FEMININE INTERESTS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 18762, 29 December 1930, Page 3

FEMININE INTERESTS.

PERSONAL AND FASHION NOTES. Queen Mary’s Treasures; Queen Mary is possessed of many very valuable possessions. Her collection of jewels, for example, is the most valuable possessed by the consort of any reigning European sovereign today. Her Majesty’s most valuable possessions are not of necessity her i most treasured possessions, says the Queen. There are some things Queen Mary has in her possession whose intrinsic worth is not considerable, but : which her Majesty, for various reasons, values very highly, more highly than many of her most valuable possessi.ms. For example, there are the Bible and Paisley shawl which were a wedding gift to Queen Mary from Mrs Glad- ! stone, the wife of the famous states- : man. Both these are among her most ! treasured possessions, and wherever her ; Majesty may be, she always has with j her that Bible that Mrs Gladstone gave I her. 4 Two dresses in her wardrobe are very

much prized by her Majesty. One is her wedding gown—it was woven in the looms of Spitalfield and is of silver and white brocade, decorated with roses, shamrocks and thistles on a white ground. The veil that still hangs over the gown belonged to Queen Mary’s mother. The other gown in her wardrobe that is especially valued by her Majesty is one made of green poplin, made on the occasion of the first visit of the then Duke and Duchess of York to Ireland shortly after Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee. A valuable possession of Queen Mary, and one much treasured by her. is the pearl necklace presented to her by women of twenty-five English counties, as a wedding gift, and of her intrinsically valuable possessions, that one is perhaps the most prized. A few years ago, when her Majesty went to attend a performance at Covent Garden, during the opera season, she wore this necklace. It came undone as she alighted from her car. and two of the pearls fell to the ground. The Queen did not stop herself to look after them as she did not wish to delay, even for a moment, the beginning of the opera, which was almost due to begin. Her Majesty went straight into the Royal box, and a few minutes later the equerry, who had remained behind to search for the pearls, came to the box with them.

Another valuable article in her pos'■'■'ssion that Queen Mary much prizes is the gold bowl used at the christening of the present Prince of Wales, and which was presented to the Queen for the occasion by various public bodies. There are many phtographs which are much treasured by Queen Marv.

Fashions to be More Definite. “I don’t expect any fashion revolutions this fall. There won’t be any. Women are interested in the evolution ■>f the present fashions, not in starting any fashion revolutions,” so declared Amos Parrish, fashion expert, addressing the owners and executives of 127 department stores and specialty shops at the opening session of his semi-annual Fashion Merchandising Clinic.

“Fashion has pretty well decided where she is going and where she wants to be. Last year she wasn’t sure. This vear she is. She knows exactly what she wants to do about hemlines, skirt lengths, waistlines and other fashion deails. Last year fashion was in a transition stage. Fashions were from the boyish, flapper type to the more feminine, more individualistic costume. But there were still many of the old boyish, flapperish features that had not disappeared. Some of the clothes, looked like a little girl’s party dress, all fixed up with lots of laces, frills and ruffles.

“Last year hemlines and skirt lengths did not know where to go or what to do. Some hemlines were longer on one side or longer in back Others had a iagged and ragged appearance. Dre* lengths then were all lengths from above the knee to the ankle. Lots of dresses did not know whether they wer Q daytime dresses, afternoon dresses or evening dresses. In this same transition period waistlines were sometimes below normal, at normal and above normal. And they often got in the wrong place on the wrong dress,” Mr Parrish explained. “Last year fashion wanted to be individual. but she didn’t quite know how. And she likes being individual. So how to get that way. Now she knows she doesn’t need to worry any longer. Our fashion analysis proves that the fashions for fall will be individual in moderation. Women will still wear the bolero and some of the Gibson Girl skirt-waist costumes, the Victorian jacket and the Empress Josephine dress, but they will be modified and adapted to fit in with the important fashion themes for fall. In other words she won’t look the Gibson Girl or the Spanish bull-fighter with his bolero, or Empress Josephine or Queen Victoria. even though she uses these fashion ideas. She will look like the modern well-dressed 1930 woman of fashion.” At the Round Table Conference: Some very striking costumes were worn by the Indian delegates at the opening of the Indian Round Table Conference in London, by King George. On entering, His Majesty advanced towards the gilt and crimson thronechair set at the head of the space where the open ends of the double horseshoe tables face each other, and without seating himself bowed gravely to right and left. Ranged to right of him, each stand"tg in his allotted place, were the Indian Princes. First was the Maharajah of Alwar. a tall, lithe figure in a long, tight-fitting tunic of beige satin. TJr e wore a close turban of dark green lvet with a flashing ornament of diamonds above his brow. The veteran Gaekwar of Baroda, next to him was in morning dress but was capped in scarlet and yellow. The Maharajah of Patiala towered in a long black robe and a puggaree of pale blue. The Maharajah .. Kashmir, similarly, had a turban to match his coat.

Nearby was one of the women delegates—Mrs Shah Nawaz, whose delicate blue sari provided a fitting frame -or her exceptional beauty. Another figure here was “Ranji”—the Maharajah of Nawanagar—who was the subject of many friendly murmurs. The Burmans formed an attractive group all in white except for their headgear. Their spokesman, Mr U. Ba Pe. was coiffed in a confection of shell pink that must have delighted the women present.

It was indeed the day of the turbans, which were of many shapes, and hues from palest yellow and blue to darkest crimson and indigo. Their gay splashes of colour struck an Oriental note and against the old gold background of the walls melted into a pleasant harmony. A “Tudorised” Home: Recently Mrs Scullin, Mrs Brennan. Mrs Moloney, Lady Squires, and Lady Sidey drove out to lunch, and to see the beautiful old Tudorised home of Mr and Mrs Samuel Wallrock at Stanmore, a house which was once a Victorian villa, and has now been “Tudorised” by its owners (writes a London correspondent). This took over ten years to accomplish. It was the first house of the kind they had ever seen. They were intensely interested in the dining-room panelled in wood taken from the late Lord Leverhulme’s din-ning-room, and the cherry velvet chairs copied from the chair on which Mary Queen of Scots was crowned, which is now in Winchester Cathedral. After lunch the visitors saw the banqueting hall, which has been made from an old Tudor barn. It is in this hall that Mr and Mrs Wallrock entertain all their friends. The curtafitc are made of material which was specially woven from an original pattern in the Victoria and Albert Museum. A modern kitchen at the back of the hall intrigued the visitors. This is fitted with all modern electrical appliances. In the fireplace in the banqueting hall is an old iron grid, on which an ox is going to u e roasted to celebrate Mr Wallrock’s AfJ.eth birthday. A Practical Princess: There is one famous shop in London where you are almost certain to find Royalty shopping whenever you visit it. The King of Spain goes there, when on a visit to London, for gifts to take back to his daughters, and so does the Queen of Norway, besides our own Queen and most of her family. A little while ago Princess Mary went to this shop to buy a spade. She explained that gardening was her favourite occupation, and that, although there were “hundreds of spades” at her county house, she could never find one for her personal use. for 3 choosing her spade she bar

foot, in a very businesslike manner, on the blade to test its size and to see if it was the right weight.

Women Jockeys to the Fore: Crouching low over the saddle, golden curls peeping from beneath a cerise jockey cap, Miss Madge Hamshaw, aged 17, flashed past the wining post at Newmarket first of four women riders in the ~time-honoured Newmarket Town Plate Race. But. if she defeated handsomely the other competitors of her own sex. she had to give best to a man Mr F. A. Simpson, who was 60 and had won the race on 15 former occasions. He beat her by 14 lengths. Green Fire, the mount of Miss Eileen Joel, the daughter cf Mr S. B. Joel, and the only woman who has ever won the race, broke down.

Woman State Secretary: The Governor of Louisiana, Mr Huey Long, who recently achieves world-wide notoriety when he received a German naval call dressed in his pyjamas, has startled politicians in the united States by appointing a young woman of 25 years of age to be Secretary of State for Louisiana.

The position is a high official post carrying heavy responsibilities, and has never before been held by a woman. The appointee. Miss Grosjean, who thus oecomes the youngest major State official in the' United States, has been confidential secre-

‘' n ry to the Governor since si's was 18, and has been one of his most active agents in many stormy political campaigns. No time was lost in appointing Miss Grosjean. for she was ’n office a few hours after the death of her predecessor. Miss Grosjean. a nretty brunette, was married at 15 years of age. but divorced her husband after six years of married life and resumed her maiden name.