FEMININE INTERESTS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 18796, 7 February 1931, Page 5

FEMININE INTERESTS

PERSONAL AND FASHION NOTES. Colour “Mix” Your Rooms: Colour “mixes” have reached their height in modern home decoration. There seem to be no arrays of shades which are not used together. We have come to realise that, like flowers in a herbaceous border, we can mix both paint and materials in a fashion hitherto unheard of except in Nature. One remembers the days of one’s grandmother, when her boudoir had all-blue curtains, carpets, furnituricovers, and even the specialy grown blue hydrangea plants. Each room in those days was as monotonous as the other. To-day the variety of tints used in a single room often vary from vivid to pale, either in one colour or in several different ones. For instance, says a writer in a London paper, my own abode has been praised for its “cosy atmosphere." This so-called ‘atmosphere” is composed entirely of colour-mixes and shaded lighting—this, being just another way of describing a particular type of diffused colour. The walls are a soft moss-green, the carpets a deep smoke-blue, and the curtains a vivid cherry-red. My pleated lampshades are mauve, yellow, and pinkish orange, while the divan is covered with a blue and black Spanish shawl, a couple 01 red, gold and blue mandarin coats, and a Rumanian peasant’s skirt. Yellow and green cushions complete this ridiculous makeshift. One corner is filled with vividly coloured books in built-in shelves, and bowls of b: ignt flowers stand on the tables. What a variety of colours! Yet each seems to blend with the other in a miraculous way. It simply goes to show how one can use anything and everything from East to West, and this one room proves that sometimes “the twain shall meet.”

Try to visualise deep blue walls with jade-green woodwork. This is the background of the Hon. Evan Morgan’s attractive sitting-room and study in his Mayfair house. The effect with blue curtains, a huge black satin-covered divan with masses of silk cushions in vivid colourings, and his unique collection of books, furniture, mirrors, and pictures, not to mention his fine malachite table, and aquariums, is quite enchanting. Even bedrooms these days are full of gorgeous colours, and sun-yellow linen sheets are often used when the walls are panelled. Bright orange lampshades and mixed yellow, orange,

and a certain shade of blue make perfect curtains for this type of apartment.

Miss Diana Gues,t*the Hon. Freddie Guest’s daughter, has just completed her modern boudoir. Since her main interest in life is aeroplanes, this fascinating room is painted a rough sky blue and silver—both ceiling and walls. On one side is a map of her father’s last air route to Africa, with miniature aeroplanes, trees, and mountains indicated. Another wall hj£ a useful, aviation map of the world, while the black satin divan is built into a background of mirrors. The cm tains are cut out in wood and painted. Vivid colours are introduced m books and cigarette boxes of scarlet, the chairs being covered in blac*

oil-cloth. Her modern little cocktail box might quite easily be mistaken for a gramophone, so well are its contents concealed. Two cupboards provide space for clothes and a hidden-dress-ing table, so that the room, though small, is self-contained

Another amazing room in a converted Mayfair house was a box-room made into a dining-room! It sounds quite ridiculous, yet the tiny place with its shell-pink woodwork and ceiling its narrow pine table, built-in sofa seat, and walls painted with Riviera scenes in a medley of red. yellow, skyblue, and other vivid colours, yellow lampshade, and rose curtains, is delightful. The panelled drawing-room in this house is decorated solely by mirrors and colourful lampshades. Ceiling and walls are made of this fragrant wood, giving one the delusion of being tucked inside a big cigar box! The effect of soft pastel colourings i.n curtains and furniture-covers, with fresh flowers in tall vases, is that of a very chic, modern fairy tale.

Never before has there been such a chance to develop amusing yet practical ideas. A young bachelor broker in Wall Street, in order to have a little kitchen and dining-room, turned a long, narrow cupboard into his “snack bar,” with two openings into the tiny kitchen beyond. Through one of these his cook could hand him sandwiches, eggs and bacon, and through the other cocktails and drinks were served. One sat on high, red leather stools. This little room was walled and ceilinged in rough upolished maple, and the window was framed with red and yellow check curtains. Which goes to disprove once more that if you have a small room you must refrain from riotous colour-mixes. Over a Hundred Yards of Material: The toilettes of the new Lady Mayoress and her retinue displayed an exemplary note of patriotism. Nothing could bespeak an Empire scheme better than the simplicity which was suggested in these frocks; nothing exotic, nothing new or startling is allowed, but the whole breathes of the old English atmosphere. There were nine attendant maids in all, of whom three were the Hon. Margaret and the Hon. Elizabeth Blades, twin daughters of Lord and Lady Ebbisham and Miss Phyllis Truscott. Lady Neal stipulated that the materials used for the gowns should be of British manufacture. The ivory silk of her own dress w’as classified as Irish poplin. It was simply made, and was beautified with a deep low berthe of old rose point lace. A train of velvet of a lovely peacock blue shade, which showed up splendidly in the brilliant lighting of the Guildhall at night, was draped from the shoulders and lined with the dress material. Another Imperial touch in her toilette was the big fan of ostrich feathers from South Africa that she carried. For the dresses of the maids no less than 115 yards of ivory net, specially dyc-d at a Nottingham mill, were used. The billowy three-tiered skirts stood out with a crinoline effect, and at fairly high waistlines they were joined to little bodies of ivory silk, with a water wave design. Their waists were girdled by sashes of blue velvet, matching the train worn by Lady Neal. Great bows of the velvet at the back conveyed the impression of bustles. As head-dresses they wore white heather gathered on the moors of Scotland. Scarlet carnations formed the third Empire colour in their toilettes. “Searface Al’s” Sister: Amid all the splendour of rich furs and luxurious mototyjare, Mafalda Capone, the pretty 18-years-old sister of “Searface Al.” has been married to John F. Maritoto, brother of Frank Diamond, who, like his rival Capone, is one of Chicago’s “public enemies.” It is conceded in gangland that the marriage is one of convenience—i* means of averting a continued feud P.fp' veen . the two booze rackets—but little evidence of a forced marriagt was visible on Mafalda's face as she left St .Mary’s Church, Cicero, on the arm of her 23-years-old husband, smiling amid a shower of rice. The wedding was a fashion parade of jewels and fine clothes in a setting of flowers on which hundreds of pounds had been spent. The bride was dressed in ivory satin with a 25 foot train and, she carried a bouquet of 400 lilies of the valley. Five bridesmaids wore pink taffeta dresses, with double pearl pendants as the bridegroom’s gifts.

Ralph Capone, brother of “Scarface,” was immaculate in glistening silk hat and correct attire. He is engaged with the Government in a small

matter of several thousands of pound.* of alleged unpaid income tax, but litook an afternoon off to give the bridi away.

“Searface Al” was not present. He is listed as Number One of the vagrancy list, and he would have beei arrested if the police had seen him. As the tenor sang “Oh, Promise Me,’ detectives quietly arrested fivi gunmen, each of whom carried a re volver. "Searface Al’s” mother, dressec in a rich mink coat, followed he daughter down the red-carpeted centrt aisle. The wedding, which was intended tc be a “quiet little affair,” drew 4,00( people to the church. Green Beer and Skeletons: Lady Chaytor staged her Mystery Ball in the dungeon of Witton Castle entertaining more than 200 guests tc supper. In a series cf optical illusions, greev beer and green sandwiches were servec by “ghosts.” Hidden in recesses were i number of skeletons, some seated or chairs and others hung by chain.* from the walls and roofs. One of the guests, well known in thf north, made a forced entry Into the castle, dressed as Dick Turpin, b? scaling the wall. He appeared as dancing was in progress and help up £' number of people—at the point of ; pistol. The Mystery Room was in charge of Professor Norton, and Lady Chaytodemonstrated a number of illusions presented in weird surroundings. The mysteries for which she offered a prize of £25 for a correct solutio. included “La Morte,” in which a youn; woman assistant changed into a skeleton. another in which an assistant defied the law of gravity, and a thirc in which a Sphinx answered questions. The Too Perfect Wife: I read not long ago of a “wife-trail, ing” system in one cf the Norse cou: tries, whereby the “candidate" emerge', with a certificate from the loc;.' pastor. I think a true Briton woulc rather embark upon the sea of matrimony with an experimental wife than a certificated one, states a well-known writer in a London daily. Certificated domesticity may be unassailable, but it is also definitely unrcmantic. In the face of it amusing struggles would never occur, and precious little jokes would never be born. Moreover, we must not lose sight o! the fact that the “stronger” sex do not readily yield their prerogative of standing by and smiling tolerantly at their bride’s efforts to achieve the perfect home, meanwhile—let it be whispered!—thanking heaven that perfect wives and perfect homes are few and far between.

In extreme cases, too, husbands like to lend a helping hand: it gives them a glorious glow, and the husband who has never spent an hour helping his wife wrestle with the accounts and telling her that she “can’t add uo for toffee,” is a disapointed one, I am

More often than not men return orn offices and organisation where

dcndlv efficiency prevails, and “system” is the watchword. There is nothing so monotonous as perfection: and while I should be the last person to advocate domestic chaos. I do think that to deprive a young married couple of th ? fun of ‘finding their feet’ together is to lessen their chances of living “ha ppy-ever-a f ter. ” If everything is too perfect and there is nothing to discuss, we are liable to Dlunge even more deeply into the mechanical aspect of things—the wireless and the gramophone.