SYDNEY NEWS AND NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 122, 15 February 1908, Page 11

SYDNEY NEWS AND NOTES.

(By Lai,age.) The Evolution of Woman. ' Lot others deploro the follies of our time, I for . one am content to find it a most amusing period, made up of. extremes. The other day, for instance, I was struck with the back view of .two short-frocked girls ivho were wearing their hair "down their backs." I judged them to be from fourteen to fifteen. Imagine,-then, my horror when walking, past them I discovered them to bo thirty if an hour ! They wore disciples of the ''simple life" (whatever that may be). I find life simple enough, and thought one might welcome the savour of a little complexity,' but I bow to the dictates of things that be. In America they have started a society for tho abolition of clothes for children up to ten years of age I This is the thin end' of the wedge. "\Ve shall have sandals, , and Heaven; knows what besides; that is to say, that certain styles will be followed by women who have long hair and pretty feet out of their shoes. For the rest they must take, to . something else. As if we had not quite enough to do propping up our idols with clay feet, and trying to persuade the world they were sterling gold. _ Underlying all our .frivolity there' is a vein of sadness running • through ' every woman's life, aud' if we aro to be deprived 0f..;,, the ' consolation, of clothes, _ I do not know,how we shall manage to live! Observe how we aro abused and. provoked by ;man. Are we. not told every day that women aro deceptive?: Not that I wish to dpny the charge. Wqmen dcccivo themselves' first\of all, usually, for the benefit of a,.man,; they invest him with a halo that does not fit his manly brow,Yand forthwith thoy .proceed to, pay .their devotions' to him. Whim the mero mortal reveals.himself in,,all his inferiority, then one fears lest the world should "sec tho clay feet of the idol. How jealously they will guard tho doors of the temple; how deftly they will lie, and how loyally they.will suffer defeat and contumely sooner-than acknowledge their i mistako. The French say that every woman's heart is inhabited by an angel and a devil. Hats of Different Kinds., ,: The, new hats continuo to bo appalling, but, the presence of tho small toque is quite welcome. Unfortunately many of them.have the most wonderful and fearsome'feathers. Isaw.ono composed of pheasants' feathers, which had single feathers from the pheasant's tail at the back, of a length that Nature never intended; they absolutely drooped

to tho. waist. What sights wo would look on a'windy day in Wellington if this sort ,of thing prevailed. It is predicted here that thdro -is to bo'a-.revival ■of the coal scuttlo bonnet".' "Heaven forbid!" The Cloche hat, especially when perched. 011 tho back of the licad, ' and pinned to tho horridly .inartistic '/bun,'.' is bad enough in all .conscience, but tho-coal scuttle! Angejs and ministers of graco defend us! Veils are worn:immensely long. In moderation they aro pretty, and 1 havo seen somo toques, delightful specimens of,'their .kind, worn' with a reasonable size laco veil 'edged with fringo or narrow velvet ribbon: 'While commenting upon this fashion to a ladv, sho informed me that ono reason why the long floating veil was worn was becaiiso it created a, breeze. "Well, really, one would, welcome: any fashion that did that in this weather. Colours.- I . : The latest colour here is elephant grey.. It looks charming in millinery, as the colouring in ostrich tips is so soft and puro, and it matches well with pale blue, coral, or lemon colour. I had the good fortunp to be shown a gown' just finished ' at Miss Kelly's showrooms in Dixon's Buildings, Pitt Street. It was ratlier blue, in, colour. Blue is soft and puro; it speaks to us of summer skies and seas; it is discreet,' poetical,;'tender —twin sister to white in its paler tints. Blue is silent and dreamy. The material chosen was as fine as linen. dress was a sort of false''Princess, bolted in at the-waist with'n band of blue satin. >' Gathered bands of satin, meandered in graceful rounded curves over'skirt and bodico. A chemisette of lace, filled iii the neck, and tho sleeves were also of laco, partly concealed by a mnncheron or upper' sleeve'-of ■ tho material. . The hat to be worn with this gown was a stroke of •genius. It literally lit up the dress and gave it the required (lash of colour, and warmth. It, was a blockcd blue .velvet shape, trimmed with two largo roses, ono pink, one blue, from whence started a superb panache of smoke-grey and white marabout. The brim • was lined with smokc-grev taffeta, covered with' a film of dark groy cliifl'oll. Questions of Taste. ■ . Breeding is seen in a woman's dress, and it takes-.a lorig lino of beauties and heroes to give us the '.unerring-instinct, the subtle feelinT for tho fitness of tilings ' sartorial. Mistakes in tasto'aro as jarring to tho sensitive mind as a wrong noto in music or a lack \)f harmony in'colour. An anecdoto is told of tho great painter Delacroix. Ho was 011 his-deathbed wlion n lady friend called to see-him. Instinctively lie snatched at a crimson scarf and wrapped it round his throat that it .might cast its glow over tho pallid hues of his countenance. This proved the. true instinct of the coluurist strong in doath, and the chivalrous kindness of . the man who would sparo a woman tho pain and shock of seeing the deathly hue of his faco.

Would that ,we could -.cultivate all tho slumbering possibilities of our souls! Vanity would then no longer bo reviled; it would lead to self-respect, and our clothes would be glorified as the moral factor they really aro. For this reason thero is tho necessity of inspiring a love of dress and colour in its highest sense in girls. Untidy habits effaced by vanity will return when wo aro past the .bloom of youth, but educated vanity remains to beautify even ago itself. Sonic women will never grow old. Tho years do hut mellow them and add to tho charm that captivato all who como under their influence. Sydney Attractions. Sydney undoubtedly has many varied and glorious attractions. The harbour, tile climate, the cheery bonhomie of tho people, the palatial buildings, the numerous parks, the splendid theatres, aud public resorts, even the dirt —and oh I it'is dirty—but in one respect it falls badly, lamentably, and woefully below the Wellington standard, and that in an essentially feminine respcct, tho institution of morning and afternoon teas. Rather one should say "afternoon" tea, as the matutinal indulgence is, to all intents and purposes, practically non-existent. What a contrast between the quality and the serving in the two cities! and what a balance in favour of Wellington! Our ad-miration-for tho "Harbour City" cannot blind us in' this matter. Compare the excellence of the New Zealand tea-rooms with the crowded and • rather "garish" Sydney establishment; tho dainty hot scone, and luscious pikelet or sweet elegantly served in profusion of tho A one, with tho stodgy bun, stale and sparse bread and butter and antodcluvian pastry (so mis-called) of tho other; but above all, the deft serving by daintily-clad '-'neat-handed Phyllises" with the- methods ' of. tho majority of the parsee duchesses who haughtily attend to your post-meridian wishes in Sydney. Notes. It is a rather regrettablo sight in the streets, and in the trams, to see the great number ,of little children —babies—wearing rings. This silly, practice was , practically laughed out a season or two ago,' but" jit seems to have set in again, perhaps, owing to so many children engaged in pantomimes, or as childe wonders! (Savo tho mark.) The acme of idiocy seemed to bo reached in a tram tho other night- when a child of about three was observed to ho wearing tlireo rings on its puny fingers, and : from one of them depended two chains set with opals. And the mother smirked at the other passengers with a conscious air of "Alone I did it." The rest of the peoplo laughed, but wo wanted'to smack her.