Fashion and Things Feminine.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XXXVII, Issue 7914, 4 August 1917, Page 3 (Supplement)

Fashion and Things Feminine.

By IDA MELLER Copyright.

THE COSTUME FOR EVERY GIRL. There is no doubt that the way clothes are worn is quite ns important as the quality of the clothes, for even the simplest material, worn with a, grace may far exceed in appearance the richest silk or satin badly put on by the weaier. To know how to wear clothes well is an art, and it i> one worth cultivating, for it costs nothing, and yet, as every woman knows, the art of being welldressed means much to the personal appearance. A hat may be very smart, but if put on at the wrong angle all the chic of the thing is fost; a dress may be made of material costing little more than a shilling a yard, hut well worn it may have the appearance of a costly gown. To preserve the life of clothes, they must not only be worn carefully, but also carefully treated' when removed from the body. Furs should be well shaken out before /being hung up or otherwise put away, and shirts should also, have good shaking before they are hung up in the wardrobe. Coats should he suspended on special hangers', and, together with skirts, should! always he brushed before, being worn. In this way their life will be lengthened and they will look well to the end. Blouses are often very carelessly treated by their owners, and are crumpled up and pushed into drawers instead of being spread out and! neatly folded when not in use. In consequence, the blouses become shabby-

looking veiiy quickly, and lose their freshness at an early stage, while the material, nerhaps, is still quite good. To-day’s costumes are simple and smart at the same time, and’ are certainly economical, owing to a certain extent to the shortness of skirts. Tho plainer patterns are easily dealt with by home dressmakers who have a small knowledge of dressmaking. The costume illustrated, for instance, is not at all complex, but is absolutely smart and of a service aide type. The quantity of 48-inch stuff required to make it is five yards.

The number of pattern pieces is nine, and those include one front of coat, half the back, one sleeve in two parts, one pocket, ihalf the collar, half the belt, half the front of skirt, and! one back. These pieces (see diagram ) should be disposed on the material folded in half lengthwise, the straight edges of back of coat, front of skirt, and the collar and belt being laid to the fold to avoid seams. The other pattern pieces should be cut out in duplicate. It will be seen from the diagram that p, corner from the back of skirt overlaps the width of material. A corner-piece must, therefore, be joined to the skirt, tlie s'eam being on toe straight of material. A space is marked out on diagram for the addl'd piece, and also for a lacing to the fronts of coat. The latter should be lined with silk or polonaise, cut on the coat pattern, but seamed apart. The holt does not meet in front, but crosses the hack of the coat and holds in some fullness at each side-front. The poebets must be lined and sewn to the <•*»:)t over each hip. the pocket extensions proceeding from the belt, to which they are buttoned. Each sleeve is finished with stitching to simulate a cuff, and is trimmed with two buttons on the outside, and the coat fastens with buttons and cord loops!, these, proceeding from a cord stitched to the edge of the right front. A high fur collar is allied to the costume, and illustrated with it is a becoming tam-o’-shanter, intended to be carried out in black velvet. AN ORIGINAL HOUSE-FROCK. The house-dress made all in one, is a far more econimical possession, on the whole, than the blouse and skirt dress, lor a. blouse, if light, requires constant washing when given hard wear; therefore, t'lie one-piece dress is an economy both as regards time and trouble, and it looks so neat, moreover. Useful materials for< at 'liouse-dress l'o: everydajy wear are serge and' wool crepon. The latter i?j warm and lightweight and quite cheap, and the goodwearing qualities of serge, of course, need no pointing out. Thu house-frocks of to-day are quite charming, and there are many vogues

to choose from, some having fairly high waists, others low, some being made up in the juniper style, with fronts and .sleeves of a different material —plaid, perhaps—others having yoke effects on the skirt, these being brought about

by the union of the bodice with the skirt at a below-waist level. The skirt may be seamed in plain ir have some gathers at the top. Pretty touches maiy be given to tlie house-dress by attractively-shaped collars of white lawn, plain or inlet with lace. These relieve a dark frock very successfully, and are sometimes of Piirita.n character, sometimes after tho fashion of tin* sailor collar. Some of tlie Bodices allied to skirts simulate blouses that reach below the hips or just above them only, and are finished ■with hems and braiding. A touch of red braid on a navy-blue dress is/ remarkably pretty. With a dress recently seen braided thus at the blouse-hem, a sash of the dress material—dark-blue crepon in this instance—was wound loosely round the waist and tied one end over the other at the left side. Tho house-dress illustrated has a distinct style of its own, and yet is as simple a.s a. frock can be. Tlie plain bodice,'(buttoned in front, is severe* but striking, and is .softened by a collar with the new stand-out effect at the neck and threaded with picot-rib-bon, knotted in front. The t lice is corded at the waist, and the rkirt is gathered to it, and two useful additions’ are new-shaped pockets, buttoned on to the waist and buttoned again below. Cloth or serge may be suggested for the development of this original little house-dress, which many girls will, no doubt, be glad to copy. HEALTH AND BEAUTY NOTES. In washing white hair, only the best and purest liquid soap, as free from alkali as possible, should be used. The hair be put through many rinsings to get rid of every particle of soap, the last rinsing being quite cool, ana some women add to it blue-water, such a,s laundresses use for keeping linen a. good colour. The hair is rested in this for a few moments, and then moved' ■about to absorb a certain quantity/ of blueing after which it is made tliori ughly dry by rubbing with warm towels and is finally well brushed. Colds can generally bo avoided by simple, timely precautions. Things to be avoided are over-heating, remaining in draughts, and changing from one atmosphere to another. The mid-day meal should be a light and nourishing one, and food should never be eaten in a hurry. It is better to refrain from eating than to cause indigestion by swallowing it hurriedly. CHILBLAINS. Great care should bo taken by those subject to chilblains to prevent them from breaking, for broken chilblains are very painful and are difficult to cure. For unbroken an effective treatment is said to be the following:— Rub the Effected, parts with a cut onion, working the onion juice well into the skin. This is a homely cure, but is well worth trying, since it has the good opinion of those who have tested it. Bathing chilblains with a solution of permanganate of potash is another recommended remedy for unbroken chilblains only. It is said, also, that if chilblains are inclined to appear on the hands, the latter should he rubbed with a slice of lemon after washing. This treatment is recommended as a preventative rather than a cure. Other suggested remedies are : Make a decoction of a) handful of laurel leaves in a quart of water, and wash the hands ever*- morning with a little of this., wanned. Wash the hands two or three times a day in salt and water; or rub the. affected parts with camphorated oil. All these hints apply to chilblains on the feet as well as on tin* hands. If chilblains are once broken, they must not be touched' with anything in. tho nature of .‘fait or spirit. They should he protected b~ being wrapped, if possible, in fine white linen. A soothing ointment for them is honey, and -o, too, is olive oil. Every effort should be made to prevent chilblains from breaking out. Prevention is better than cure. GINGER PUDDING. A (heap ginger pudding, but one that, if well made, is very delicious, is worth remembering. A housewife's recipe for the same is» as follows: Mix together equal weights of flour find chopped suet —say, lib. of each; add a large teaspoonful of powdered ginger, and two tablospoonfuiU of treacle, and inix all together with one gill of milk. Steam the puddling for three hours, or boil it for two hours, and serve it hot with sifted sugar, and —if such a thing is at hand I —some juice from preserved ginger poured over it. Dripping may he used instead l of suet,

if preferred. When this U done, rather less dripping will suffice; it should not quite equal the weight of the flour used. Tho use of dripping saves, of course, the time that would otherwise be spent in chopping suet. A THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK. “ If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain; If I can easJe one life the aching, Or cool one pain, Or help one fainting robin Unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.” E. Dickinson.

TIPS FOR BUSY HOUSEWIVES. To remove match marks from, paint, rub them with a slice of lemon, and afterwards wash with soap and water. Squeeze a few drops of lemon-juice into the water in which you are boiling old potatoes, and it will keep them white. * * * If vour fingers are fruit-stained after cooking, soap your hands thoroughly before vou let any water touch them. This will take away the stain at once. Suet puddings are lighter and more digestible if made of half flour and half broader limbs. It is a good way of using up stale bread and reduces the flour bill When a cup of strong tea is required, instead of putting an extra spoonful of tea in the pot, add one lump of sugar. Tt opens thc leaves, and will make tho tea much stronger. An excellent way to use ashes fo to mix them with about an equal quantity of small coal and then well damp with •soapy water. A fire made up with two or three lumps of coni, well hacked with this mixture, lasts a long time. W * * Place a week’s tea-leaves in a pail and noiir over them a quart of boiling water. Leave for one hour, then strain and bottle. Tin’s liquor is excellent for cleaning varnished wood and linoleum, and when used for cleaning windows or mirrors gives them a fine polish. * * * To purify invalids’ rooms, soak a few •pieces of brown paper in saltpetre water and all low them to dry- When required a piece of this should ho laid in a tin of any kind, put a handful of dried lavenderflowers upon it, and apply a match. The aroma from this is very refreshing and agreeable. y IF * If r/ou do not possess anv small weights, remember that a halfpenny and a threepenny-piece together weigu a quarter of an ounce, one two-shilling piece and a sixpence together weigh half an ounce, and three pennies wcigjh one. An ordinary teacup holds four ounces of flour, and a pint jug half a pound.