LADIES' INTERESTS.

Thames Star, Volume LXV, Issue 18332, 2 November 1931, Page 3

LADIES' INTERESTS.

ETIQUETTE OF THE 'NINETIES

Returns Again to London.

A WOMAN- PRESIDENT

SUMMER FROCK MODES.

•'The London ballroom has returned to a grace and dignity that it lost' during the war, and that only this season has ben found again. Hostesses who deplored after-the-war' manners and customs to the point of refusing to entertain unless these could be changed have had their way and a London party of the> moment is as decorous as early and mid-Victorian balls were,'-' writes Marion Ryan in the New York Sun.

"Of cou'.se fashions have had ■th&r effect. Some of the dances of yester-year, which were great [•fun iu short skirts and chiffon kfro'Cks that were- quite right for romping, are very old-fashioned-noWji. The girl, who appeared .skimpily Sqlad at .a-ball of this season ■wdi'u|C,not have to be told she was out of ; place—she would know it. Not for her the dreamy waltzes, the -slowrfiox trots. ,the square dance—buHfor. the young woman in a long, even, trailing gown of rich brocade; the woman-. decorously coiffed and .■loved. Gloves are very smart in pi'*, crimson, bright green or. any other 'colour to match or harmonise with the frock or the slippers. "Queen Mary is said to be delighted at the return to womanliness, which- is one reason that Buckingham Palace saw a State ball again' this season. Not for several years has there been a ball given there; the Royal parents feeling that there is enough dancing every-, where else and that the Prince of Wales and his brothers.do more of it than is really necessary. "The Prince of Wales has introduced the most popular dance of the 'season, the Argentine tango, which lie learned while in Buenos Aires. All' the pretty girls he favours as dancing pa if hers have had to take 'lessons'so as to be up to his standard. That means one must 1)0, a little more proficient than he is, for the''Prince .B', nr>t a natu ally gobf dancer.'. "* What proficiency he has comes from much study and nine'. practice'.

'•' "Whin short, Jdmpy dksses were 'iirlfash'ioii mothers looked as young as'l'their ''daughters. ' 'Now, with .irl'illn'V full'skirts, strange litt'e 'jai-kcts, I '"d 'ooping- hats or little obf Ibii'V'oiicNi'like those in the family allium, "with a feather tickling the r.ci'k, daughters look as old as their mdt'h'ers, and of the two mother is a Better dancer, for she was brought upj-'on Strauss waltzes and she can •miih'age her train adroitly or swing fiWtfu 1 shirt coyly so as to afford ajtecpat a neat ankle; while daugh-, tor-is' just a little awkward this first season of discretion.

"'And what does the London gilded youth, who had everything his own way only last season, think of it all? He may not come to a party in a dinner jacket now, but in "tails." >He may not drift in any hour and expect to book dances with his favourites. He may not be brought alone as somebody's escort without permission of the hostess. He dare not ",crash in" just because somebody he knows is there. ' He also is on his good behaviour and has fallen in line as meekly as the London society girl who pnly last season was a wild and wilful creature with as little clothing as she dared to wear and strange makeups that turned her lovely English skin deep brown, tangerine or brick red.

,"She is just her simple self these days in clothes of the 'nineties and she is a huge success. There have been more engagements announced this season than for many years. 'Most of this year's debuntantes will be matrons next year."

Woman Heads Firm

Refused an increase of 4/2 a week 28 years ago, Mary Dillon stepped out and made herself president of the £2,400,000 Brooklyn Borough Gas Co., just to prove that •women can make good in business; she explained recently in New York.

It took a little time after she had quit her job passing out bathing suits in a Qoney Island bath house. 'First, she became "sort of office boy" for the gas company. Then, in 1925, after 22 years of steady promotions, she was made president of the firm.

Now . she advises other women ambitious for a successful business career to get married and go to work. Once married, she said: ''They aren't-then so preoccupied with the man question. . A career in itself cannot satisfy' a woman emotionally, and a business woman with an unhappy life carries over her emotional upsets to her work."

Seen in the Shops

Summer frocks are perhaps some of the simplest garments which the young amateur .dressmaker can fashion for herself. Cotton materials are easy to handle and styles this summier are to be both ,simple to make and effective to wear. This is an excellent'time to make purchases, for the shops now have in stock full ranges of all the new designs.-

There is'- a wider choice of patterns than ever before, and the joy of them is" that in nearly every case they will not only wash, but boil.

In the heavier materials such as delaine and cambric, the designs are of the small all-over variety. The pattern increases in size the thinner the material, so that voiles and ninons, have roses and other designs of the large and highly decorative order.

Spo\s are very popular this season, the smartest being those the

size of a penny. 'Stripes have practically vanished except for pyjama wear, and checks are found only in ginghams. These last are very fresh and young-looking when made -up, as well as being extremely inexpensive.

Travelling Cat. A correspondent in Germany sends the following story, for the accuracy of which he vouches (says a writer in the Greymouth Star): While talking to the stationmaster at, a wayside village station, waiting for my train to continue its erratic journey, I saw a cat jump into the luggage van and not reappear. When I called the official's attention to this fact, he replied: "Yes, yes, she does that every day. She travels two stations farther on, gets out and. goes to the pump station, where, the engineer gives her a pint of milk. She then returns by the next train. Formerly she used to travel on the locomotive, but having burnt her tail on a steam pipe, she now prefers to travel ; , with the luggage."