LADIES' GOSSIP.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5269, 28 May 1895, Page 4

LADIES' GOSSIP.

— o (Canierlury Times.) It is refreshing to read the outspoken views of Woman's Voice on the ignoble taste on the part of women to allow a description of their race and fete dresses to be printed in tho columns of the daily newspapers. Only tho other day the came.subject was scathingly referred to iv a London club as one of the worst features of what is called "The New Journalism." The passion for personal items in our daily prints is fast becoming a craze. Yet it is very certain that the most interesting paper is not the one 'that panders to some of the most vulgar tastes of the public. ( Why, one wonders, should everybody, ; from royalty downwards, be exposed to j insulting remarks upou their personal i appearance— for it is not possible that* a j woman: who is refined and gentle in the \ truest sense, could regard such remarks as being anything but intrnsive and insulting. Not only this, but they are often positively mischievous in their result. As an instance of this, the case may be mentioned of a lady who, on the eve of receiving a proposal, read that the gentleman concerned " had Occasioned remark by sitting out a great many dances " with* come one else. Consequently, when the offer was

jnade, a misunderstanding ensued which threatened disastrous results. The fact is, that women do not realise all that such newspaper publicity, implies. ! Doubtlesß they derive a sort of childish pleasure from the mere sight of their name in print. Then it io a kind of tribute to their good taste in dress to read that " Lady So-and-Solooked charming," &c. If .be is dreßßedbyWorthandVirot.thefactrecorded iii the papers not only advertises her wealth to the world, but enables her to enjoy a triumph over those whose limited purses keep them evermore outside the Paradi* c sacred to the clients of tha French artist. The feeling is altogether unworthy of woman, of her whose mission is one of peace' and charity. There is apparently a strange confusion in the minds of most women With regard to remarks on their appearance.. .Let a stranger speak in a I lady's 1 hearing about her own or her daughter's. physical beauty or dress, and her inborn Bense of decency would resent the remark as an insult. She wonld feel at once that public comment on her charms, brought her at one stroke to the level of her whose charms are marketable. In print,' however, such remarks seem perfectly allowable, nay, if tljey are omitted, 1 she considers that a public slight has been offered her. One is reminded of the growing child's delight in its own importance, when the possession of eaoh new toy is an event of world-wide consequence, but later it learns to look back with* a kind of wonder that such baubles should have' seemed so absorbingly important. And in these days when woman is fast approaching her maturity she should make ' an effort to rise above a desire for the gratification of this merely petty vanity. , To her dress must always be ar matter of interest, but it must be more as an expression of her real' character and refinement 'than as a mean- 'of courting attention and of arousing the envy of rivals. Non-prof esßionaV ao well ac professional dreßSinakera should welcome the new method of dreßß cutting that has reached us in the form of the invention called the Columbia Fitter. We have heard of so many methods of "scientific dress cutting," methods that have not, alas, always merited the praise they received from their enthusiastic inventors, that I suppose we may be 7 pardoned,. if we require some proofs of. excellence before' -we receive the," Fitter " with open armß. There is no doubt that a . really simple plan for cutting out dresßeß is a great want, especially in these days, when many women feel it incumbent on them to economise in their expenses. And from all | one' can .Yjudge^ the. Columbia . Fitter fillß^hii? want admirably. .The system !b bo simple 'that it can be learned -in h'alf-an-hhnr by. a womskh with a taste" for dre.Bmaking, while a novice at the art cannot fail to understand it in a few hours. The chart consists of five pieces, each requiring, of course, to be cut double. These, consisting of a front, back, two side forms and •sleeves,, are xsut .out of pasteboard, and on ekch, piece are hum_erß,' i pla<ie'- ih aiff_r_nt carefully c-lculated'^ositibhs. j J Now, to. cut' the pattern required, meaeuretaents 1 ara taken with a tape from the person; according to accurate descriptions printed' •xm'ieach. piece of thie- chart. ; The corresponding number is found oh the chart, and '..' the . point is . dotted . on the lining. The ; next point v . is . ' foun£ in . 'a ' similar '. way,' and ' the connecting curve, or line, as the case may be, is obtained by drawing a pencil along the edge' of the fitter. It will be Been that no time need be wasted over a paper pattern, nor is there any need for that most tiresome of all the processes connected with dressmaking— the '.' trying on." Again, so true are the calculations, that although one measurement does not depend on another— such for instance, as the waist measure on that of the bust— yet each piece fits and corresponds. with the next as though there were some subtle conjuring trick in the

matter.

A special feature of the method is a contrivance by means of which a roundshouldered person may be perfectly fitted without trouble, and anyone who has attempted to manage thia by the old methods will admit that the difficulties in the way are by no means Bmall. The same scientific precision has been brought to bear on the arrangement of the French bias, always a mark of good dress fitting. There can be no doubt that the introduction of the fitter into every home would be a general boon, and only those who have attempted home dressmaking and have failed, will realise the magnitude of its advantages. The cost of the chart merely equals the charge of a superior dressmaker for a single dress, so the great gain in possessing one must bo obviouß.

Cocking by electricity is rapidly being made available for common use in dwelling houses in London, ahd the devices that are being adopted for this purpose should prove very interesting to those housekeepers who aim at minimising tbe cost and unpleasantness of ordinary modes of cooking. According to the account given by Mr W. N. Perry in a recent magazine, the electrical supply firms are taking practical steps to enable the public to enjoy the advantages of this method of heating. They are not only lending out electrical cooking-stoves to customers, but are prepared to supply a separate meter and charge half-rates for cooking, which, they claim, they can afford to do, inasmuch as tho consnmptioil would take place chiefly during the daylight hours when there would be but little demand for current for lighting purposes. Besides these stoves they are furnishing breakfast cookers, in which eggß and bacon may be cooked on the breakfast table; electric plate-warmers,. which are being ordered by the London clubs, for they can be kept in the dining-room without any offensive smell; eleotric footwarmers and ornamental screens, which act as radiators of heat and warm the room ; electric curling-iron heaters for the ladies, and electric. shav'.ng-mugs for the men. We are, I fancy, quite ready to welcome this cleanly and inexpensive servant in our own kitchens, and hope the day. is not far distant when we shall be able to do so.*

Another literary man has recently mounted the platform to discusß woman and her tendencies therefrom. Mr Richard Le Gallienne, poet and critic, iB the latest of these, and he evidently made a good impreeeion on his large audience— a Scotch one too, for the lecture was given under the aiigpicesof the Glasgow Lecture Association. The subject was, Bhall I say it, "The Bevolt of the Daughters; and much discussed, and wearisome as this matter now is. Mr Le Gallienne was ex. tromely happy in hiß treatment of it. Me showed that he had entirely divested himself of sex bias and prejudice, and, to iudeo from his writings, one may safely conclude that the sentiments he expressed are his own. He scorned the idea, which prevailed that a man should have the prerogative of doing that which also a woraon mieht nob do. Man was looked upon as haviug a moral coat of miil which women

are not supposed to posflese. The evil which degraded a woman would aiso degrade a man. If the man read Zola, he did not Bee why he Bhould carry the library key in his pocket. He adopted the ideal placed before the world by George Meredith of man and woman as comrades, &B chums, as equal partners in their joys and sorrows, their sins and their foolishness. But he believed one of the greatest faults of the women of to-day — and in this statement he appeared to have the full ■sympathy of his audience — was the cultivation of accomplishments, rather than their God-given gifts. All just-minded men will fully agree with Mr Le Gallienne, and the sooner these ideas become general, the better for men, as well as, of course, for women. j The spirit of eport **and of outdoor life I seems to have taken Btrong , hold of the i young women of to-day. In America, especially, this delight in action is very marked, and the girl of strong, active phyeiqae, erect carriage and energetic spirit delighting in tennis, riding, boating and walking is now the rule, and not the exception.' The result, says an English magazine, iB a tall, vigorous race, with free steps and cheeks aglow with the ruddy - colour of physical health and energy. In fact the most admired type of modern woman ia nrall.daanr-iho^ «.n

vl tuvv.-EJ.Ai nuuiau ia wei.-u-HUiiueu aa follows hy one of her admirers :— "My ideal woman," he. says, "must be strong. I like to see a woman that can ride a horse and fire a gun. She should be tall and have a pair of good shoulders. I have educated my own girls so that they are perfect sportswomen. I do not require the other finer accomplishments. I like them to be able . to piny, sing and dance, bnt never do I want the woman who is my ideal to become nambypamby. Let her have all the womanly qualities, but I want her to be healthy.with a great love for life in the open air. If a what our women need. They must go out more, and tennis and golf, with plenty of rowing, and driving, and riding, will make them more than ever the ideal creatures that they should be." It iB pleasing to see that our own girla are taking a lesson from their American sisters in this respect, and are quickly equalling them in their [physical, quite as well as in their mental acquirements.