Fashions and Furbelows

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18468, 21 May 1928, Page 13

Fashions and Furbelows

NOTES BY SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS.

DO YOU KNOW? That a white silk dress that has gone yellow in the wash can be bleached pure whilte with hydrogen peroxide (20 vols.). Be sure that the peroxide is the right strength. That woollen jumpers and .costumes which look very limp after washing can be restored by sf-arching in thin boiling water .starch? Alix one tablespoonful of starch smoothly witl? three tablespoonfuls of cold water, then pour in quickly enough boiling water to make it thick and transparent. Dilute with half as much cold water, and add a quarter of a cupful of vinegar. For dark woollens colour the starch with a packet dye. That the best way to clean a rubber mackintosh is to lay it perfectly flat on a table and scrub it .with a soft brush and cold soap and water.

SMART SIMPLICITY FOR THE CHILD.

The prevailing mode for simplicity has extended into the wardrobe of the child as thoroughly as it has into that of the grown-up. Simplicity, for a long while, has been recognised as a necessary factor in dressing a child. At the present time, however, although touches of handwork, quaint smocking, fagoting, or cross-stitching are used as trimming, the majority of the frocks have a subtle differentiation that stamps them not as being of a prim simplicity but of a smart simplicity. The tiny girl has frocks of wooljersey, light-weight woollen, chambray or fine linen, with soft crepe de chine and sturdy velvet for dress-up occasions. The daytime dresses are made with the round child neck and saddle shoulders. They are trimmed in quaint unusual ways; pockets are of contrasting material and sleeves are slashed and bound in different colours. All the tiny girl’s frocks are very brief, well above the knee, and accordingly accompanied by tiny French panties. Occasionally, she has a tailored dress with a convertible collar and vestee* Sometimes her skirts flare at the bottom, but, for the most part, children’s frocks are modifications of the little slip-over apron idea, and have round neck, short sleeves, brief skirts and a dainty touch of handwork that changes prim little dresses to ones that are

smartly simple and easy to take care of. There is really no need for dressing a child in dark colours, it seems, since the light woollens, linens and chambrays are not only flowerlike in the gayness of their colours, but are also easily laundered. Some of the loveliest diminutive dresses shown in the shops are developed in the light spring colours like the frocks of grown-ups and, like them, some of the prettiest ones of all are of clear marigold-yellow or the colour of wistaria blossoms. Even boj-s’ suits are made in lighter materials, such as shantung and Madras. The sturdy trousers are of shantung, while the blouse to which the trousers are attached by large pearl buttons is of Afadras with a scalloped collar of the same material as the trousers. It is smart to dress children who are of similar size very nearly alike so that the ensemble theory which rules the 1 little girl’s wardrobe and which decrees that her sports coats of camel’s hair or novelty wool must be worn with a sport or school dress and that her wispy frock of crepe de chine must have its accompanying dress coat of velvet or dove-bloom, extends even further.

TO FRESHEN CLOTH FLOWERS. Artificial flowers are enjoying a wide vogue, but unfortunately after a few months the cloth ones become dusty, shabby and drooped. They can easily be freshened again by having their ragged edges trimmed off .and being shaken gently over steam from a boiling kettle of water. Care must be taken, however, that they do not become wet. If the flowers are faded they may be revived by touching up with dye or with thin oil paints. Flowers worn on evening dresses are very effective if the edges are decorated with little dabs of silver t or gold paint.