A MAID IN MAYFAIR

Taranaki Daily News, 19 May 1928, Page 19

A MAID IN MAYFAIR

GOSSIP FROM LONDON TOWN. (From Our Lady Corrcipoudent.) London, March 22. It looks aa though more than half Our spring fashions may be set for Me by a lovely Queen fiom the East. It is a fact that the great Paris dressJnakers could have form! nobody more attractive, not only to show off their new materials and the slight alterations in “line” which they want to introduce this year, but to draw more attention than usual to these things. At a dress parade—and there have been dozens in London the last week or two —one sees so many frocks, eo many coats, so many bats one after the other that one is left, very often, with a very confused impression of what is new. But at every public and private function at which Queen Souriya of Afghanistan has been a guest practically the Whole of the interest has centred round her, and no little detail of her toilettes has escaped the eagle eye of the woman who ia really interested in clothes. Everybody knows that slie bought a whole wardrobe of clothes in Paris, and eo everybody knows as well that the triek of tying a ribbon, the tilt of a hat, the length of a skirt, the way in which a tuck falls in any of her frocks—all these things have been decreed in Paris. ■THE WAY THEY ARE WORN. There is no need for me to say that the success of a new idea in either a frock or a hat depends entirely upon the way in which the person wearing it expresses it. Everybody knows that. But the fact remains that this Eastern Queen, with absolutely no knowledge of our Western clothes until a few months ago, has shown a surprising clothes sense. She wears everything well and as though she had been dressed by the great Paris couturiers all her life. Which only goes to prove that there is a tremendous advantage in being able to put one’s self into the hands of a clever dressmaker. To buy one frock at a well-known er lon is worth all the money that one pays for it. In return for the cheque one gets, not only the garment, but a liberal education in

the way to drees. Go to a great dressmaker, leave to her the choosing of the style which best suits your own style, and absorb every w-ord she says about the smoothing of a skirt into position, the exact length a sleeve should be for your type of arm, and all the other little details, and you have little need to worry again about being well-dressed. WHITE LINGERIE. I was shown a day er two ago a good many of the clothes the Queen bought in Paris. They were wonderfully good style, all of them, and it was very interesting to find that nearly all the lingerie she had chosen was a soft creamy-white. She is fond .of colour, naturally, as little touches on' her frocks show, but the foundation for every one of them was simply trimmed white garments. Several of the evening gowns have that new side “bustle” with long sash ends which looks like being very popular. It is a style which suits the Queen’s height. Lady Carlisle, I noticed, had it on a green chiffon velvet frock which sha wore at the lee Carnival this week. The velvet was a soft olive shade, and folds of it -were draped on to th* left hip like a series of hanging bows. From them fell a wide end which just covered the left ankle. Chiffon velvet is so supple these days that the end had been lined with thin crepe de chine to prevent its rolling up. WHEN EAST MEETS WEST. The King of Afghanistan, and his Queen—“ Queen Souriya the Beautiful,” as she has been called —might reasonably I have found tho sample of London weather to which they were treated on their journey to the Guildhall for their civic welcome just a little trying. Driving in an open carriage in a “London Special” of pea-soup persuasion is calculated to cast a gloom even over those who are used to the experience, but everyone remarked on the cheery, philosophical smiles of the Royal party. Fortunately, the fog lifted slightly as they neared the Guildhall. Queen Souriya looked delightful in a velvet coat and hat of a delicious mauve shade, the coat having a deep sable collar which was worn close up to the throat. As she waved her white-gloved hands to the cheering crowds, one could not fail to notice how tiny they were—in fact, how fragile, almost ethereal, this whiteskinned Queen appeared in contrast to Iter handsome, olive-skinned husband.

PRINCESS MARY'S FEARS. Letters are beginning to trickle through from people who went on the Ranchi with Princess Mary as far as Cairo. The Princess, they say, thoroughly enjoyed the sea trip, in spite of all kinds of apprehensions beforehand. The Queen is such a notoriously bad sailor, and dreads any kind of voyage so much, that the Princess, who had had experience of nothing but one or two channel crossings, was quite sure that she was in for a disagreeable time. Now that she has discovered it is possible to tour even the engine-room without any after-effects, she is looking forward already to many more holidays abroad. NO MORE BAZAARS! It is hardly surprising to find that the Duchess of York has been obliged to make it a definite rule that she will not open bazaars. The intimation has been sent to a philanthropic cause in Scotland, the Duchess's own country, where, as Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, she and her sisters used often to attend bazaars with Lady Strathmore. For many years there has been a kind of unwritten law in the Royal Family that members of it should not open bazaars. The Queen never does it, and Princess Mary has only relaxed her rule once or twice. Princess Arthur of Connaught will always consent where nursing or a London hospital ia to benefit, but neither she nor Lady Patricia Ramsay are able to accept more than a very few of the invitations they receive. WITH HER “AIN FOLK.”

As a matter of fact, tha Duchess is beginning to look as though a rest would do her good. She has got through a tremendous number of engagements since she came back from Sandringham in January, and I am glad to hear she is going to stay with her own people at St. Paul’s, Waldenbury, for Easter. The Duke and little Princess Elizabeth will go with her. Lady Strathmore is keeping very well just now, and she will be able to mother and spoil her daughter for a week or two, and insist on her taking things easily. Most people are agreed that the Duchess works harder than she should in the cause of charity and public welfare generally, but her engagement list would be twice as long as it is now if she were allowed her own i way. She hates to refuse io help people. ! Women ’have followed Lady (Abe)

Bailey's long-distance flight with a great deal of interest, for -she is very popular with the large circle of friends whom she entertains from time to time at her lovely home in Bryanston Square. She lias always had a warm corner in her heart for South African students in London and at tho universities, and many of them have spent pleasant hours in her attractive reception room. Her drawing-room and the ballroom have panelled walls of pale chestnut wood, just faintly grained, and the minimum of lovely furniture. In one of the rooms hangs Sir Thomas Lawrence's portrait of Southey, and in another a very fine

Raeburn canvas. GOOD-HUMOURED “SUFFRAGIST. - ' Dame Ethel Smyth, whose new book, “A Final Burning of the Boats,” is just out, and who has been offered an honorary degree by the University of St, Andrews, is one of the most entertaining after-dinner speakers I have ever met. Most of the original militant Suffragists—and she was a prominent one —learned to speak very well, and became adept at really brilliant repartee. Sometimes, though, a tinge of bitterness crept in, and they became aggressive. Dame Ethel never fell into that trap. She has set many a rather dull dinner table rocking with laughter, and. the essence of her success is the kindliness which lies 'at the back of her good humour. THE “GENERAL'S” ILLNESS. Everyone is sorry to hear of the recent illness of Mrs. Drummond, who' was so much in the public eye just before the War as a suffrage leader. She is beginning to recover, and has now been able to travel to Arran for eonvalescncc. It seems not so very long, after all, since “General” Drummond used to ride on her white horse, leading long, imposing processions of women in white carrying countless Sanners and flags, and marching bravely to Dame Ethel Smyth’s stirring “Women’s Anthem,” played by several brass bands. Flora Durmmond’s big, powerful body, and redcheeked, good-humoured face, was greeted heartily all along the route. It used to be said that even non-suffragists

were disarmed, if not converted, by her jolly smiles. She has always given help and sympathy to the cause of women, and she has the sympathy and goodwishes of women everywhere in her battle with ill-health. THE IDEAL HEU’MEET. Not one of our political hostesses combines more charmingly a gracious personality with a taste for good dressing and a gift for public speaking than does Mr. Neville Chamberlain, who is doing a little quiet entertaining at her house in Eaton Square just now. She does not speak in public very often, certainly, but, when she does, she gets into personal touch with her hearers, in so sympathetic a manner that she is able to grip them at once. Mrs. Chamberlain is very interested in the staff, of her husband’s department, the Ministry of Health, and is often invited to the little social functions which they get up amorjj themselves

LEFT IN CHARGE. Before Princess Mary left for Egypt she drew up a little gardening diary for her two small sons, and arranged various duties and responsibilities for them, so that her absence should not seem too long. They are in charge of her small Cairn terrier Joek, to whom she is devoted, and have also been entrusted with the care of various bowls of bulbs in their mother’s boudoir at Goldsborough. The Dutch fowls which Princess Mary introduced at the home farm are to have a visit every day, and Master George Lascelles will write to every week to report progress. COMING “HOME.” Lady Irwin, the wife of the Viceroy of India, is busy preparing to leave Delhi for a few months’ holiday at home. Her many duties in India have kept her very busy since she .went to the East two years ago, but she has kept in elose touch with friends at home, and her time in England will be fully occupied in a round of visits. She is a sister of the Countess of Iveagh, who retained her husband’s seat for the Conservatives last November. While she was living at her father's home, Clandon Park, just outside Guildford, Lady Irwin was a familiar figure in the quaint old country town of Surrey. SETTING THE FASHION. Princess Elizabeth most certainly sets the baby fashions in Hyde Park, The little straight coats, which small people used to wear for their walks, gave way at ones to pelisses when the Princess was seen in one. Then she gave a lead in the matter of necklaces, for she always wears a pretty coral one which the Queen gave her; and now her fur-trim-med bonnet is being admired. Woolly cap* have quite lost their popularity, Two days ago I saw the Princess with a tiny posy of real primroses on the collar of her pelisse. That, I suppose, will bo the next fashion to be followed.