THE SOCIAL ROUND

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 276, 26 December 1914, Page 7

THE SOCIAL ROUND

Mrs A. L. Herdman left Wellington for Tarawera on Thursday last:

Mrs Massey and Miss left Wellington for Auckland yesterday, y Mrs Cpombridge, of Wellington, and Miss Ross, of Dunedin, are amongst the guests staying at the Clarendon Hotel.

Mr and Mrs Geo. Mondy and the Misses Mondy (2) motored through from Dunedin yesterday. Mr and Mrs Bradney Williams, of this city, are spending their ShoUdays in the North Island libt lakes district. Mr and Mrs F. Castle were amongst this morning fs arrivals from Wellington, They are staying at Warner's Hotel. Mrs C. Nicholls and Miss Nicholls, of Oamaru, are staying at Coker 'a Hotel. They arrived in Christchurch yesterday. Mr and Mrs Raleighi Peacocke arrived from Auckland^on Thursday, and are staying at; the IJnited H^ Miss Samuel, late of the Waitaki High School, has received the appointment of i mathematical andVscience mistress of the j Southland Girls' High School. During '\ her recent, visit to Gisborne, Lady Liverpool was the recipient of three floral bouquets. One, of pink and white sweet peas, wasipresented while she.was on a visit to;|ltep^ Rented at>tne liospitai byj p Howard Kenway, wife of the. chairman-of the board, and the other was of pink carnations and roses.

An interesting, gathering.of Wellington people took place at Miss Tendall's tea rooms, Wellington, on Wednesday last, the guests of honour being the members of the •; Education Department and their wives. !The host and hostess were Mr and Mrs Hogben, the latter wearing a black and white striped coat and skirt, a black and white hat, and a feather boa to match. ' The rooms afforded a cool and welcome retreat from the humidity of the-out-of-doors) the tables being daintily decorated with, early summer flowers.

The Rev, J. Paterson, of St. Paul's, opened a sale of work at the Presbyterian Hall, Hood-Street, New Brighton. The event was organised by the Church Extension Committee of St. Paul's, and on Tuesday and Wednesday good business was done) On Wednesday evening the whole of the stock remaining after 9 o'clock was sold by auction, with results highly satisfactory to the committee. The stall-holders were: —Sewing, Mrs G. Calender; cakes/ Mrs Berry; sweets, Mrs Hunt and Mi&s Batchelor; produce and plants, "Mrs tiatchelor; Indian work, Mrs Christmas tree, the girls of St. Andrew-?? Junior Bible Class; refreshments, Mi;s White and Mrs Marshall. During both evenings musical items were given i tit • intervals by friends from St. Paul's Church, the accompaniments and pianoforte solos being played by Misses Thomas and Robinson, Rev. J. Paterson, and Mr W. Tenneiit. The-Hataitai Methodist Church, Wellingtony prettily. decorated with a huge floral bell and arches on Tuesday

afternoon, last, the' occasion being a double w«dding. contracting parties were Miss" Florence Bond, daughter of Mr and Mrs T. Bond, who was married to Mr Henry H. Sewell, son of Mr and Mrs H. J. Jewell; and Miss Lily Gertrude Sewell, daughter of: Mr and Mrs H. J. Sewell, ; %ho married Mr Frank Bond, son of Mr and Mrs; T. Bond. The ceremony was performed by the Bev. J. Southern, assisted by Rev. %. A. Bensley. , The, service was choral, Miss G. Munro presiding at the organ. Each bride was given away by her father. The brides were attired in white embroidered voile, with wreath and veil. Their bouquets were of white roses, sweet peas, and maiden-hair. Miss E. PascQe, of this city, was brides: maid to Miss Sewell, Miss Bond being attended by : Miss "Bensley. 'The bridesmaids' dresses wore of white embroidered muslin, with belts of pink floral ribbon, their hats being of white tulle. They carried bouquets of roses and sweet peas. Mr Sewell was attended by Mr W. Lulham (of Chrjstchurch) and Mr Bond by his brother, Mr Arthur Bond. The wedding breakfast was held at the: residency of. Mr and Mrs H. J. wore a dress %if tussore silk, with brown hat, Mrs Bond's grey costume being worn with a black and white hat.

•The Y.W.C.A. rooms were bright with summer blossoms and.smiling faces last evening, the occasion being a Christmas tea, to which a large number of "away-from-home'' members of the association were invited. ...Among the guests were a number of Y.M.C.A. members. All sorts of delightful schemes were into requisition by 'the secretaries, ,M4ss - ' MacNeill and Miss Owen, for -the entertainment of the guests, each of whom had a mysterious parcel laid 1 beside his or her plate. Many of these packages were found to contain toy;trumpets, to.say nothing of squeakers that gave vent to a prolonged " cock-a-doodle-do'' every time they were blown upon. As one sat vainly endeavouring to catch at least some of a neighbour's conversation, the words -of the American poet burned themselves into one's brain: "And the night shall be filled with music." The last item on the programme was the presentation of the Christmas stcokings; the onerous duties of ' f Santa Claus" being carried out to perfection by Mr Newtohl The evening was brought to a close with a short service. ,

One effect of the war will undoubtedly be to restrict the range of colours that can be used for dyeing materials, since Germany has supplied 80 per cent, of the aniline" dyes of the world. British manufacturers are making great efforts to reestablish the making of aniline dyes, but such an industry, cannot be built up in a day. There is sure to be a period of shortage when the present large stocks of

dyes are exhausted. For a time we shall be deprived of the vast range of colours and shades which have been produced by means of coal tar dyes. "We have become used to being able to select from 30 to 40 shades in one colour, but we shall probably have to put up with much less variety for some time. Dressmakers predict that in a few months a great change will have been brought about in our colour schemes for dress. "Women in Europe are showing a decided preference for dull, quiet colours. We shall be able to copy their example if.we wigh to; black and navy blue will always be at our disposal, since there is plenty of pure indigo. Five excellent greys can also be produced from vege? table dyes, and many ficelle and fawn shades, some Shades of tan resembling khaki, and some good browns. For the bright colours manufacturers intend to rely largely on the vegetable dyes that produced the true and pure, though somewhat crude, colours of the early Victorian I -era* Bright piiik, royal blue, ruby red, | madder, cochineal red, and purple, colours i which have not infrequently been seen dur-.< ing the last two years, will regain some of the popularity they enjoyed in the days of bur grandmothers. Five old-fashioned blues, it is said, will appear under up-to-date names. Olive-green, myrtle-green, and grey-green are among the colours, which British dyers, can produce. So we shall not be condemned to drab, colourless attire while British dyers,are experimenting and trying to build up the industry of aniline dyes. A characteristic of the .times in England is the astonishingly small amount of

jewellery that one sees worn. Women seem to have tacitly agreed to discard anything like over-elaboration of toilette. With the complete cessation of anything in the nature of social gayety, evening dress is more or less of a dead letter just now; In fact, the fashion papers give few or no illustrations of evening gowns; such models as they do supply are mostly of a simple kind, designed for informal occasions. Instead of tine elaborate ball and dinner toilettes that generally make their appearance in the fashion journals at this time of the year, one finds a large and varied selection of artistic rest or tea gowns carried out on simple lines, and most becoming. These models are restful and comfortable, but at the same time they are not sloppy and untidy looking. If made of cool materials, they would be most welcome during; the summer. It is so easy to change, after doing house work or after having Out on a hot day, iiito a tea gown which gives one a delightful feeling; of restfillness. Many women xjould make tliem for themselves; in that case the cost of such a garment need be very little-r-the price would be anything! from a few shillings upwards. . j

There were many excited people in Melbourne when the news of the big naval victory came through. None of them was more excited than Madame Melba, who drove about tlie city inciting folk to hang out flags. Whether she was answerable for this fine display or not it is difficult to determine, but very brilliant indeed did the metropolis look on Thursday after-

noon. It has happened to most of us to find

that quite an ordinary, dowdy-looking per-: becomes distinguished by being taken | in hand by a good dressmaker, and having her best points developed. There are people who have no idea whatever what suits them, and they pass through life looking their worst instead of their best, simply from- want of knowledge. But, place the shapeless figure in good corsets, and let her study a little the mystery of a good carriage, the tones that suit her, the lines that.accord with her figure, and it is astonishing what a transformation will be wrought. First of all, she must study hairdressing, as regards her face, and get someone's opinion that will really ielp; Bad and ungraceful clothes cost just as much as good ones, and they are of ten the greatest adjunct in a woman's fate in life.

We have passed through >ne of the most trying stages imaginable for"", the young girl. The slim skirt lost every vestige of elegance it possessed -when U. sheered off a short distance below the knees, and the unformed figure was made still more ugly by the floppy/ low-banded coat, with some grotesque piece of millinery crowning the head. But there is dawning for the young girl, as for the rest of us, a period of happier and freer lines. A somewhat unusual idea is the making up of homespuns, and the rougher qualities of tweeds, into dresses for girls, in lieu of the insistent coat and skirt; There is evidence of a growing feeling for this method, although the natural query arises as to the possible undue heat of the bodice, but this, of course, must be governed in some sort by the individual. Chilly mortals should revel in these dresses, and the wonderful sudden changes in our summer time must not be overlooked. _ We beg to .draw your attention to Mi's Uwen s tea? advertisement which appears on this page. It is an extraordinary opportunity for ladies to procure the finest tea ever imported direct from oeylon to t^Dominion.,,. , ,330