Fashions and Furbelows

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17525, 30 April 1925, Page 9

Fashions and Furbelows

H; XOTES BY SPECIAL, CONTRIBUTORS.

JEWELS AND SNAKESKINS. jewels is the newest “armlet ’’ vogue. Bracelets of saj: >phires are among the • beautiful jewellery exhibits in the windows of the elite of the craft; and T j am told that turquoise is to be one of the stones of the coming season. But! diamonds, pearls-, emeralds and rubies all play their part; and one secs ’.nixed settings that recall old world mag: •- licence, from the point of view of cost liness only, not of workmanship. This is much more delicate than of yore. | The heavy looking gems beloved m our great-grandmothers have no place ! in the modern bijoutier’s scheme, or in \ t3:e jewel cases of his, distinguished j clients. Small but scintillating gems are set in delicate filigree work. Supple snakeskin, so delicate in ap- • pearance and to the touch that it can I be combined with the lightest fabrics, is the recherche decorative note of the moment. Clever dyeing has made it available in all gradations of tone, from very light to very flamboyant hues. |

For dresses, for footwear, and fur gloves j it is. at the moment, the premier acqui- I sition of La Mode. Sometimes the whim of Fashion is to j horrify with a lifelike example of the j real thing, in a ceinture that resembles j only too closely a crawling serpent! But the dyer triumphs more delicately 1 m little pull-on motoring hats, dance , shoes, handbag. s ? am! cigarette cases. Plain suede gloves have tinted snakeskin gauntlets; umbrella handles are or the same gom e ; snakes skin collars anti cuffs adorn coat-frocks. Snake skin appears in narrow banded motifs at the hem and materialises the j chic little pockets that are a feature of the new gowns* tor the. morning pro- j menade. “ Luckv " snakeskin bracelets .

are now included in the ever lengthening category. Like Eve. we shall have to beware of , the serpent! It looks like being terribly overdone. HOST AND HOSTESS, A MATRIMONIAL NOTE. (By Stella Harley.)

I fancy that half the matrimonial problems' of the world would be solved if husbands and wives fastened on to a little bit of elementary psychology and made it their guide. If they remembered, in short that it is fatally easy to grow slovenly in intimacy. Slovenly, i mean, in tin tempera mental sense. A husband may be immaculate sartorially, and his v;afc the

most pleasing and provocative creatur m all that appertains to her wardrob’. They may each be as careful of the: personal appearance in the home a outside. But are they as careful o their mental attitude? Do their max tiers match their clothes when they ar alone together and immune from tfi critical judgments of the outer world STERNEST CRITICS. Husbands and wives are inevitabh the sternest critics oi each other, fhc know each other’s shortcomings in ; « degree that makes tolerance and gooc j fellowship very difficult some times! • They know that the charm whicr { brings them cordial invitations' iron: ( hosts and hostesses is often conspicu ! c.us by it- absence in the wear-and-teai iof domestic existence. What they s-. j often fail to realise is that they them- ! selves should play host and hostess tc ’ each other. That they should not rcl serve ail their bright and sparkling conversation. all their deference, all their •interest, all their responsiveness, for the strangers outside their gates. “ Nonsense,” says the clever young wife. “ Strangers mean fresh contacts, new points of view, a pitting of one’s personality against a personality unknown'. Strangers mean stimulus. I low can one receive stimulus from a man one knows through and through?” .And the sophisticated young husband says likewise. PROOF OF INFERIORITY. Neither seems to realise that this is a confession of inferiority. The ready charming person the really clever person j can strike sparks in accustomed as well jas unaccustomed relationships. It is only the superficial people who want I constant change to keep them amiable. ! courteous and kind. Incompatability [i - t v e disease of medioeritv. Greatness can Vise above it. Because the really elv\cr and charming people of this ! world adopt the host and hostess uttij vc.de towards those who are the guests of their hearts as veil as o i then' hearthstones. They are so big them- | selves that they can bring out the lat- | cut bigness of others -and keep it ! GETTING THE BEST GUT Of LIFE. DIFFERENT POINTS Oi VIEW. We shall save ourselves annoyance and pcssibiy unhappiness if we remember how differently people see the same things. Usually there is no wide divergence between ourselves and our friends upon the closest essentials of life, for it is our agreement upon these that draws us to each other. We may differ on politics, but not in our conceptions of what makes for the happiness of the individual. 1 Life, however, is constantly bringing us up against people whom we ha veto know, probably do respect, and wish to nice. I he}- have a knack of chilling us, and no doubt we jar on them. This is because we do not see things in , the same light. Supposing, for instance, that they ask us to visit them. Thev will show their appreciation of our visit by great preparations in the wav of extra sweeping and garnishing of the house or by ordering special and expensive meals. They are so busy up to the last minute that nobody meets us at the station, and the welcome at the porch is a -itlc strained and breathless. W. . siliy creatures, would rather have had a hand-shake and a r-imle on the platform than the new curtains in the guest room or the extra course at dinner that greet us voieeitSolv and little too late. Our hostess saw -t. otherwise. The preparations in honour of us were her welcome to us. We must bridge the difference by remembering that iLr print cf view is an opposite cue lo our