EVERYDAY TOPICS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 36, 6 November 1907, Page 3

EVERYDAY TOPICS.

, NEW EAR-RING FASHION. The handwriting on the wall of fashion predicts the vogue of the long ear-ring which dangles a couple of inches or more below the ear. A London paper states that the long pendant ear-ring which is already to be seen in considerable variety in the shops may be simply of gold and silver in exquisite filigree work, or it may be set with precious stones. Sometimes a single jewel is suspended from a slender sold or platinum chain. Only tins week a leading West End firm carried out an order for a topaz pendant ear-ring, suspended from a single diamond stud, which fastened in the oar by a thin gold chain an inch and a half in length. The full length of the earring was Sin. Tho rose-pink coral which is so popular this season, suspended from white eoral. is used in tho same way, and cut jet and black pearls form another combination.

A pretty variation of tho. pendant ear-ring, and one tliat Sirs. Nicholas Longworth, still better remembered as Hiss Alice Roosevelt, is reputed to have launched, requires three circular cut stones of graduated sizes for each ear-ring. Tho smallest stone fits stud fashion into the ear,, and this is connected by thin gold chains with the two larger stones. Mrs. Potter Palmer' is among the society leaders who wear stones suspended in this. fashion. A beautiful ■ pair of new ear-rings was carried out in this design in diamonds held in an invisible setting and suspended one below the other by a platinum chain. With every movement of tho wearer the diamonds Hash fire. The pendant car-ring is already inordinately long, hut the vogue of the ear-ring that touches the shoulder is predicted. ELECTRIC HOUSEMAIDS. In France -(we are told) there is a house where all the domestic work is done by electricity, and it is said to be a forerunner of the time when the domestic-help problem will bo really satisfactorily solved. In order to enter the house one presses an electric button in the usual way; the door flics open immediately, and ail unseen voice gives a welcome; it is the voice of a hidden gramophone. J'hen the door, mat, electrically agitated, rubs one's boots clean, and in the hall are dozens of labelled buttons for you to press if'you want the windows opened; tea served, or a bath prepared. In tho diningroom the dinner table has a centre, which is moved by electricity, working from the basement to a place where flowers aro conserved. A DRESS EXHIBITION. London, we aro told, is to have a Dress Exhibition next February, which, it is anticipated, will cclipse anything of the kind that has as yet taken place. Dresses, furs, and laces to the valuo of £100,000 will be I displayed, and the enterprise lias been taken ! up keenly by leading English and foreign firms. The most famous dressmakers of London, Paris, Vienna, and New York will exhibit their special fashions, and visitoi's will have a chance of Seeing for themselves the "creations" which are so often described in the fashion magazines. Some of the gowns which are to ho displayed are valued :'t £1000 apiecc, and these will bo shown 011 the figures of .real girls who make a living ?s dressmakers' models or "mannequins as they are called. A feature of the exhibition will bo a parade of these elegant ladies two or three times a day. Every article of clothing that is essential to the wardrobe of a well-rlressed woman will be included in tho exhibition, and the show of hats, it is anticipated, will be the most attractive section of the display. So ordinary women, who have only heard of "Court gowns" and "Ascst frocks," will have a chance of viewing them, as actually worn, which is quite a different thing from seeing them in a glass case or 011 a wax model. BUTTERFLIES AS ORNAMENTS. An English woman of distinction has shown considerable originality in wearing exclusively as ornaments butterflies done in enamel. For many years she has been a collector of rare and beautiful specimens of butterflies that aro native in various countries, their brilliant colours and often fantastic markings being a source of constant pleasure to her. One day the idea came to her to send ,one of her specimens, a wonder in the world of science, to ail. cnamcller in London, reputed to be tho best artist of his kind iiiiEuropo. Ho then made in enamel a facsimile of the butterfly, with' marvellous fidelity to its shape and'colouring. Even the transparent quality of the insect's wings was effectively simulated. It was mounted, on gold, and in a way that by pinching; the wings together allowed tho sharp claws underneath to fasten themselves to whatever material they were placed upon. As the wings rebounded the butterfly was hold.ill place. , ' AGE AND YOUTH. It is a debatable question when the crucial moment arrives in a man or woman's life in which the present ceases to be as interesting as the past. This (says a London writer) is the incontestable proof that old age has come, and it seems as if tho period .of youth in some people lasted much longer than it does in others. The white-haired lady who detests the name of a motor-car, and has no faith in aeroplanes, is surely more ancient in mind than her contemporary who looks upon the latest inventions with the same eagerness and intelligence as she looked upon the. inventions of her youth, and allows herself to follow whither the " Zcitgepist " leads her. We are all born progressive, but after a while our energies slacken, and it bccomcs on effort to understand and appreciato a new tiling, however attractive.