AT HOME WITH THE LADY EDITOR.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume IX, Issue 30, 23 July 1892, Page 748

AT HOME WITH THE LADY EDITOR.

A ‘ subscriber ’ asks me if I will say ‘ what a middle-aged lady should wear to receive friends upon the 21st birthday of her son, also how to dress to attend concerts.’ You do not tell me what sort of a reception you are having. If it is in the afternoon, a black silk dress trimmed with jet, and relieved by coloured ribbons, or a rich, wine-coloured (dark) cloth or camel’s hair cloth, trimmed with fur or velvet, slightly trained, would be suitable. Caps are again coming in, and are so pretty and becoming that I hope they will be generally worn. One of pink chiffon and pink velvet, or cream lace and black velvet with a jet butterfly, according to the style of reception, would go well with the black silk dress. Cream lace or cream chiffon and wine-coloured velvet would look nice with the stuff dress. If you have an evening reception, you can wear a brocade, or silk and brocade, or a poplin, with brocade panels, trained, and finished on the bodice with chiffon. I could help you so much better if I knew what number of guests you expect, and whether it is to be a grand or a simple affair. Black silk with one of those lace or chiffon or silk muslin fichus described in the Graphic a few weeks ago, with a pretty cap to match trimmed with pearls, or a little jewelled passementerie—very light—and an opera cloak is the correct thing for a concert, also white or light gloves. *** * * * • Subscriber ’ also asks : ‘ When making calls, etc., should there be one of the husband’s cards left in all cases ?’ In making or returning a first call upon a lady and gentleman you must leave one of your cards and two of your husband’s. Also the same after a party to which both he and you have been invited, whether you have gone or not. As regards other calls, you have no need to leave your husband’s if you are simply paying a friendly visit, or if it is your friend's ‘At Home’ day. Neither, in that case, need you leave your own, though some busy hostesses prefer it, as then they know upon whom they have to call in their turn. If there are grown-up sons and daughters who pay calls, you must leave a card of yours and one of your husband’s for them on the first visit.

‘ Subscriber’s ’ fourth question is an inquiry tor some remedy for black spots on the face. The best plan is to steam your face well over hot water. If this makes you cough, bathe well with as hot water as you can for some time. Then gently press out the black spots, and touch each place with a little camphor or eau-de-cologne. You must only steam your face before going to bed. Acne, as it is called, is often caused by indigestion. Take before breakfast, for two or three weeks, and before going to bed, a tumbler of simple hot water ; or eat plenty of oranges, or take a little fruit salt the first thing in the morning. You will find these black heads more or less troublesome according to your state of health.

A correspondent sends me the following notes on corsets : • The Empress of Germany says they are most necessary and comfortable, and that women cannot do without them.’ In spite of the crusade against it, the present style of dress continues close fitting, and the corset must reign. Now, a slight woman without any bust may look passably well, but her better-favoured sister’s rounded form, full hips, and flowing bust require a gentle pressure, which holds the body in position and gives a pliant graceful appearance. There are, I am sorry to say, a few yet to be seen who lace their waists to wasp size. Let me tell them that tightening bulges the bust and hips most abominably, and, nowadays, our young men no longer admire the hour-glass. A doctor once told me that the medical fraternity when dissecting a female body know at once by the organs, particularly the liver, that the corset had been too tight. Now, this is very horrible, and I hope any young woman who ‘ draws in ’ may see these lines and therein take a lesson. An eminent Chinese minister after a few years’ residence in London, went back to China, and wrote about the life and manners of the English, and this is what he said of the women and how they were tortured : —‘At a very tender age the mothers put their little girls into an iron case to compress their shapes, and this atrocity goes on for years until they are almost squeezed in two ; of course the children suffer terribly, but it is the fashion of the country, and a very ugly one it is.’ I advocate wearing stays myself, and consider a slim, well-proportioned form very pretty. Another thing I must warn my readers aeainst, is wearing hard bust pads. If you mustuse any, get the curved framesorwire that lifts the dress from the bosom. Wadding is too heating for the mammary tissues, besides getting out of place and imparting a lumpy appearance. A great deal is said about the front bones of the stays, but they are a necessity and of no harm if not drawn too tight. Let anyone observe a woman without that front bone to see how her body wrinkles and the very limp attitude she will strike. Even the great Cleopatra wore corsets, for we are told ‘ she put a note of Mark Antony’s into a pocket of her stays.’

•Neuralgia.'—l am so sorry you suffer from this very painful complaint. You do not tell me where you feel it most. I generally get it just over my eyebrows, and find one or other of the following remedies usually gives relief. Bathe the forehead well with very hot water. This seems to increase the throbbing, but persevere; then sponge with very cold water for half a minute. This produces a shock, and is very efficacious ; or bathe with painkiller, or rub the affected part with menthol ; or, if very painful, chloroform is often used. Take with any of these outward applications a dose, for an adult, of 10 grains of salicin. It is a mild tonic, good for rheumatism and la grippe. I have tried it with marked success. It is also inexpensive. Take for a week or two a preparation of steel, which any chemist will give you. Or get bi-carbonate of iron—a red powder—and put as much as will lightly cover a threepence between your last bite of bread-and-butter twice a day. I hope one of these remedies will cure you.

A correspondent who does not sign her name, and gives no noun. de plume-, but whose crest is an owl sitting on a half-moon, asks for a pattern of a baby’s jacket. One appeared in the Graphic of May 21st, 1892.