THE LADIES

Observer, Volume 3, Issue 60, 5 November 1881, Page 120

THE LADIES

— Some of the new ombre satin _ merveilleux may noA\- be insnccted in one or two of tlie draper s shops in Queen-street. We commend this beautiful fabric to the favourable notice of our lady readers. A more lovely ancl durable material for an elegant toilettee has never been provided. The shades are inmedoe (wine colour), navy blue, and prune, and the price (lis the yard), taking into consideration the excellent quality of the satin, is not excessive. —Short dresses are tho rage ! Granted ; but, ladies, there is such a thing as short, and there is such a thing as shorter, and also as shortest. Unfortunately it is a word Avhich admits of degrees, and Avlien the superlative degree is attained, well, it is no longer a skirt, but a kilt. Not many miles from Queen-street avc met a lady avlio appeared, to our benighted eyes, to have adopted the kilt, and avc paused ancl stared, and paused and stared again, avcll nigh asphyxiated by the sight of that superlative garment Avith its Avealth of legs below it, and secretly determining that the members of our own family might Avear short dresses, but that " the state of nature" should no further go, nor should one dress be cut up into two. — St. Matthew's Bazaar and Fancy Fair is to be opened under the patronage of tbe Bishop of Auckland and Mrs CoAvic on November 21th. We must congratulate the people of St. Matthew's. They possess a Bishop courageous enough to give his powerful patronage to fancy fairs, after so much has been said and Avritten against them. And yet avc never could see Avhat harm they did. Why should the Church disdain to avail itself of money easily obtainable by means of a few innocent pleasures ? Coronetted heads in the old country have pronounced themselves pretty plainly in their favour by taking lately an active part in their organization. At one of these held lately in London, under the auspices of Royalty, a gentleman purchased of a very fair and graceful young lady, very plainly attired, a choice article of verta. The gentleman admired its beauty. " Yes, I think it is pretty," said the lady, "my mother sent it." " Your mother," replied the gentleman, enquiringly ; " I am sure I have seen her, have I not ?" "No doubt." Avas the answer, "my mother, the Queen." tt ay as the Princess Beatrice. We must also congratulate the people of St. Matthew's ou their enterprise. Nothing seems to daunt them. In this they are second only to St. Sepulchre's, while other parishes seem to be iv the condition of the dormouse in Avinter — comfortably asleep. — Apropos of these matters, All Saints' intends to hold a fancy fair about Christmas in connection Avith the Ladies' Church Aid Working Society. May they have the sense to get the Bishop for a patron, and the Obsera-er to give them a pat on the back in the shape of a flattering paragraph. J\ r ous verrons. — A complimentary dance was given to the committee of the Friday evening Rink at the Choral Hall (Avhich, by-fhe-way, proved a much greater success than the Rink on Wednesday), by fche members of the Club, on Wednesday, 26th instant, Avhich turned out a most agreeable and pleasant evening. On dit that some gentlemen returning home from the Remuera social considerably riled, as the ladies there had been veryfew and far between, turned into the Choral Hail, and on that magnificent floor, and Avith those charming Scottish lassies, finished up the night in a most unexpected and delightful manner. stewards Avere W. W. Robinson and T. Cotter, the latter resplendent in light trousers and AA-hite vest, Avith a dark blue rosette and red geranium in his button-hole. It Avas not a fulldress affair, but there Avere some pretty dresses present, Mrs Cotter wore a dress of pompadour sateen ; Mrs Culpan, black satin with silver ornaments ; Mrs Raynes, dark blue silk ; Mrs Ledingham, black cashmere trimmed Avith black spotted silk, cardinal satin cap and AA-hite feather ; Miss Culpan, dress of cream and cardinal ; Miss Maxwell, blue sateen bodice, with Avhite muslin skirt •, Miss Anscnne, 'AA'hito muslin trimmed Avith blue ; Miss Ansell, cardinal and AA-hite sateen ; Miss Keir, dress of tussore silk, AA'iih coral ornaments ; Miss — Keir, grey silk ; Mrs Jones, creamcoloured Madras muslin ; Miss Ginn, from the Thames, elaborately-trimmed dress of blue and white, AA'ith silver ornaments. — The Choral Society's last concert of the season drew an immense and fashionable assembly to the Choral Hall on Tuesday last. The gallery Avas crammed, and every available, and unavailable seat in the body of the Hall Avas taken up before the opening of the first symphony. What a contrast to the concerts of a year ago, Avhen we ourselves have vainly tried to sit out calmly one of those evenings, when empty benches, and openly-spoken animadversions Avere the rule, and not the exception. Evidently now the right man is in the right place. The dais presented a very novel and pleasing appearance. Agreeably to Herr Schmitt's instructions, the sopranos on the left of the conductor appeared in dresses of Avhite and blue, Avhile the altos on the right Avore dresses of AA-hite and red. Co-mingled Avith the black coats of the tenors and the bassos, the effect AA-as excellent, especially wheu at the magic touch of the conductor's baton all rose en masse. The solos in the premier half of the concert, " Hear mv Prayer," Avere taken by Mrs Brookfield. She possesses a high soprano voice of fine and cultivated quality, and to our mind her singing Avas decidedly the best effort of the evening. At first she Avas naturally a little nervous, but this soon wore off, and every word of the beautiful language of " The Prayer," could be heard by the atf&ntive aud silent audience. The chorus Avent steadily and avcll. In the second part, the cantata of the'"Erl-King's Daughter,"^ Mr Rhodes sang the tenor solos (although his voice is a baritone), and did them full justice. In fact, he reminded us forcibly of Paladini. Mrs Judson took the part of Sir Oluf's mother. The Edgars are a gifted family, and one Avas well reminded of that fact on Tuesday night, Avhen one listened to Mrs

Judson's artistic rendering of her songs and to Mr Edgar's masterly playing of the violincello in the orchestra. To Mrs Kilgour Avas allotted the part of the Erl-King's daughter. Her voice was all that could be desired, but her articulation Avas very imperfect. It was quite impossible to distinguish what she said. I once heard a distinguished professor say that singing Avas, or should be, the highest and most perfect expression of human speech. Noav this can never be if the Avords are undistinguishable, and yet how many of our best voices ignore the circumstance sltogcther ! As a resume of the Avhole thing, take this anecdote : — Once, some years ago, talking to a distinguished lady amateur, we said avc could not understand how it Avas that as a general rule in the Choral concerts the orchestra Avas so good, and the singers, especially the soloists, Avere so bad. The reply Avas, " Because everybody think that they can sing, but to play at all in an orchestra requires a certain amount of knowledge and of skill." Things are altered iioav, and by a course of judicious selection and bringing forward avc may hope under Herr Schmitt's impartial baton to see the vocalists attain the same degree of excellence as the really splendid and pains-taking orchestra Avhich drew down long ago the ecomiums of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh.