SOCIETY

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 346, 25 July 1885, Page 10

SOCIETY

[Society items of all kinds will be -welcome for insertion in this column. All communications should he addressed, " Society Editor, Observer and Free I/ANCE," and should reach this office not later than Wednesday morning in each week. | BACHELORS' BALL. A very enjoyable ball was given by the bachelors of Ruapuke and Te Mata on the 10th inst. The ball was held in the schoolroom, which was prettily decorated with ferns and flowers. Dancing commenced early, and was kept up with the customary enthusiasm until daylight. Mr Galvan made an efficient M.C. The refreshments provided by Mrs Swarm were first class, and duly appreciated. The following is a list of the principal dresses and their fair wearers : — Miss Wilson,!pink and white tarlatan ; Miss Bella Johnson, white muslin; Mrs Thomson, pretty white dress, trimmed with lace; Mrs Bulford, pale pink sateen, black velveteen bodice ; Miss Johnstone, pompadour; Mrs Vernon, black cashmere, trimmed with velveteen ; Miss Galvan, pretty dark dress ; Mrs Jerome, black, trimmed -with crewels ; Miss Swarm, fancy print, trimmed with sateen aud lace ; Miss" L. Moore, ruby sateen, trimmed with white lace ; Miss J. Moore, cream sateen and black lace ; Mrs Peglar, black cashmere ; Miss A. Liddell, black, trimmed with sateen and ivy; Miss M. Liddell, handsome grey dress : Mrs Swarm, black ; Mrs Moore, pink print ; Mrs Falwasser, dark dress ; Miss Miller, grey lustre. . . ] An enjoyable dance came off in the Onehiwia school-room (Raugiriri), on the 10th inst. The moving spirits were Mrs Muir and Miss Blackman. The attendance was limited on account of the bad state of the roads. Mr Hooton supplied the music, and Mr Hill fulfilled the duties of M.C. The dresses of the ladies were the theme of general admiration. Miss Bruce from Auckland was the acknowledged belle, Miss Hill carrying off second honours. Dancing was kept up until -A a.m. It is said that Queen Victoria has a mania for collecting relics of engagements in war. Among others, she has' mounted in crystal and silver the musket ball that ended the career of Nelson. How delightfufly do the French journalists describe the doings of John Bull's fashionables. Here's a sample :— ' On Thursday, at the church of St. Martin, in the fields near London, took place the marriage of Madame Gladys, Duchess Dowager of Lonesdul, to Milor Roberson, Comte deGrey, and member of the Chamber of Lords, The bride belongs to the highest and most ancient nobility of England, and is the sister of Sir Herbert, Count of Pembroke-Wilton. The bridegroom, on the contrary, is the eldest son of the Marquis of Ripoy, late Governor-General of the Oriental Indies, who was the first of the Nababs to be ennobled by Her Brittanic Majesty.' Men's dress changes every season slightly, and not always for the better, says a London correspondent. Last year, par example, * masher ' collars, with white made-up ties of muslin or linen, were all the rage. This summer it is no longer chic to wear a standup collar unless dogs-eared, and a made-up tie would be considered the height of Philistinism. Scarves of white or very pale cream ribbed silk now replace the muslin and linen. They are tied in a sailor's knot, and pierced below the loop with the tiniest of single pearl pins. It is most important (please note) to put the pin in below the loop, and to take care it is a very small piece of jewellery — i.e., about a quarter the size of an ordinary breastpin. If you were to pierce the knot, or to use a common gold breastpin, you would show an ignorance of ' form,' from which even the most goodnatured • old chappie ' of your acquaintance wonld recoil aghast. Sac coats, never possible in London, are now going out of fashion even in the provinces. The tendency is towards darker suitings than have been worn for some years. Men are beginning to realise that they never look so comely as when decently clothed in a well-cut black morning coat. Stripes once more reign supreme in trouserings. A few stalwart people like Sir John Astley and the Duke of Portland stick to the large checks temporarily popular last season, but they are generally voted ugly. If you see a man (under fifty) in a frock coat you may be sure he either is an American or an Australian, the former for choice. Americans, too, have a jwicJumt for that shiny black cloth which is so abominable, save in evening clothes or on the back of a parson. No London tailor would dare to make a layman a coat of such a material. His reputation would be damned eternally. The grace of the Empress of Austria's tall figure is unmistakable, ani those who have seen her once know her again in whatever disguise they may chance to meet her. She is now staying at Amsterdam to undergo a course of treatment from Metzer, the famous ' massage-doctor.' A few days ago she entered a toyshop where she was unknown, and after selecting a pretty baby doll she told the lady in waiting ' This will 'do for my little grandaiighter.' The shopman whose gallantry was greater than his discretion, said, ' Madame cannot be in earnest? Madame cannot have any grand-

children yet ?' The Empress laughed gooihumouredly and said, 'Indeed! I am a grandmother four times over, and to prove the fact I will come another day and select some toys for three of my grandchildren, and you will be so good as to send them to my daughter, the Princess Gisela in Munich.' The r>oor shopman was dumbfounded, and begged a thousand pardons for his impertinence, but the Empress left the shop smiling, and said 'You were not impertinent, you were only gallant. Good-bye.'