AT HOME WITH THE LADY EDITOR.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume IX, Issue 28, 9 July 1892, Page 700

AT HOME WITH THE LADY EDITOR.

Under this heading I am very pleased to reply to all queries that are genuine and helpful to the querist and others. Kindly write on one side oj the paper only, and address to the Lady Editor.

I wish I could induce the women of this colony to join together in a strong band and abolish the hideous and insanitary custom of allowing their skirts to trail on the ground for street and country wear. Surely some sensible women have eyes ! Can they not see the daintily-dressed lady in front of them, dragging her gown through mud and dust, until the hem is in such a state that, were she a little girl, she would be soundly (and deservedly) whipped for getting her clothes in such a filthy state? Well, dear lady, your dress is exactly like hers, only' a little worse, because you have just walked over that crossing and did not make any attempt to raise it. She did lift hers, only to pop it down in the muddy pavement where countless dirty boots have been rubbing off the street dirt since early morn. Do none of you who trail your gowns up and down the streets ever realize that men have been smoking all day and freely expectorating on the pavement? You, gentle, elegant, nieely-brought up lady, actually carefully wipe all that disgusting stuff up with the dress you are wearing! Why, you wouldn’t touch that filth with a dirty duster out of the kitchen ! You carefully collect all the germs of all sorts of illnesses in the hem of your frock, and bring them into your houses and give them to your dear little children. Consumptive germs are very easily spread this way. How would you like to see your husband or your much-loved son or daughter die of an illness of this kind which your own folly and vanity, and fear of being different to your silly neighbours, had brought into the house? So great is the dread of being ‘ out of the fashion ’ that women will endure all sorts of discomfort, misery, and actual suffering in order that they may be dressed according to the rule laid down by some other woman, or perhaps man, whose only object is to make money out of his deluded victims. How can we be so silly ?

I was having a new dress tried on yesterday, and the dressmaker said, ‘ How much will you have the back breadth on the ground ?’ ‘ Not an inch,' I said. ‘ I want that dress to walk in, not to sweep the pavement for the City Council.’ Total collapse of the dressmaker. Now, won’t other women help me to retain the pretty short walking skirt, keeping the graceful train for the drawing-room where it can be seen to advantage? For it certainly wears out one’s gloves, and spoils the ‘ set ’ of a skirt to keep on inelegantly hitching it up when a specially offensive piece of mud catches the eye and would otherwise catch the dress.

A gentleman said to me the other day. ‘ The fact is, so few ladies have decent feet or ankles that it is absolutely necessary, they think, for them to wear their dresses long enough to hide them. Any girl with pretty feet always strives to have the walking petticoats well off the ground. ’ That is what the men say ; so any dame trailing her skirts in the street is supposed to have ugly feet.

An English paper has the following : —‘ The question has been started how to prevent the accumulation of mud on our skirts, which in sloppy weather is so inevitable, so uncomfortable, and so ruinous to clothing, and suggests a short, plain, woollen skirt four inches from the ground, with ulster of corresponding length, to be worn with knickerbockers or gaiters. lam afraid that the feet of many of us would hardly be equal to so prominent a public appearance as this ; and, if we consider comfort and convenience alone, a walking-dress which looks impossible for house wear can never be acceptable to busy people, who cannot spare time for perpetual changes of toilette. Now that gowns are less voluminously draped, it might surely' be possible to devise some plan of fastening up, at once quick, graceful, and effectual ; and, for wearers who object to being short-skirted, the petticoat could be made longer, and bordered to a depth of ten or twelve inches with American cloth or mackintosh, which could be easily sponged and dried before letting down the dress.’

Beatrice S.—l believe the following method is very good for cleaning kid gloves. They soil very quickly in an evening, do they not ? I know some people say they cannot be done at home, but I cleaned a pair very satisfactorily like this :—Lay the glove out smoothly on a clean cloth, dip a small piece of flannel in new milk, then rub it once or twice on a piece of common yellow or white curd soap, and then rub the glove with the flannel till the kid is quite wet. Do not rub too hard ; the part of the glove which is least soiled will only require the damp flannel to be passed over it once or twice, the fingers, etc., requiring more attention. Leave the gloves till quite dry (they will then look shrivelled, dirty, and quite spoilt), then pull them gently in all directions till soft, and in their proper shape; if carefully aone, they will then look better than gloves cleaned at a shop, and have no unpleasant smell, which they generally have when benzine or other spirit is used.

In the course of my miscellaneous reading I lately came across this account of the antiquity of the custom of wearing gloves. ‘ltis of ancient origin ; Xenophon, who lived about four centuries before Christ, in his writings asserts that the Persians used gloves in cold weather. They were in early use in England, and in the middle ages were decorated with Sold and precious stones, and formed a costly article in the ress of kings, nobles and prelates. ’

A very pretty idea is to have a card quadrille, or card Lancers. Each lady and gentleman is dressed up as a card. There would be the* King and Queen of Hearts, of Spades, etc., etc., knaves and aces as required. The ladies would have to take the parts of queens and aces. The make-up is not at all difficult, and can be either expensive or not according to the materials used for the costumes. Silk and velvet, of course, as you know make a costume look handsome and rich, but sateens, velveteen, a little carefullyused silk, dyed cheese-cloth (you can get a dozen yards for Is lOd), or smart prints make very good fancy dresses. All that is wanted is a little taste and contrivance.