THE "PAID GUEST"

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 1, 16 January 1937, Page 10

THE "PAID GUEST"

/ 1 Luncheon hostesses in London have found a way to ease the strain of lag-t ging convei'Bations (saye an exchange); When a worried woman gives a party, ahe pays s % leon© to attend and lead " the guests po 'excited discussions oi this and that. Whenever the women seem to b© pefered out on one topic, the vivacious one etarts them on some* thing else and keeps them going at full steam ahead. • Many a luncheon has been ehanged from boredom to enjoymen-p by the strategy of th© paid guest who'appeara to b© just on© of those present. She is uSUally the last to leave, the host* ess not fishing to hand out the f©e in front of the otners. They pay as niuch as £5 per luncheon for a good conversation pilot. Yet another new social function has been evolved overseas, and as is usual with euch innovations, it is the combination of two old f avourites„ This time it is the cocktail party and the tea dance, and is known as the cocktail dance While a cocktail party may b© in full swing in one room, a danoe is proceeding elsewhere, where the youngei people are amusing themselves. Tbis brings the problem of clothes to the fore once more, and designers are now evolving evening frocks that . can b© worn in the daytime