NOTES FOR WOMEN.
Long fringes of silk and chenille are still very much worn and I saw a wonderful opera cloak of satin which had a chenille fringe nearly a yard long hanging from the back edge of the huge "sailor" collar. Scarves of foulard and voile are often edged with fringe, and I think it makes a pleasant change from the plain satin scarves that zre so much seen this year. A pretty effect can be obtained by placing Isyeis of chiffon or ninon of different colours over each other. Such shades as powder blue over bright cerise, although they seem to cry our against each other when separate, will look very well and smart "when complete, especially if finished with a wide hem of one material only, preferably the under or lining shade of chiffon.
Speaking of blue and cerise reminds me that the latter is really the newest and mest fashionable colour now. Of course it would be quite hopeless to attempt to wear a whole dress of such a glaring colour but when veiled with black net or lace it looks very smart and has an air of subdued richness that is very striking especially when worn by a tail dark woman. I have seen some French dresses of cerise and blu-! and I am very much charmed with the result. I have an evening frock of soft blue, the dress material being a silk crepe of a blue that is between a duck blue and a greenish turquoise. This is trimmed with cerise and with it I always wore
a heavy Indian necklace of rubies and a big red jewelled butterfly in the hair. The whole dress sounds, I know, quite outlandish, and perhaps even inharmonicu?, but really the effect was so good that 1 intend having a plain medieval princess gown of the same shade in velvet with edgings of flame colour and a heavy twisted girdle hung low on the hips of tarnished copper metallic braid, the whole dress being mounted over dull flame coloured silk. —Yours faithfully, PATRICIA.
[" Patricia " will be pleased to give advice to readers on all matt ere concerning dress, house-keeping, etiquette and the toilet. Write, giving pseudonym, care of this office.]
Wellington, Tuesday. Dear Isobel,—Somehow or other I always seem to be struck by the near approach of Christmas about the middle of November, and the result is that by this time, when I should be in the midst of preparations, I am quite tired of Christmastide and its accompaniments of presents and present giving. The town is very full this week, and everywhere one go«s there are numbers of people from all over the island buying things for Christmas and New Year. Books in all shapes and" sizes seem to be in greater evidence than ever, and to judge by the number of people I saw buying them, I expect many booklovers will be rejoiced with some dainty little edition of a favourite work. As usual there is an immense number of beautiful editions of the old tent maker, Omar Khyyarn, some of which are beautifully illustrated in colours with the pages decorated in a border round the text. I saw a lovely large edition of Rudyard Kipling's "Song of the English" also illustrated in colour, and there was an endless variety of dainty little "pocket editions" of all kinds of literature from the plays of Maurice Materlink to collections of English lyrics. So many charming little books are published nowadays made up of extracts from well known and classical authors that really there is very little excuse for the people who attribute all and every quotation to either Shakespeare or
Tennyson. I have seen some beautiful pocket books and boxes in various convenient 1 sizes in especially fine and well exe- ! cuted leather work. One pocket book of the softest and most sweet smelling Russia leather had a lovely design of tall misty five o'clocks in grey upon I it, growing up straight from the lower edge with the heads in an uneven row along the top. The design extended right across the back of the book as well as over the front, which struck me as rather an unusual thing in these days of veneer and haste in all things. Some of the boxes were very pretty and the convenient sizes and shapes in which they were made rendered them useful for a great variety of purposes from handy receptacles for pins or stamps to cases for note paper, ties or bridge cards. Any one of these articles would make a delightful present for either a man or woman, and one which would give the donor the comforting feeling that he or she had given a thing that both looked haidsomeand which would never cause the recipient to "wonder what on earth to do with it" as some presents do unfortunately! Hat pins make an ever welcome gift, and one can never really have too many of them. Some women make a practice of keeping different sets to correspond with their frocks and hats, and on the whole, I think this is really necessary if-one wishes to appear well dressed." I have painful recollections of an otherwise irreproachable costume of bright violet completely spoiled by the birlliant blue pin 3 of long dimensions nestling among the violet chiffon in the pretty hat. Nearly all hat pins are very largfl just now, and I have seen some pretty ones of dull silver set with various precious stones, favourite among them being the lovely amethyst, who3e deep well of colour seems,to lend itself particularly well to a setting of dark oxidised silver. Moonstones are again in vogue, and I have seen some lovely examples of Liberty's designing of platinum with the peculiar changeful stones for central motif. Embroidered handkerchiefs and dainty little bags of lace and embroidery to carry them in are a nice little remembrance, but as I think I have written about the latter before I will pass on to the latest gifts for children. The two newest and most original toys at present are little models of the late King's dog "Caesar," and a new and particularly ugly form of golliwog known as a Billikin. They are of pink, or perhaps flesh colour describes the material better, with strangely shaped head 3 that rise in a decided point on the top and an expression that passes the power of speech to even faintly describe! I should have thought that one of these queer toys would be calculated to send a child into fits, but on the contrary. I find that children simply love them. In London they were quite a craze for a time, many leading jewellers making them in miniature of gold and silver, sometimes set with diamonds for lucky or bridge charms, the Billikin being supposed to be the "God of thirgs as they ojght to be!'' To pass from the interesting subject of presents to the ever interesting one of clothes I have noticed that we are likely to have a revival of the pretty cross - over blouses very shortly. Some of the very latest gowns are being made in this semi-classical style, which is, of course, only a moj ciiiied edition of the Greek dresses that I are so fashionable at present, and | which an.- contending for supremacy | with the Josephine or first Empire style of frock. As far as I can judge we will not be inflicted with the short and scanty skirt for very much longer, I at least not for house or evening wear. ; Of course for very young girls who , are fond of dancing they are excelI lent, but I can never reconcile the ! dignity of a more mature woman | with the apparent "kittenishness" lof the present day evening skirts. ! For rough country wear nothing is | possible but the short-businesslike ! costume of serge, tweed, cloth or i linen, and the same may be said | about shopping or morning dresses. ; But when it comes to satins and i charmeuse not to mention the rich | brocades and velvets which we will be wearing next winter there is really nothing else suitable, but the long or slightly trained skirts.
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King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 321, 17 December 1910, Page 6
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1,370NOTES FOR WOMEN. King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 321, 17 December 1910, Page 6
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