A MAID IN MAYFAIR

Taranaki Daily News, 6 August 1930, Page 13

A MAID IN MAYFAIR

'GOSSIP FROM LONDON TOWN. P 1 ‘ ; PRESENTED AT COURT. ? " ■' ■ (From'Our Lady Correspondent). 1 : London, June 12. ; j The question of .the attitude of the/ ! King and,' Queen towards divorce has.- ; been discussed freely. in the last j or two, as a result of tho Lord Chamber- j • lain’s announcement regarding a recent presentation at Court. The incident is regarded as an unfortunate one for the two young people concerned, for al- ‘ though" in \tho .ordinary .way society re- | gardji jtli'e' dissolution; of a marriage very t now, the publicity which has t the present case jnay, and ‘ . undoubtedly V’ill, ’make it-difficult for ► the'-Court to ref ml-vb.. thfimj : The: fact .that the presentap iiqn'AyajS'made by the daughter of people > assoeiated'personally with the King and I. Qiipeii does'.hpt .help Blatters. No official J explanation.'..is ■ likely, to be vouchsafed, i of course, but the gossip of tho day in- , dicates how strongly both the King and - the Queen feci on this very vital sub- ?. ject, ('A ir. ~ '• ■ j : <THE JAPANESE VISIT. •' Members of ihe Royal family arc ■ planning to give the 'Japanese 'Royal Prince and-his . bride a very good' time '. while they are iii England.. They, are j expected tv •arrive just after Ascot, by j which, time ihe- Court will-be-back from j Windsor and the Queen will be able to ! give herself up to entertaining the young | honeymoon- couple, who are to stay at ; the Palace. •-The-Duke of-Gloucester has j very happy memories of his visit to ■ Japan a year ago, and has prepared a programme of entertainment" for tlie : visitors, who - are, of course, returning j the honour to be paid on the King's be- • half when he journeyed to Japan. There ! will-Ibe State functions; of-course,' in- • eluding a banquet, but it is the informal ! side" of London’s social life which the Duke Will show the' Royal visitor and ■ his bride. Some beautiful artistic gifts are being brought by the Prince for presentation to the King and Queeii. PRINCESS ..MARY’S BOYS. ■ Princess Alary’s two sturdy boys are, ’ as the public knot's from receitt‘photo- ■ i graphs, growing rapidly. The time draws : near when both Viscount Lascelles and ’• the Hon. Gerald Lascelles will go to Eton. Their names have been on the

■ waiting list for a long t'ine, for.' .the j Eatl of Harewood is an enthusiastic Old Etonian.. His eldest son will begin his' Eton terms next year, and his. brother ■ will follow the year after. Both Princess ’Mary and her husband are against all mollycoddling for boys, and want their sons to go through the usual public school mill. They have a tutor at present, but arc, I hear, already getting a little impatient of “nursery” ways. Present intention is that after Eton they shall go to Oxford, and then both will probably enter the Army. Their ambition is to be “a Grenadier : like Daddy.” . RETURN OF THE TIARA. . The present London season is proving a very picturesque affair. Long dresses have brought back many of the feminine items of, attire winch had hardly * been ,seen fsince the war, tnd formal ■ evening parties are .beginning .’ to see thp rdtiipi;?qf'..the. tiaiu .and the fan. ; While/froeks river > short and skimpy' and il hair’- wits'.neatly shingled? any ifonii' of ii decoration —unless it was care- !: fully arranged*-was apt to look ikidi!i crons.; werp . sent ,to the; iijin'k, * and narrow fiat bandeaux were ‘ substii tuted ■ for them. Alternately hair, orj fljameri i t^'"w< r , i;Q discarded altogether. It i was :said .that they would never' be .J* worn again', and that women entitled ! to crown.|-their hair in this way were ■ glad to 1»9 rid of the weight and disi com foci;, tiny entailed. And here they are, back 1 again, and adding a great sense, of dignity and “grand manner” to the entertainments of 1930. 1 OUR ASTONISHING DEBUTANTES. The* debutante is a most surprising person! Having become so sophisti-. cated that the older generation, finds it hard to keep pace with her, she. Ludden,ly takes to muslins,. and ribbon's' arid fresh flower posies. Most of the evening frocks for the. season 'are made of ■t; organdi. ntqslip.Jrj white, pale, blue, pale pink or pale niauve. Little tight bodice, short baby sleeves, ribbons at the waist, a nosegay of real garden flowers and a long, full skirt stiffened out by a taffetas petticoat—that is the debutante’s toilette for . summer-time ( dappes, I like the taffetas petticoat! ~Tho hat the “deb” wears in the-day--time. is equally “surprise-making.” Rather : like a coal-scuttle bonnet in shape, it is worn well off the forehead and,’, raised still further by a bandeau of artificial flowers rather like those jyhich made such amazing edifices on women’s hats some twenty years ago. •-/Withthis a milk-and-rose make-up is • jused, and the eyebrows are worn quite .high to. create an effect of child-like amazement. v; BLIND GIRL WORKERS. • .So many people buy the "work of London’s blind girls and men they are ; ‘interested to hear how the girls par- *• ticularly are looked after in one of the mbig- factories where they knit every type = ‘of woollen garment. I went over it the other day, when Lady Moore-Guggis-berg, who was Miss Decima Moore, was receiving guests for a visit of inspection. Each girl has a knitting machine of her own, and seemed to be manipulating if in the most cleverly uncanny way. A girl,' who is ’ herself totally Mind, is their teacher, and one of the . tlierewer « f cwer ■ tears process, since she

had superseded a teacher who had sight. The cry, “I ean’t do it —I shall never be able to do it,” is met by the quiet assurance of the teacher, ‘‘But I am blind, too, and you can learn, just as I did.” Tho girls work out very beautiful patterns, and all of them can earn from 30s to 45s a week. ’ ' ' CHEAP JEWELLERY. ,• The bld saying, “Quality always pays,’" hardly seems to apply to the •jbwcilery . trade. The firms that are turning out. imitation pearls and imitation, stones of every kind arc prospering aiiia’ziiigly. However bad the trade conditions of the country, particular concerns' at least are paying pleasing dividends- to their shareholders. On the other 'hand, tho traffickers in real stones,.who make their headquarters in .Hatton Garden, complain bitterly that they are hardly doing any business at all. ■ Trade everywhere is so bad that no one has any money to spend on real diamonds,, real pearls, or other precious stbnes.,yl'was told to-day -of one. Bond Street jeweller who had not taken a single order during the whole of last week. Even, the prosperity of the firms that manufacture imitation stones is a matter for anix'ed congratulations. ; The 'majority of' them, at least, go to' Germany for their wares. Even the fittings, which used to be made in Birmingham,are now- generally imported from abroad.

, MISS SHERLOCK HOLAIES. The report that eight women detectives, with full pay and special dress allowances to enable them to ‘play the part” in the best company, have been added to Scotland Yard’s famous C.1.D., with the appropriate title of the “Mystery Eight,” proves premature. But Miss Dorothy Peto, who is an enthusiast with very advanced views where wo-. .men police, are concerned, ■ has the ear of .the Home. Office, and will probably get her way. Women detectives are advocated, as specially suitable for tracking down. white slave and drug trafifiekers, the former of whom, at any rate, some experts regard as a sensational myth. But their advocacy is purely a feminist agitation, though with powerful influence behind it, and most police experts regard the whole thing as a waste of public money. At a time when our available male police force is deplorably weak such extravagances are grotesque. WINDOW IN THRUMS. Sir James Barrie would like the quaint conceit of one of ‘the Glebe-Chelsca models which were on view this week at the Claridge. Gallery. It is a beautiful model of his birthplace—the old cottage which suggested the tenements. in “The Little Minister.” It is more than a model,, for if. is. a perfume burner as well, You place a cone-shaped pastille inside, ,set it alight, close down the fop, and', swept-scented smoke is , given off realistically through the chim- j hey pots . Miss Madeline Raper has done many of these little cottages and old English inns, including in the collection—sure .to appeal ot the Americans —Ann Hathaway’s cottage, the old Chelsea Bun House, Ye Olde Tuck Shop at Eton, and Nell Gwynn’s house in Mayfair. Some of the models are intended for powder boxes. Lucky people who possess quaint old Tudor cottages are showing great keenness to get models made. A; A. Milne is -one, and on his commission Miss Madeline Raper has modelled a delightful little reproduction of Mr. Milne’s old farmhouse in , Thanet. ' “I’VE HEARD THAT BEFORE.” There is much talk of dancing going out of favour as a recreation, but I hear of any number of dances being arranged for the house parties which will assemble in the neighbourhood of Ascot this week-end. "Most' of them will be private, informal affairs, but from every house where there are race guests hostesses will take parties to the big King Edward VII. ball, which, is to take place at the Wentworth Country Club m the middle of the week. The Prince of W.ales has. given a promise that'he will Fort, , for it, will that , op'lhe way to ){ist <

held up by a special constable, the traffic on the road being so great. “1 am the Prince of Wales,” he told the •special,' in an attempt to get on. “We have heard that talc before,” was the quiet reply, and the Royal car had to wait, to the. Prince’s great amusement. NOVELTY CARDS. Some of the invitation cards in use this season constitute something of ' a novelty. In place of the plain printed card with which we are familiar, invitations .to garden parties and suchlike functions are sent'out'on cards which bear a pictorial representation of the-castle or mansion to which the the guests are invited. Sometimes it is merely a photographic representation, but not infrequently it is a beautiful little painting of some old historic seat. The name is printed beneath and then comes the familiar intimation that Lord and Lady So-and-So invite the presence “At the Above” of —. It is a . pity the cards ,do not lend themselves piore readily to the .needs of the London season. But for country house occasions they provide a spice of novelty. MY LADY NICOTINE. ' My lady of fashion, who insists on the colour of her cigarettes' blending pleasantly with the costume she nlay have donned for the day or with the

complexion she nay have put on for the night, is now carrying the craze a step further. Not only are the cigarettes done ' up in blue, red, green, brown and other ■ shades, but cigarette holders, cigarette eases and match-boxes must all be en suite?" Needless to say, fancy charges are being made for these fancy trifles, Alidget cigarettes in the same rainbow shades are also on sale. They are designed, of course, for a whiff between the dances. They are no bigger than Woodbines, but the price demanded for them would leave a Scotsman gasping. But they have this to commend them; the tobacco is of exquisite quality. CARNATIONS TEN-A-PENNY. A friend just back from Nice smiled in superior fashion when I showed her a small bunch of carnations which had made a big hole in half-a-crown. It seems you can go into the Nice markets any day and buy a hundred of the lovely blooms for four or five francs. That is because the season proper is over, and there are not many gala dinners demanding exquisite table decorations. Once the first rush for them has passed the growers seem to grow careless over their flowers, fo one halfopened canation will often have half-a-dozen buds on the same stem. When the seasoil' is in full, swing, and people pay big priced for "table decorations, they relentlessly dis-bud' the plants so that 1 there is only one perfect bloom on each stalk.' It seems a pity, for the little buds are lovely 1 ROBBERY UNDER SMILES. j Last year London contributed over £250,000 to various charities by way of Flag Day subscriptions. It works out at nearly 8d pci head of the total population. ’ Or, on a more logical calculation, about 2s for each adult. That does not sound much perhaps, but Flag Days are like Budget Days. The burden does not fall equally upon all, but grievously upon a relatively small section of the community. City people complain that almost every other day they are waylaid, at the end of the road or at the station, by some charming. lady in garden-party attire, who dangles her collection-box under their noses while smilingly blandishing them into having a paper flag pinned in their coat. It is done with tho sweetest intentions, of course, but it nevertheless amounts to suburban blackmail.