Ladies Column

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LX, Issue 17065, 18 August 1917, Page 8

Ladies Column

THE COSTUME FOR EVER^.GIRL

There is no do vt that the way clothes aro worn, is quite a.s 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 is one worth cultivating, for it costs nothing, and .yet, as every woman knows, the art of being welldressed mer.ns 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 lost; a dress may be made of material costing little more than a shilling a yard, but well worn it may Lave 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 m the wardrobe. Coats should be suspended on special hangers, and, together with skiris, should always be 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-

Loking very 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. The 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 aole type. The quantity of 48-inch stuff required to make it is five .yards. The number of pattern pieces is nine, and these include one front of coat, half the back, one sleev e in two parts, one pocket, half 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 a corner from the back of skirt overlaps the width of material. A corner-piece must, therefore, be joined to the skirt, Lie seam being on tne straight of material. A space is m rked out on diagram for the added piece, and also for. a facing to the fronts of. coat. The latter should be lined with silk or polonaise, cut on the coat pattern, but seamed aipart.

The belt does not meet in front, but crosses the back of il?. coat and holds in some fullness at each side-front. The pockets must be lined and sewn to the coat 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 tfutside, 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 n far more econimical. possession, on the whole, than the blouse and skirt dress, for a blouse, if light, requires constant washing when given hard wear; therefore, the- one-piece dress is an economy both as regards time and trouble, and. it looks so neat, moreover. Useful materials for a house-dress for everyday wear are serge and wool crepon. The latter is warm and lightweight and quite cheap, and the goodwearing qualities of serge, of course, need no pointing out. The 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 jumper style, with fronts and sleeves of n 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 Lave .some gathers at the top. Pretty touches ma/y be given to the house-dress by attractively-shaoed collars of white lnwn, plain or inlet with lftee. These relieve a dark frock very successfully, and are. sometimes of

Puritan character, sometimes after the fashion of the sailor collar. Some of the 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 braideJ 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.

The house-dress illustrated has a distinct style of its own, and yet is as simple as a frock can be. The plain

bodice, 'buttoned in front, is severe but striking, and is softened by a collar with the new stand-out effect at the nock and threaded with picot-rib-bon, knotted in front. The b lice is corded at the waist, and the skirt 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 should 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 as 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 thoriughly dry by rubbing with warm towels and rs finally well brushed. ,

Colds can generally be avoided by simple, timely precautions. Things to be avoided are over-heating, remaining in draughts, and changing from one at-moso-here 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 be taken by those subject to chilblains to prevent them from breaking, for broken chilblains are very painful and are difficult to cure. For unbroken chilblains an effective treatment is said to be the following:— Rub the affected 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 d

chilblndns are inclined to appear on the hands, the latter should be 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, warmed.

Wash the hands two or three times a day in salt and water; or rub the affected parts with camphorated oil. All these hints a;-ply to chilblains on the feet as well as on the hands.

If chilblains ar e once broken, they must not be touched with anything hi the nature of salt or spirit. They dhouldbe protected b- being wrapped, if possible, in f.ac white linen. A soothing ointment for them is honey, and so, too, is olive oil.

Every effort should be made to present chilblains from breaking out. Prevention is better than cure.

GINGER PUDDING

A cheap 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 ftnd chopped suet —say, lib. of each: add a large teaspoonful of powdered ginger j and two tablespoonfuls of treacle, and mis all together with one gill of milk. Steam the pudding for three hours, or boil it for two hours, and •serve it hot with sifted sugar, and—if such a thing is at hand —some juice from preserved ginger poured over it. Dripping raav be used instead of suet, if preferred. When this is done, rather less dripping will suffice; it should not quite equal the weight of the flour used. The 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 heari from breaking, I shall not live in vain; If I can ease one life the aching, ■ Or cool c::o 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 your fingers are fruit-stained after cooking, soap your hands thoroughly before you let any water touch them. This will take away the stain at once.

Suet puddings are lighter and moredigestible if made of half flour and half breadcrumbs. 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. It opens the leaves, and will make the tea much stronger.

* «■ * An excellent way to use ashes is to mix them with about an equal quantity of small eoai and then well damp with soapy water. A fire made up with two or three lumps of coal, well backed with this mixture, lasts a long time.

* ' * # Place a week's tea-leaves in a pail and Dour over them a quart of boiling water. Leave for one hour, then strain and bottle. This liquor is excellent foT cleaning varnished -wood and linoleum, and when used for cleaning windows oi mirrors gives them a fine polish.

To purify invalids' rooms, soak a few pieces of brown paper in saltpetre water and allow them to dry. When required a piece of this should be 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.

* * * Tf you do not possess atur small weights, remember that a halfpenny and a tlireep.enny-piece together weiga a quarter of an ounce, one two-shilling piece-and a sixpence together weigh half an ounce, and three pennies weigh one. An ordinary teacup.holds four ounces of flour, and a pint jug half a pound.