NOTES FOR WOMEN.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 332, 28 January 1911, Page 6

NOTES FOR WOMEN.

I" Patricia " will be pleased to (jive advice to readers (m all matters concerning' dress, house-kcepin:;", etiquette and the toilet. Write, giving pseudonym, care ot" this office.}

Wellington, Tuesday. Dear Isobel, —-Time certainly flies in these days of rush and hurry and it does not seem more than a few days since I sent off my last little budget of news, yet here I am again settling down to give you the result of my observations this week. As the weather has been of almost tropical character all week the ingenuity of most women has been turned upon the problem of dressing smartly and being at the same time moderately cool. The ones who came nearest to this ideal, in my opinion, were those who adopted the under-elips of coarse lace with frocks of sheer materials. Somehow there is nothing more suggestive of coolness than fine lacy coche corsets and particularly these made entirely of lace, either fine or coarse. All kinds of Irish crochet, including the pretty "Bebe" make, are very suitable, and piece vallenciennea as well as chantily and the thousand and one beautiful machine-made lace 3 that are simply "lace" without any special genre make up delightfully. As I have said before, all the camisoles worn nowadays are strictly tight-fitting on account of the loose cut of many of the newest blouses, in spite of which we must retain our slim outlines through the gauzy, soft folds of the more or less transparent materials in vogue at present. Though it sounds a trifle extravagant to talk of lace camisoles it does not run into any greater expense than the lace-insertion and-beribboned-garments of the last few years, and as they are cut very much tighter and frequently very much lower, the amount of material required is decidedly less than before. With the return to the high standing collars minus the points behind the ears has come a demand for something to give a finish to the top edge; frills are more "out" than any player of "musical chairs" ever was, so what was left to us but the ever fresh turned down stock collar? I have seen quantities of them in town of lace, lawn hemstitched and embroidered, embroidery Swiss and otherwise, and in fact every kind and variety of trimming that one could imagine or dream about. The favourite shape appears to be a straight band divided at the front and opening at the back, and without any of the fancy points in front that distinguished the latter ends of their previous reign. With these pretty little collars are turned up cuffs to match, which are easily stitched into the cuff bands of a plain shirt blouse and impart a decidedly chic appearance, especially if the blouse is of dark or coloured material. All the new jabots are made in the one-sided frill style and are usually of fine net, lace, or chiffon for afternoon wear and lawn and wide Swiss edging for less dressed occasions. The smartest thing for morning wear is the finest lawn hem-stitched and edged with narrow lace pleated into a band and worn under a neat coat. A clever hint is to have these little frills made on a band or tape with button holes at intervals along it. It can then be buttoned on to the blouse buttons and the blouse fastened up in the usual way thus saving a lot of trouble in sewing in and changing frills when they are soiled—-as they very soon become. It also saves a considerable amount of work at the laundry in doing up white frills which are permanently attached to the blouse. For afternoon wear a "waterfall" frill of lace or net is charmingly soft and looks well if fastened with a tiny bow of velvet at the neck, the bow being of some colour to either match or contrast with the costume worn. A fad in Paris recently was to have a touch of violet somewhere in the toilette, it might be the tiniest soupcon in a tie end for an edging to a cravat but somewhere it must be a loose rosette of the sunflower type was another mode and a scarf lining of violet chiffon being a third, while a little knot of violet velvet in a fur toque was one of the most frequently seen devices for introducing the required shade.

The mention of scarves reminds me of the fact that; instead of being on the decrease (as they really ought to be now) these graceful draperies are actually on the increase! The latest development is a scarf so wide and soft thai one corner can be thrown over the shoulder and allowed to hang J down the back with somewhat the i effect of a loosely-draped shawl only without the bulky "wrapped-up" appearance the latter imparts. Of course these scarves are not gathered into a tassel at the ends as the satin ones we have been wearing recently were, bun are often weighed at each corner with a long tassel. There has been such a number of weddings lately and there are so many engagements about that I really should tell you of the very newest mode of arranging the wedding veil. Instead of the usual drapery over or under a coronet of orange blossom the new fashion is to have the veil fastened over the head almcsi; like a cap and fixed with a fillet of: jewels or flowers. The plain lace over the hair is much more charming than one would think and the soft folds falling loosely on the brow and hair and trailing over ; shoulders is quite delightful. One venturesoms bride elected to wear a j flat band of diamonds and pearls across the front of her hair holding ■ the veil in place and had big flat cabochons of orange blossom at each ; side just a trifle above the ears, J something after the style of head- i dress worn by the ladies of King j Alfred's Court, the rounded palques of those days being of gold and j jewels. So many recent marriages j Jiave been arranged entirely from | pictures by old masters that this heautifpl sfyle is likely to become ; quite a custom, and puff" with which I even those most lacking i| taste and the talent for colour schem'ing cannot go far wrong. Eomnsy has some delightful gowns in his different . r

pictures of lovely women and as the type of gown he pout'trays is practically that worn at the present day it would be a delightful task to design gowns for a bride and her maids from one of his canvases. The draped fichu gives such a quaint touch to a gown in soft pastel tones, and the wide hats of biack velvet or crinoline complete the old-world effect. With long handled baskets or wide black scarves of velvet or satin (not the scarves drawn into a tassel, they are not suitable for "picture'' gowns) and bands of velvet with diamond slides if possible round the throat, nothing is more certain of instant success than this simply made toilette.--Yours faithfully, PATRICIA.