LADIES’ EXPRESS.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume III, Issue 333, 15 December 1875, Page 2

LADIES’ EXPRESS.

(The Editor will be glad to give insertion to any local contributions from his lady friends that may be considered interesting in th. family circle, or to the sex generally] :o: READING. One day in the heart of a violet 1 found a simple word ; And my heart went softly singing it Till the violet must have heard. And down in the depth of a crimson rose Another showed so plain I wrote it within me, then and there, To the patter of summer rain. In the shy blue-eyed forget-me-not, Forget me not” shone clear ; I carried the sweet words home with me, And told them again to my dear. And then from my window mignonette I read—ah, such a thing I That the glad tears fell on it like dew, And my soul was ready to sing. A few little words ! Before that day I never had taken heed ; But, oh, how I bless the lore that came— The love taught me to read.

An exchange says.:;—Amongst the most noticeable of the changes which is gaining ground is that of lacing the dresses—morning gowns as well as evening down the back; and when this is found inconvenient, sham lacings or ornaments resembling buttons and loops are adopted. Cream ccflor is still popular, but a new candidate for public favor has appeared in a delicate shade, “Ecume de mer,” or sea foam, a greenish white hue, which looks well with black velvet trimmings. The ungainly and hampered style of the lower part of the dress is going out of vogue. Skirts very lightly tied back, in the ungraceful way some ladies given to exaggeration had adopted, are no longer worn by the real grande monde. Many of the grandes elegantes have for a long time been wearing crinolettes, or tournures lounges, as they are sometimes called, while the uninitiated have been wondering how they managed to always preserve the same graceful flow of drapery in the long train. These tournures lounges are worn at the back, only they are much gored, on bias in the centre, a good breadth at each side sloped towards the back ; they reach to within an inch or two of the edge of the petticoat. Thin steels are run in tapes horizontally, a steel being carried all the length at each side, to prevent the tournure rising when the wearer sits down or the skirt is raised.

It is more than 500 years since King Edward 111. made the garter famous by the institution of the order of knighthood at Windsor, of which sovereigns are proud to be installed. Its “ blue ribbon ” has become a proverbial expression for the highest prize. I daresay many have shared astonishment with me that the adornment of a golden garter should be so highly esteemed. But the extravagance of Frenchwomen of the present day may also call forth our astonishment, if not our con detonation, wheu it is found that they are so wasteful and absurd as to be adopting garters made of costly laee and satin, costing five pounds per pair. The force of folly scarce can farther go, and although the colonial belles of Melbourne, who, it is said, are coming it rather strong for - extravagance, think nothing of spending fifty or a hundred pounds for a walking dress from Paris, yet I imagine they will pause before following the example of fastening their stockings with five-pound notes.