WOMAN'S PAGE

Waipawa Mail, Volume LXII, Issue 39, 11 March 1935, Page 4

WOMAN'S PAGE

LONDON FASHION NOTES. CHANGEABLE WEATHER. A MILD WINTER. LONDON, January 4. The New Year arrived in showers and sunshine, and the mild weather has had its effect on fasihons. Furs have been unnecessary, but women have worn them defiantly,. Two, three, and even four fox skins being used to make the enormous fur capes which have been such a great fashion of the present season. However, they have been worn over wool dresses, and without a coat to make them bearable during our winter heat wave, and easily removed iri an over-warm restaurant.

Strange that just >.Len our hotels and many country houses, which used to be like mausoleums in the winter, have adopted the almost tropical central heating of America our winters should become the mildest within living memory. Doubtless, we shall shiver later in the year when we are thoroughly bored with winter clothes and longing to wear spring fashions.

The lure of the water sports holiday has been increased by this laok of sun and froet, and many families are finishing the holidays in Switzerland. Others are endeavoring to escape the damp by seeking sunshine on the Riviera, and these are the people who are buying the earliest dress creations shown for the coming year. Light woollens, brightly-figured silks, and woollen crepes have been chosen for these first collections. Fashions of the Future. Actually, it is impossible to forecast sudden crazes like the bowler hat of a few seasons ago, or the universal popularity of the huge velvet beret at the end of last summer, or those over - emphasised shoulders which made women look so much like upholstery. Even the designers who launch these details cannot foretell how widely they will appeal to popular taste, and are often more surprised than the rest of us at their success. But given the opportunities of studying clothes, and seeing them at their best, it is quite possible to forecast developments for a few months ahead. Some things always return in cycles, others reappear at the same period, so when you find a marked tendency in one direction you can usually find its counterpart in another. As a small but significant trend, it has been noticed for some time that women of taste have been avoiding obvious make-up, and concentrating on a perfect skin rather than hiding it behind applied decoration. Utterly astonished and impossibly thinned and elongated eyebrows are giving place to those which look as though bestowed by Nature to soften the face they adorn. Excessivelypointed blood-red finger nails have descended the social scale and are no longer “worn” by women of discrimination. This has been a season of definitely graceful clothes, lovely fabrics, and exquisite workmanship. Also, there has been a great deal of variety in line and color and detail, with the result that the average woman has looked nicer than usual —unless she has chosen wrongly for her type—and I think it will be many seasons before we return to “uniform” fashions. Both manufacturers and dress designers are concentrating more and more on fabrics which please by design, color, and texture, as well as keeping their good appearance after strenuous wear, and the most workman like sports clothes must be fashioned in attractive materials. As regards line: I quote a very famous dress designer when I say that women have had enough of the grotesque and startling and frankly funny in fashions. They no longer wish to look amusing, and will only choose clothes which add elegance and beauty to their personalities. Definite Designs. The newest printed fabrics show a continued tendency towards decided design. The large pattern on a contrasting ground, or a definite small pattern that is arresting. Muddled effects of color or design detract from the distinction of any gown however beautifully it is cut. X very recent model gives the cape effect and so makes sleeves unnecessary, and the cowled scarf neckline is infinitely becoming (o all ages. The cowl neekline is, by the way, a fashion that will return with the coming season. In some cases it will he very low on both day and evening dresses, but it is one of the few necklines which can be adjusted to suit most figures, which explains its reappearThe skirt length is useful for ordinary summer wear, but the design would look very attractive if extended to the ankle. Linen will increase its in the coming season. Already a new arrival in this class is a Britishmade linen fabric called “Spiral Spun,” which is figuring in the plans of Paris dress designers for evening gowns, sports clothes, and summer frocks. London dressmakers, milliners, shoemakers, and bagmakers are also using this linen for smart clothes and accessories. The absence of collars on summer and winter coats has increased the value of the scarf. The newest white dresses for the South include a gaycolored silk or crepe scarf, which is twisted round the throat with ends tucked into the neckline, and a

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heavy composition or crystal bangle in the same color will decorate a sunburned arm. Decorative touches are all inclined to be on the “hefty” side. Leather belts with enormous buckles aud clasps, and chunky pieces of crystal, wood, “turquoise,” “jadse,” or “coral” are perfect trimmings on wool or silk dresses. THE PERMANENT WAVE. It is a strange convention which ordains that all women should have curly hair, states an overseas writer. Unless hair is close-cropped it looks outlandish straight. Much time and trouble have been given to the problem of curly hair. There was a time when ring-lets were made round a ruler and pinned, to move at their peril, though even then the hair itself did not look curly. There was the period when hair was tonged three times a day, to its greater detriment, and when a damp night made all the difference to the appearance. Fringes were made of really curly hair to pin over that which was straight. Nets were pinned over the top of everything to keep it where it was put. Wigs were formerly worn which made curls a sinecure. Only of late has the permanent wave, which is by no means permanent, solved an age-long problem. And now it is solved. Now that the first duty of the schoolgirl on leaving school is to go and get a “perm,” now that hair may, for some months in the year at least, be kept in place and curls be multiplied—has the moment come when the more original spirits will revert to the straight lock and refuse the general corrugations? Everyone knows that negresses sigh for straight hair and spend fortunes upon anti-kink preparations, even as their sisters sigh, if not for wool, at least for corkscrews. The real problem of curly or straight, therefore, seems to be that of what one has not got. It is true that one never hears a curly-haired persons of white persuasion complain that she is curly, even though, like the rest, she goes to have her hair set, lest it look different from that of every other person. THINGS WORTH KNOWING. Chair legs that have been knocked or scratched can be freshened and improved by washing' the legs with hot soda water, and, when dry, painting with varnish stain to match the furniture. To -restore fire-blackened copper kettles or other utensils that have been dulled or blackened by contact with the fire, clean them with a lemon cut in half and dipped in salt. The metal must be speedily washed with water to prevent the acid eating into it. Wire clothes lines will never get rusty and mark the clothes if given a coat of white enamel. Use a good brand, and allow the line to dry thoroughly before clothes are placed on it. Porridge can be varied by serving it with a few stoned and halved dates, or seedless raisins, instead of sugar. Or, when cooking, use half milk and half water, and add a few raisins. Serve hot or cold with milk or cream. TRY SOME OF THESE. Snow Eggs.—Take three eggs and one pint milk. Separate the whites and beat very stiffly with a pinch of salt and two tablespoonfuls of castor sugar. Heat the milk, and when it boils drop spoonfuls of the egg-whites ! into it and poach them for a few minutes. Drain them, and, with the J milk, the egg-yolks, and a little sugar, make a rich custard. When cool, pour into a glass dish, flavor with vanilla, and put in the poached whites. Serve with stewed fruit. Fruit Trifles.—Arrange slices of stale sponge cake in the bottom of a glass bowl, moisten with fruit juice or sherry, as preferred. Arrange round the dish any cooked or fresh fruit at hand, bananas cut in slices, shredded pineapple, sliced peaches or apricots, cherries, or any tinned berries. Cover with a rich custard and set in the ice chest. Before serving decorate with whipped cream, some blanched almonds, and crystallised cherries. Nansen Jelly.—Take one packet jelly crystals, one egg-white, and loz. of glace fruits. Dissolve the jelly crystals in one pint of boiling water, pour a little of the jelly in the bottom of a mould, and allow to sfet. When the rest of the jelly is cold, whisk the egg-white to a stiff froth and beat into the jelly. Continue whisking till the mixture gets very thick and nearly set, put in the chopped fruits, and pour into the prepared mould. When set turn out and decorate with a little chopped jelly. Empress Rice.—Wash 2oz. rice and put into a double saucepan with 1J pints milk. Allow it to cook till the rice is very soft, add sugar and any flavoring desired, take off the fire and allow to cool. Beat half pint cream quite stiflkand stir in, and add two dessertspoonfuls of gelatine which have been dissolved in a little water. Put all into a wet mould and stand on ice. Turn out and surround with red currant or raspberry jelly. Caramel Shape.—-Put into a saucepan one-third of a cup of butter and one cup brown sugar and boil together for one minute. Beat three eggyolks, add one pint milk, and cook gently till thick. Do not boil. Remove froiri the fire, and, when cooled, add two dessertspoonfuls gelatine dissolved in a little hot water. Stir well (if too hot it will curdle). Mix in the. caramel and heat all together without boiling. Remove from

beaten egg-whites. Pour into a mould, set on ice, and serve with whipped cream. Pineapple Tapioca Souffle.—Soak two tablespoonfuls tapioca overnight, and cook in a little water till soft and clear. Add two cups crushed pineapple, a pinch of salt, and half #up sugar. Cook for 10 minutes, take off the fire, and fold in the stiff-ly-beaten whites of two eggs. Turn into a buttered pie-dish and bake till set, then chill thoroughly. Serve with cold custard made from the eggyolks. Peach Delight.—This is quickly and easily prepared. Take six halves of large peaches which have been carefully cooked and arrange them in a glass dish. Put a little raspberry or apricot jam in the cavity of each peach and place a macoroon on top, then cover all over with whipped cream which has been faintly colored pink. Place a crystallised cherry on top. Baked Pears.—Peel and cut in quarters a number of pears. Put them in an earthenware dish, with some sugar, a few cloves, a little grated lemon rind, and a very little water. . Cover closely and set in the oven, where they will cook very slowly for some hours, when they should be clear and a lovely color. Serve them with custard or ereui.