NEW MUFFS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XIII, Issue II, 14 July 1894, Page 45

NEW MUFFS.

A wag accounted for there being more weddings in the winter than in the summer, by the fact that the women required muffs, and the men comforters. Ba that as it may—it is, perhaps, not an altogether soothing subject for * home' discussion—one fact is certainly clear : we women require muffs, and this year they have assumed particularly important dimensions. A strip of quilted cotton wool, such as can be bought by the yard, is a great help towards an amateur's muff; it keeps firmly in shape. Then, to make it really warm and comfortable, all the rest of the ‘stuffing ’ should be of down, over which conies the silk lining, in which a tuck should be run in both ends for an elastic to pass through, the piece beyond being stitched firmly to the outside of the muff. Now, having a firm and cosy foundation, the next thing to be considered is the outer covering. The huge * Grannie ’ muffs, lined with velvet, are composed for the most part of floppy velvet frills, sewn on round and round the muff with perhaps a narrow band of fur in the centre ; these have a pretty effect when the lining is a contrasting colour —some pale tint which shows here and there as the frills fall apart. The present craze, of which I give

an example in my sketch, is somewhat barbaric in its nature, seeming to vaunt much the same pride in the spoils of the chase as we can imagine an Indian taking in his scalps. A ‘ bunny’s ’ head and paws are nsed for the decoration of the muff I have sketched, but foxes’ masks and the pretty little sable heads are as popular though more expensive.