LONDON.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume IX, Issue 6, 6 February 1892, Page 135

LONDON.

Dear Bee, November, 25. We have been laughing over a copy of an auctioneer's bill of the sale of Lord Randolph Churchill’s effects in Mashonaland. Amongst the items are :—Mules, 1 span ; donkeys, a troop; spirits, champagne, whisky (very old); Kaffir truck (great variety), etc. Some one told me you had no donkeys in New Zealand. Here is a chance for you then. We had a grand wedding at St. (leorge’s, Hanover Square, when the youngest daughter of the late Duke of Marlborough, and sister of the above mentioned Lord 11. Churchill, was married to Mr Gordon C. Wilson, eldest son of Sir Samuel Wilson. The bride, who arrived punctually at half-past two, was accompanied by her mother, the Dow - ager Duchess of Marlborough, who in due course gave her away. Mr Wilfred J. Ricardo, of the Horse Guards, acted as best man. The wedding gown was a combination of white satin and silk, rich white moire striped, with full satin, and a chiffon veil fastened with diamond suns. Her other ornaments were a pearl necklace, and a diamond and pearl brooch, the Prince of Wales’ present. The bride carried a bouquet of exotics. Eight bridesmaids followed the bride. They wore rose pink sicilienne trimmed with vieux-rose velvet and dark fur ; their hats were of rosecoloured velvet edged with sable and bearing five ostrich tips. The bridegroom’s presents were a pearl and diamond heart-shaped brooch and bouquet of tea-roses. There were two pages—the Hon. Francis Curzon and the Hon. Reginald Fellowes, costumed as in Charles I.'s time, in white silk, with slung capes of pink velvet. I am sorry to see that tailor-made dresses of Cheviot serge or tweed are painfully mannish, consisting of coat, waistcoat and skirt. The waistcoat generally contrasts with the rest of the costume. Some one declares that the short-pointed and banded bodice is even now superseding the long basque. I hope so. To be ultra fashionable, dear Bee, you must, says a London authority in the Pall Mall Budget, part your hair in the middle. Do not make a pronounced parting, and do not try to do away entirely with your fringe. Wear your hair waved on both sides and wear a very slight fringe. Lady Randolph Churchill, and Mdme. Nilsson, too, I think, generally wear their hair done in this fashion in their photographs, and if you copy them you can tgo wrong. Most of the smartly dressed women at the theatre affect partings ; so do the principal actresses in Mr Pinero’s new comedy ‘The Times.’ The tendency at present is for wavy hair. Fringes are getting smaller. Those to whom parted hair is the most becoming are women with round faces and lowforeheads. It is almost impossible to wear a parting if one’s hair is not thick ou the temples. The Grecian style seems to have almost worn itself out. There are adaptation- of it to be seen still, but the correct style now seems to be to fasten the hair in a loose knot on the neck. (Irnaments are not much worn, even on dressy occasions. I hate, however, seen some new ones lately in jet. They would look rather pretty in fair hair. In place of the conventional flat wreath of orange blossoms for brides, a stylish milliner is making tiaras of mixed white flowers, which are lighter and vastly more becoming. They are almost the same shape as diamond tiaras, the flowers being marie to stand np by wire. The newest buttonhole consists of a crescent with a few flowers in the centre. It looks pretty made of violets or mimosa. I have given you quite a long gossip, and have told you nothing about the Prince of Wales' Jubilee. But it was very quiet, and there is nothing new to tell.