FASHIONS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 51, 22 October 1931, Page 2

FASHIONS

. Fashion is a fickle jade. In some things, feminine things cmefly, it is beyond the power of mere man to find rhyme or reason, and even the ladies themselves are often hard put to it explain the real inwardness of the dietates of their goddess. f ew things human are free from her influence, no matter how mundane, or how unpromising they may appear as material for her pranks. In fairness it must be confessed, however, that Pashion can, and^ often does take the unpromising material and by some magic secret of her own, weave it into a pattern of romance. Take politics, for instance. What could be more dull than politics as we have known them in recent years. Even elections, once a fruitful field for Fashion's whims, have degene;pated into mere gusts and gales of empty words issuing from heads all too often as empty. Which perhaps explains the goddess's neglect. But not wholly. Another cause is a weakening in the average man's beliefs. Time was when men held to their political faith with the .same fervour as they clung to their religion. _ To-day the fervent ones in either sphere are unusually dismissed as cranks, and that, more or less, is the end of them. And Pashion, powerful in many ways though she undoubtedly is, must have some foundation to work on, the most suitable to her purpose being faith. T'o return to the ladies for an example. Can it be questioned that they believe in personal adornment as the most effective means of attaining many of their dearest ends, from the capture of the prize in the great lottery to the education of the lady next door. Here then is a ^ fruitful field for Fashion, and she makes the most of it. Extravagance follows extravagance and the world worships or laughs, according to its temperament and, sex. So it is with politics. Give her some foundation of faith to work on and Fashion can be relied upon to have a finger in the game. Elections, of course, are her great opportunity. The past, when faith still counted for something, proves it. Once it was the fashion for candidates and their supporters to wear their own distinguishing colours, which they flaunted in the faces of all who did not think as they. A certain formality of attire and equipage was expected, of candidates on polling day; another fashion. It was a dull day when some heads were not broken ; still another fashion. But, as we have said, all this is past and Fashion can hardly be said to have taken any interest at all in our elections in recent years; not even as much as we have ourselves. There are signs that the tide is turning, however. In England, where political faiths have been born anew of the nation', s dangers and distresses, the campaign now being fought out shows most cheering signs of Fashion's re-awakening interest. The young men and women, the nation's sportsmen, have taken a larger share than usual in the fight, spurred on by their newly awakened faiths, and Fashion has not been lar behind them. Already aeroplanes, speed-boats, motor-cars and wireless, the marvellous servants, and playthings, of the age • have been pressed into the battle. They have, in short, become the fashion. We may therefore not unreasonably hope that when (or if ?) the "Ministry of Talents" permits the people of this Dominion to express the political faith that is in them, our own elections will, circumstances being what they are, attract the attention of the country's youth and so gain not only the benefits of wider vision and a more forward-looking outlook, but also renewed interest from the attentions of the fickle goddess.