife:pleated effect, and the bodice draped with a 1 "black ninon scarf. Her large hat was "trimmed with .violet tulle and a half•wreath of pansies. Amongst others j "'present were noticed Lady Clifford, Mrs Geo." Rhodes, Mrs and Miss Elwdrthy, Dr and Mrs Jennings, Mr and Mrs Hurst Seager, Sir Charles Bowen, ; s Mr and. Mrs Moore and Miss Moore, Mrs and Miss Boyle, Mrs Wilfred Hall, Mrs Walter Stringer, Mrs S. Gordon, Mr and Mrs C. M. Parker, Mrs and Miss Thopias, Colonel and Mrs Snow, Mr and Mrs Seymour, Mrs Denniston, Mrs Hargr eaves and . ; Missi Hargreaves, Mrs and Miss Wood, Mr and Mrs Hill Fisher, Mrs W. Wood,--Mrs E. C. Huie, Mrs Mr and Mrs Evelyn Wright, Dr and Mrs Morton Anderson, Mr 1 and i Mrs - Percy "• CJox, Mr and Miss Cox, Miss M. O. Stoddard, Mrs Owen Merton, Dr and Mrs Thomas, Mr and Mrs Cyrus Williams, Mrs Blunt, Miss Dodson and Miss Tabart. *' Autumn Manoeuvres'' at the Theatre Royal last night brought much .military "swank" and -many smart gowns. Florence Young looked her best in a delectable confection of green ninon patterned in "bunches of pink roses—at least, the marvellously draped skirt was composed of it, the corsage waff merely flesh-pink ninon intersected "jfrith lines of diamante. A lengthy ostrieh. featlier mount sprouted from a tiara by. way of head-dress. Celia -v Ghiloni was a handsome and striking figure in the ball-room scene, her grace- , fully-trained frock being of black lace over ivory ninon, finished with pale blue ninon that commenced in, sash effect, and ended by being caught up as draping in front of the skirt. Miss Dorothy Brunton looked the niee little girl whose part she played in a pretty little scrap of a dress; it was carried

out in pale maize satin, opening to Bhow a pleated underskirt of shadow ~j lace, and finished with one of those tiny ■Wired tunics of lace and ninon. A girdle of rosebuds gave a novel touch to the turn out.. She was at her best in the "Daddy Dear" scene, when, as June Pomeroy, she coaxes her would-be-stern military papa for the pardon of the hero, Captain Prank Falconer (Frank Greene). Mr James Mitchell, managing director of Beath and Company, who leaves early in .March on a trip to England and will be accompanied on his travels by Mrs Mitchell. They expect to be absent about eight months, and anticipate a most enjoyable holiday. Canon and Bishop-elect Sedgwick, of Waipu, is to be tendered a farewell in St. John's Schoolroom on Tuesday next, prior to his departure from Christchurch.

Sir James Mills, ex-chairman of directors of the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand, is accompanied by his daughter (Mrs Beswick) ■who is travelling to England with him on the R.M.S. Omrah, which sailed on February 4. The Premier of New South Wales (Hon. W. A. Holrnan) and Mrs Holman arrived in Auckland from Eotorua on Monday. They leave i :ckland at the end of the week for Wellington, travelling via the Wanganui River. After Bpending a couple of days in Christchurch, Mr Holman and party will leave Wellington for Sydney on February 20. Colonel and Mrs Russell, of Tuna (Hawke's Bay) are visiting Melbourne. A FAREWELL TEA. On Wednesday afternoon a very enjoyable tea was "given by Mrs Tringiam in Miss Tendall's tearooms as a farewell to Miss Ida Geddis, who, with M's Geddis, left Wellington on Thurs-

day "en route for Canada. The inner room was reserved for the guests, and all the tables were. > charmingly decorated with mauve and pink sweet peas. Mrs Tringham wore a gown of white embroidered muslin and a large black tulle hat with pink roses under the brim. Miss Gedc|is was in a pretty forget-me-not blue frock, and a white velours hat swathed with white silk. Among the guests were Mrs Geddis and two sisters of the bride-to-be, Mrs M'Lean, Mrs E. Blundell, Mrs J. Duthie, Miss Kane, Mrs Digges-Smith, Miss ' Shirtcliffe, Miss Dora Wilson, Miss Anderson, Miss Knox, Miss D. Alexander, Miss Brandon, Miss Haybittle, and several others. —' f Dominion. "

A simple and .easily made fichu can be evolved from a half yard of yard wide net, using the width for the length. Lay the ends- in a half inch hem,and featherstitch the top in white cotton. Sew two and a half inch of shadb.w lace to the ends. Sew the inner side of the. net into a narrow band of net or anull twenty-eightenches long' and finish the outer edge with a narrower lace to match that used on the end, &bout an inch and a half deep. Thisvgshould reach only the twentyeight inches, leaving enough on each end to turn at right • angles across the plaiting of the fichu at each end of the band, f, Lay; the fiehu into four or five upturned plaits which are folded into a two and a half inch space where the band ends, the lace being brought across. This leaves the loosely plaited ends of the fiehu to hang free, with only the lace trimming across vhe bottom. The raw edges should be rolled in a narrow hem or may be feather stitched.

Durham University has set an admirable example -(according to the "Pictorial"). Through it women have achieved another, triumph and taken another step forward. At the recent convocation it was decided by a large majority to admit to membership of convocation on precisely the same terms as men, women who are, of course, already.r graduates of \ this University. After this our older universities must surely free themselves from the strappings of prejudice and convention wherewith, they are encircled. They will run the danger of being placed in the position of those fabulous birds of nurseryland who persistently refuse to sing.

The flounce plays such a prominent part in the modes of the moment that one wonders where it will end. Almost every article of attire is at present depicted effects. Dance frocks promise to be a mass of frills; sleeves are-finished with frills, lightly wired frills are to stand up round the neck, and a soft frill of tulle or ninon is introduced in the otherwise hard velvet hat, which is already being shown for the autumn. The flounce invasion began somewhere about the region of the then it progressed to the double frill, which now seems to be the only correct termination to a basqued gown or a ninon tunic, and on the three tier' skirt it holds full sway. Thin fabrics undoubtedly lend themselves to such effects, but t,)ie pleated frill of cloth or velvet, which will ornament even the tailor-made of the near future, according to the decree of fashion, is a daring mode, which will spell disaster to any but the slimmest wearer.

Many of the women of London, Paris, I and Vienna arc not content with the wearing of net and ribbon underclothing and satin corsets as thin as it is possible to make them, but they have a special bath, in which they spend not less than twenty minutes gach morning, and which contains the bath salts treatment. This, it is said, is now a' rage all over England and the Continent. Women who once try it are said to be devotees to thq twenty minutes' soak, whieh does away with all need for the taking of drugs and the starvation diet so disastrous to the complexion and constitution. Most people remember the wellknown saying of Napoleon: "The sight of a woman dressed in white mousseline, under the shade of the trees, has always made a deep impression on me.'' And, as a natural consequence, all the ladies of Josephine's Court became devotees of white mousseline. Marie Antoinette was also very fond of white. She it was who found out before Napoleon the seductiveness of white. But that unfortunate queen, coquettish as she was, had not the dainty fabrics at her disposal that more fortunate pres-ent-day women have, but only very ordinary percals and mousselines. "Hearth and Home" rejoices at the remarks of the famous traveller, Sir Harty Johnston, who is lending his powerful support to those who are endeavouring to save some of the most

beautiful birds in the world from extermination. At a meeting held recently at the Whitehall Rooms, London, Sir Harry Johnston pointed out that if there were no insects, ticks, etc., to carry the germs from the blood of one animal to another, two-thirds of the world's diseases would come to an end, and that nearly all the beautiful birds they wished to preserve were insecteaters. Mr James Buckland instanced the case of the kingfisher, which would, he said, eat about 150 insects a day. To destroy over 216,000 of these birds — which was the number of skins offered at the last six London feather sales — was asking for trouble. A Bill is. being promoted to elose British ports and British markets to the skins and plumes pf certain birds; but it seems to us a few determined-women—and we surely do not lack such —could soon put an end to the whole business by making the wearing of such plumage unfashionable, not only in England but all oyer Europe. At a recent Highland wedding, the bridesmaids were presented by the bridegroom with gold-mounted bracelets of elephant's hair—the elephant haying been shot by the donor! The gifts sound singularly unattractive. At another wedding the bride was preceded by. her little nephew in a white satin court suit, carrying a white satin cushion. Another December bride wore sifver brocade and ermine. Another groom's gifts to the bridesmaids were spider-and-fly brooches—singularly suggestive, considering the position, and reflecting subtly on one at least of the happy pair.