LADIES' COLUMN"

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13874, 10 April 1909, Page 2 (Supplement)

LADIES' COLUMN"

Social Doings for the Week. ("By Ghclliiv') Mrs "WestniiU-ott lui.s lvtmnod to •Glonavv.

Mrs ' 1). M. Gillies, of Dunedin, is visiting Timaru. Miss Helmore, of Christehurcli, is the guest of Mrs Milton. Mi's Arthur Elworthy has returned from Palmerston North. Mrs Murray-Aynsley, of Christehurcli. is..visiting Timaru. Mrs .Ins. Hay, •'Barharaliekl." Temuka, came into town this week.

Mrs Ewen Morrison has gone to Dunedin for the Easter holidays.

Mrs and Miss Clothier, of '•Ktrathearlie,'' Kaiapoi, are visiting Temukn. Mrs and Miss Priest' are spending a holiday with Mrs K. Bassett, of Clirisiv elnireh.

The principal social event of next week will bo. Mrs Thomas" . dance oil Wednesday in the Assembly Booms. - Misses May and Ethel Kerr returned front their trip to the Old Country, on Saturday-last. While" at Home, they travelled on the Continent, ' visiting France, Belgium, .Holland. Germany'. Switzerland, Austria, .and Italy. They came back via Suez, and altogether were absent; from the Dominion . for about ten' months. '-,'...

> Amongst the audience I noticed Miss Rhodes wearing a cream silk frock, lovely stole of silver, tissue. Miss Brodrick, pretty turquoise blue frock. Mrs Beckingham. trained gown- .of black chiffon taffeta.."... Miss Burns' trained skirt of "black chiffon taffeta,' pretty dinner bodice of palest green crepe-de-chene, with applications.of -black-vel-vet. Mrs Lawson, 'handsome trained gown of black, silk, with" red roses on the corsage. ; Miss. Joyce,, smart black evening gown, the bodice ,finished with cream lace applique, long coat of cream cloth, with satin collar. Mrs Bowman, becoming Cream gown. Mr and Mrs Frank Barker. Misses Raiue. Mr. and Mrs Arbor, Mr and Miss Hardcastle. Miss Mahony, Miss Beckiugham, Mrs and' Miss Jonas. Mr and Mrs Goodwin, Messrs Timaru Rhodes, G. Priest. Mackenzie, Jonas (2),' Hole, Beckingham, Burns. '

Quite a number of summer frocks have been worn in town. recently, and not what is generally seen,in the."month of April, the weather conditions prevailing recently being, quite favourable for. the wearing of light; dresses. The lovely.white silk frock of Miss' Priest was worn with a wide black hat with wings. Mrs J. P. Newman has been favouring a graceful trained gown' of vapour grey . silk ninon, worn . over glace, deep yoke and epaulets of white lace threaded with black velvet ribbon, large black-plumed; had: Mrs Arthur Elworthy, pale blue. Shantung, -very smart cream and bine .hat. Mrs Goodman,--black ninon, with Grecian embroidery, in black velvet, black plumed hat. Airs E. A. LeCren, becoming frock of heliotrope linen. Miss Kerr, very pretty embroidered frock of pale blue linen. Mrs Dr Gabites, green-directoire coat, worn with green checked skirt of a light colouring, black and white picture hat. Mrs Win. Eva lis., smart gown- of .palest grey striped niiion, with pipings of heliotrope velvet, violet toques. Mrs C. E. Thomas, dark blue serge, braided in black, black and white hat. Mrs Maling, empire gown of brown enlieune. Miss Zeisier, turquoise blue cloth. A large and /enthusiastic audience filled in the oii Wednesday evening, when Miss Florence Bnincs and'company presented "Miss Lancashire, Limited.' People went and expected-, great, fun, aiid it can safely be said that they were very well satisfied, for nothing really could have been more mirth provoning than " Miss Lancashire, Limited." Of course Miss Florence Baines is the life and soul of the piece, and it is astonishing how she can act, sing, and daiice with the greatest vigour-imaginable. The versatile Jliss Baines is the possessor of a very sweet voice of good range, and was heard to great advantage in Tosti's " Good-bye." A pretty gown is worn by M'ss Bene Marchel, who acted the part of "Bertha Higgins." She appeared gowned in ivory satin, made with a long narrow train. In/the same act, Miss Florence Baines makes her entry looking very commanding in a cigar brown ■chiffon"' taffeta gown, with yoke of cream lace, and trimmed with velvet, stole. The wide skirt, trained and bordered with velvet. Her hat of brown lace with large pink roses is also very becoming. Another gown of Aliss Rene Marchels' was a floral voile, with yoke and sleeves of lace. A most amusing part in "Miss Lancashire, Limited," is when Miss Baines appears ; dressed for dinner. Her gown of lilac : crepoliiie trimmed with true lovers knots in emerald green does not fit her figure correctly, so as an emergency she adopts the plan of draping the openpart with a dangling piece of brightblue silk, and pins the decollette bodice on the back of the skirt, not thinking that it- is part of the creation. The fun was increased as soon as she turned her back, showing the bodice dangling from her waist.

THE HOUSE-TO-HOUSE MILLINER

• Tlie souvenir which' the "milliner of a hat sends is not cheerful literature (an English writer opines). If hat prices seem out of all proportion to the appar-. ent innocency of a plain hut, it is of little use, however, to coniplain of guinea and two guinea fees because the shape" is only worth 5s and the trimming half. a. guinea. Any one with the scantiest knowledge of the shopping world knows that plate-glass and position count for far more even than fashion and style.' when estimates are made. , ' In America, the idea of dispensing with the heavy expense of window-front or-house rent has been successfully carried out, and the '"visiting milliner" —a new departure in the commercial world —is making a fairly good income for herself. At the same time, by evading responsibilities of shop-rent she avoids the trade risks which are always an anxiety to beginners in thier first two years, when landlords are insistent in the matter of rates and rent, and money does not pour into the linn's coffers as quickly as it might. A woman, who, according to an American contemporary, is making a fairly lucrative business of house-to-house work, took the usual training at a mil.liner's.. When she started for herself, she had, of course, to work up a clientele, but once a few people had tried her and appreciated her efforts, orders and engagements were not long in coming. Her first order was for children's millinery. In the course of two hours at her employer's house she easily managed to turn out as many as eight hats. which, even dedncting the cost of her services per hour, the shapes and the materials, as well as the gratuitous lunch with which they provided her, could not have added very seriously to the nursery dress budget. Jn many cases the visiting milliner buys all the materials for her clients. She finds out what they want, arms herself with patterns, and sallies forth to match and choose, knowing, as a matter 'J fact, far better than those she is working for where to get the best value, while the difference in the wholesale and retail price of hat shapes and trimmings

slio always gives her clients. People, as a matter- of fact, "appreciate a bargain air the world over, and half her success -probably-{depends-- a great deal on her readiness to produce her shop bills, on which ribbon was a- 1 cent, or two less pei: yard than if.it had been bought over the counter .of the drapery store. ■ ■ ■ '. There are, of course, "close" seasons in .hat-trimming": Unless people are. gojug abroad, or there are weddings in prospect, nothing' happens between spring and summer and-summer and autumn, and when-.-.once, winter hats have been --bought, ' there are -weeks when the weather is had, and shabby possessions can be-made to last until the early spring. A visiting milliner allows, however, for the slack time, and considers it" in the light -of a holiday, while she always makes a point of going over to Paris when the early, models are being launched. In this way she often picks ui>i bargains in the matter of cheap Howei's-and new feathers, which are of use later on, while she is also free to undertake shopping commissions for her clients, who come to regard her Paris visits as the means of ensuring the successful carrying-out of a number of small commissions. vFoiir shillings an .hour is by no means a prohibitive "charge when the williner js a quick Avorker, while it is quite possible to earn as much as £1 or £2 a dav-'in the busy season. During, perhaps", a couple of hours, the amount which" can be turned out by a practical hand is nothing short of marvellous. The less travaille a hat, the.better the success, whilst—with, an" eye to economy—wonderful" transformations. are made with old plumes, crumpled ribbon, crushed velvet, and hat shapes in antiquated forms, such, patching and remodelling, ■ which - the ordinary milliner would' scorn to undertake, being brought to'a-fine art. . . A SCHOOL FOR WIVES. A new "school for wives" has been opened in London, and when least mv eves upon the aiinoimcement my he'art'reioiced that the blessings of education should be carried at ,last to a class who have hitherto'laboured in the darkest depths of ignorance The trainin'ir.of- women for matrimony has hitlierto"~been haphazard and unscientjhc In the process of graduating for the altar there'has been iio orderly and systematic course of •instruction. The. pupils have had to acquire knowledge as best thev-could." and though many,of them have qualified as wranglers they have lamentably failed to graduate as Master's of the' Domestic Arts. Therefore when I read that" a school for wives had been opened I'was glad, believing that even a post-sraduate course might be useful.' "Electricity." says-. the principal., "is a:'.thing of the future, and we think that onr,students, should be prepared for it and: should know how to retrulatc an electrically-heated oven." What, foolishness is-this.'. It wives were taught to regulate the suppl v of domestic, electricity, and to shut off the switch when the current .is.nnoroacbing the .fusing .point they: would lcfirn -something;, .really, useful, and be nble to -avert- those' electrical disturbance's which so often .cause the old