THE LADIES’ WORLD

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2411, 28 January 1909, Page 7

THE LADIES’ WORLD

OTHER countries, other u MANNERS.

/ Xlio French ,are not hospitable to ii, e stranger within their gates, and; residence m Franco entails a certain L 0 ut of isolation. Unless the said stranger Ims some good introductions lie is apt to find all doors closed to him at. all events until such time s ]ds manner of (life has been well examined into and his desirability i proved, mys a- writer in an English i y, ft per. It must be borne in mind T that the French are not- hospitable , U W themselves, ,as we understand hospitality —such a thing as “open house” is practically unknown; entertaining is mostly confinod to near relations and to formal dinners and receptions. Of Into years, though, things have improved—tennis clubs, football clubs, and the cultivation 0 f le sport in general have induced people to mix more freely and less ceremoniously, and wherever clubs of this description exists English boys mid girls are eagerly welcomed to them on account of their proficiency i i a games. , One reason why our compatriots sometimes iiud themselves excluded from French society is that they do not sufficiently follow its unwritten lavs— they do not. realise that they must do as the natives do if they wish to bo looked on kindly. They , ver y often, though quite innocently, commit outrageous breaches of etiquette. To an English mind it seems absurd that a girl of sixteen or seventeen in a quiet, country town cannot go to school unaccompanied, or 7 cannot go allono on little household ’ errands; but so it is. A girl must .never go out alone; she may take a little maid, perhaps younger than herself, with her and les convenances are satisfied. I remember a charming Englishwoman complaining to mo of the coldness with which her daughter was treated — : ‘She is never asked inside their houses,” she said. Alien, by-and-by, tbe daughter came home from school alone, a Tam-o'--lialiter on the back of her head, her Awe less hands thrust into her jaej- iet pockets, and I heard her mother toll her to run to the post before taking off her cap-, 1 understood. The frank independence of bearing rather admired in England does not commend itself to the outwardly prim French; they have not yet purged themselves of many of the stiff mannerisms of the old" regime.

THE VALUE OF NET.

Net, plain, spotted or figured, is always well worth buying at sale time, says a writer in an Australian paper. y' Scarfs and sashes are two dress acces- ’ series that are likely to rank as es-, sentiails for some time to come. For evening wear the scarf has much to recommend it. It is not merely graceful, but it affords protection to quite an appreciable- extent. It makes it possible to wear evening dress in public without a cloak- —no small advantage on very hot nigjhts, when even a light wrap is a burden. A little investigation proves that a- scarf constitutes the trimming of nine out of ten hats. So cunningly is this A scarf adjusted that the fact is fredisguised. Cotton not at a few pence .a- yard, bordered with taffeta, is admirable both for dress and millinery purposes. The veriest afaateur can dye cotton net, and especially in certain shades of blue and brown this dj’ed net is beautiful. The net for sashes must be silk, gathered together vat either end and finished with tassels of gold, silver, or heavy silk. -.lf this silk net is lined with the chiffon which, (like tulle, is practically -a gift- just now, its lifo will be trebled.

THESE TRYING' PROBLEMS.

Some of the most interesting things published in domestic journals are to be found among the answers to correspondents. There a kindly light is thrown upon the dark mysteriesgof social etiquette, 'and the most delicate matters are subjected to expert criticism, while the reader gnins an insight into many a (little 'budding romance. Who could read without a friendly sympathy the following question ?• — , .. , How long is it proper to stand at ‘Tim gate -with a young man who has escorted one home ? asks young Miss Ada S. , . , . ~ Not more than live minutes at longest, smys the experienced .a aviso i. That would supposedly allow the two young people to exchange a- tow words about the pleasure of incur evening, possibly arrange tror some future meeting, and take leave or one another with the necessary, cordial courtesy. J.f it is early in the eventing the girl may ask the man to come in, and "if lie accepts he should not stay longer than half an hour at 1 1 most. ■ HOW THE WIFE HHOHED SPEAK OF HElt HUSBAND. Does a wife who speaks of her thushand as “Air—” address him :n the same way when others arc present It is C stir a who asks, and the problem that troubles Clara has woiucd many .another, more especially the people to whom a-wife will .apeak oi her husband in this formal W yNo, says the expert advisor very properly; she calls him by his * tian name, but should name when others are likely j her. It is an American custom, l believe, to speak of one s hus _ ,‘ j “Mr-” and is somewhat n liculcd by other nations, who claim as do not refer to our dau*> * >e ,, , “Miss —” or our son las .1English wife uses her husband s Uii tian name in speaking of him, i an told; but the French seem have solved-The difficulty, . q er and wives there refer i» . «J.f s as “my wife” and my hus <