WOMAN’S WORLD.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5456, 2 August 1929, Page 1

WOMAN’S WORLD.

NELLIE STEWART’S SUCCESS. SECRET OF PERPETUAL YOUTH. Nellie Stewart appears to have solved the secret of perpetual youth (says a Melbourne paper). To many her freshness and gaiety in “Sweet Nell of Old Drury” are a revelation. She was asked whether there were any special methods of retaining her wonderful youthfulness in spite of the passing years. “I don’t take extra care of myself,” she explained. “I just live naturally and enjoy myself—in a mild way. I have no rules of diet. I love my own home. I always get up at six in the morning. Regular sleep I find is most refreshing—most wholesome. When in opera I never missed being in bed by twelve. Rising at six is not due to any rule. I get up at that hour simply because I find it natural to do so. “As I go through life I find that people are very kind to me,” added Sweet Nell. “Many write to me. A lot seem to tell me their troubles. I do not read much, unless it is something that deeply interests me—something pertaining to my art. I don’t go out much or attend social functions.” THE PLUMP GIRL. FACTS SHE SHOULD REMEMBER. Most of the fair ladies who have inspired great meh in history have been plump—Venus, Cleopatra, Madame Pompadour, Nell Gwyn—to mention a few ! Hot baths and hot water to drink are very reducing. Lounging in an arm-chair will encourage your figure to spread. While one should not wear tight clothes, more or less fitting garments should be worn. Loose, shapeless ones add to the general plump effect. Corsets which are too tight should, be discarded—you may be on the fat side, but don’t look upholstered ! The two P’s—potatoes and pastry —are your worst enemies. While trying to be more sylph-like, you shouldn’t worry about beinig plump, as'your greatest charm is generally your happy-go-lucky nature. Although you may do your daily dozen for your figure, you ought also to exercise your mind. A mind that grows fat is generally the first step to exercise avoirdupoist Take your mind for a walk sometimes, and let it find out what is being done, thought, read ! Keep your mind active and your figure will do its best to fall into line. Your best friend —and the most candid—is the weighing-machine. THE ART OF DECORATION. SOME USEFUL HINTS. Many people regard the walls as the permanent part of their schemes and choose their furniture and fabrics to 1 go with them (observes an oversea authority). But though the walls are permanent, their colour need not be and rarely is. The owner’s personality must be considered. Colour is vastly important; it influences us, although we never trace the effect back to the subtle cause.

Blue is "steady, peaceful,. as the sky and sea are steadfast and immutable. Grey is sombre, as the cloud; Yellows are happy colours; creating the illusion of sunshine. Green, being the most common and approachable colour in nature, and therefore that to which our eyes have grown most accustomed, is perhaps the best hue to live with. It lies between the peace of blue and the gaiety of yellow, and so is soothing and yet not depressing. It is thus the background colour par excellence, and it is certainly the finest foil for flowers.

Aspect, too, demands consideration. Sunny rooms can take cool blues and greys; shady rooms call for the warmth of yellows and reds. Sunny rooms, too, can stand more colour than shady ones, as ordinary light, being white, dilutes a colour or tones it down. Even in a sunny room, however, the tone of the wall-cover should be lighter than that of the floor-cover in order to avoid an over-balanced, top-heavy effect. Distempers are easily applied, cheap, and clean; they give a wide range of choice in both tone and hue.

On the other hand, modern wallpaper designs are so good that an allover pattern can be so joyous in itself as not to need pictures. Especially is this a fact when the walls are panelled by means of edgings placed just where they best become the room and the furniture.

If such a scheme be favoured, then care must be taken that the pattern be not too big to rest quietly in the background, nor so small as to appear timid and safe ; and that the panels be placed symmetrically behind the chief pieces of furniture lest the balance be destroyed. With these precautions, however, most delightful effects can be obtained, for this “building-in” of the walls to fit the furniture conveys a great sense of unity—the secret of any successful scheme of interior decoration.

Floors, as I have said, should be darker than walls to give the affect of terra firma. A very good plan, starting with a mixed carpet, is to choose one of its lighter tints as the wall colour. Thus with a brown and buff or a green and brown carpet the buff or the palest green might be selected as the hue for the walls.