HAT PINCUSHION.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XV, Issue XXII, 30 November 1895, Page 694

HAT PINCUSHION.

We have all been told in our youth, that if we see a pin and let it lie we shall inevitably want one before we die. I shouldn’t think that anyone would question the statement of our wanting one before we die in any case ; but the consequence of results attendant on the non carrying out of a proverbial philosophy would embark us on an ethical controversy for which I have no desire. Of one thing I am, however, quite certain, that some of the very best dressed women—in the evening at any rate—depend largely on their pincushion for those individual touches which make their toilette a success, only that we must be quite sure to have the right ones at hand. It is almost pathetic to think of of the poor little weak-back pin struggling in the attempt to bold together four or five folds of heavy lace ; it does not break off short like the more aggressive steel-bodied kind would do, but it bends hopelessly, the lace comes undone and the wearer is sartorially speaking, a wreck, until somebody comes to put her together again. It was said the other day by a smart writer on smart clothes that no woman who respected her head-gear would degrade it by pinning it to her head by a common black or white headed pin. I remember this statement amusing me con-

siderably at the time, and 1 nail visions of sundry hats ruffling their feathers with indignation at the indignity that was put upon them by the economically-minded wearer. But be that as it may, the oruamentally-headed bat-pins are quite pretty and tempting enough to make us forswear their dowdy sisters. But these, I find, spoil terribly when exposed to the air, which is most commonly their fate when stuck into a pincnsbion on the dressing table. I have quite a mania for having all sorts of pins to my hand when dressing, it is not much expense to start with, and the result to one’s general effect is simply beyond description, and so I came to evolve the little case which I have sketched here for the benefit of those who agree with me on the importance of pins. All that is required is an oblong slip of pasteboard, cover this tightly with wash leather, then cut out pockets also of wash leather neatly bound with ribbon, as the sketch will show, and tie together in a series of little bows; the very long pocket is, of course, for the ornamental bat pins, where they will be kept safe from tarnish. On the top is a pincushion, which can be occupied by the more ordinary pins.