Feminine Interests

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 818, 12 November 1929, Page 5

Feminine Interests

barbaric ikwellery SOME STARTLING INNOVATIONS CORAL FROM SOUTH SEAS •ousands of weirtllj l.urb;irtp "j.-w e l,V Xlaas. an*l vi \ i• 11 v coloured rings an brads, remintot-mt of the "humlmls uueil In each of the longer necklaces consisting * >f -‘> »«» 3*> strands each. Glass “rubies'* and “emeralds’ on elaborately chased gilt mounts imitated the garish bolt and hat buckles seen in old Spanish pictures. Other buckles were open metal squares studded with brightly lacquered bosses. Lumps of clouded glass, imitating .-rygtul. were strung with what looked lik>‘ tlddley-winks counters. "Jade,” both pink and green, was hand-curved ta look like peach stones. Even pearls, which are still so popular that one firm alone turns out over a million peart necklaces a year, wore made in bizarre colours and shapes. They were flat. triangular. square! octagonul, disc-shaped. conical and irregularly rounded. They yvere coloured blue, green, pink, and gold, and a newly perfected technical process enables them to be dyed to a coffee shade. Coral from the South Seas is among the most sought-after jewellery at the moment. One firm is making up hundreds of cor&il necklaces a week nearly half tho total of the everfavourite pearls.

THh DIVING GIRLS OF JAPAN F"I- centuries „„st flic Jap. nose it »?, Pl " J r J ** 'iivoi-M ill , . ll l” ■ ll l industry. Formerlv whole > a mi lies were dicers, but ,he‘ pverom,»rHetKP',ailrauy more uml I .. .* ft lat ' vome n. and now at .'"‘N Per cent. „£ Japanese pearls 1 1 gathered by them, f Most of tbe women have their Homes along the shores of \ = ~ n-,v m the Shinia Province. and'Kokurha | };“ y : in ««e Province, and here Outers abound. The water is the dii , place round from tlieir earliest ; > ears, so that, when they roach the ! , i" 11 and can leave school I most nr them can dive. Indeed a i on ,T l ,|a '-es will superinv, l exercises of a daugti- ' 11,1 j' ll ttie care that, most other mot im.s in Japan expend on instrucI turn in household tasks. On. , a diver, a girl s life becomes • lmit. ot a well.ordered niuehitie tintil sue i ; too old to eoutimie her work ' rom eight to ten hours a day, for j ," u m ,hu >mir. she dives into linn, 1., lo 1.-, feet, of wale,-. January j and I i binary are usually too cold for i nan' ll diving, but even then a few hours are spent in collecting poarlA woman not reach the point ot greatest, efficiency as a diver until she is about -5. The pay she receives is small—:p) sen to two yen a day (a yen is about two shillings.) I he continual exposure to wind and water destroys her beauty, and so it. is every girl's ambition to marry early. After marriage the husband becomes a drone, leaving his wife to support the family. While diving, the women wear special dresses made of white muslin or grass-cloth. Their hair is twisted ll.to a light knot on tori* of the head wit It a. cloth wound through it. f.lass goggles protect their eyes. Each diver has a small tub 'attached to her waist, in which to carry the oysters. Most of the diving is done from

V'-Mt?, five or six women working from nn»* boat. which is steered am roved by a man. They work fron "no to two hours, and then rest fo "" minutes or so. When eight o t' n hours have passed and the boat i t.ibd. the women return to thei homes aiul prepare the evening meal GOOD DRESSING AND A MINIMUM OF CLOTHES 'I he woman whose object it is a" Avn - vs appear well-dressed and up to-date must often iind herself ii , possession of garments which, bavin; been too long in her wardrobe, be tray signs of age and so invite ho ' to throw them away. Nothing but the irreducible mini mum of clothes will save a womai from his state of affairs. She ma; veil i.sk herself, as she regard stockings that are not of the exac hue of the moment, frocks that an ! lull in the wrong places, and hat: i which take a slightly demodee tilt ! what is the very least she can d< ! with and still look smart? For now ndays every item, from undies t< j umbrellas, can be a white elephan if it. is kept long enough. Therefore we must rearrange ou ideas. Fashionable trousseaux hav< come into line, the modern brid< choosing each toilet with a couple of pairs of stockings to tone, anc buying half a dozen pairs of a non committal shade to complete lie’ stock. Similarly, she allows hersel half a dozen of every type of under garment, with two special sets foi evening wear as “extras.” With hats it >s the same; if a beige hat and a black one will accord with the majority of suits, there will be few additions, though there will probably be a smart satin chapeau and a bun tal straw for “dressy” occasions.

YOUTHFUL SKIN’S \ A GRANDMOTHER'S WARNING % OLD AIDS TO BEAUTY » ■ j 1 am going to say a f*"v graud- | motherly words of advice to girls who ! have just left school, and who are coming out, for believe me, my children, many of you are on the way to cl ruining your skins by what l see, m , says an English correspondent. ,r Don’t imagine that 1 don't symjs pathisc with you in your desire to

' '.t,v “finished'’ and smart. bur ■ways of the woman of 40 for the 1 simple voasou that she is obliged to J use paint and powder, while you have the gift i*f youth (or you ought to : have), a naturally good skin. I expert many of Vmi will write and say that you have m>t good cum- - ; plexious, but even so, it is no excuse -j i for covering up your defects with j cheap powders and cosmetics, for 3 j underneath the defects your nice fresh ■ ! skins exist, and it only needs sensible d | means to bring them out, but if you | use paint now, what are you going to | do when you reach middle ago? ! Not every girl suffers from a • greasy skiu; some of them seem to j J chap very easily, and for these a pro- ' tec tiro treatment is needed. A little good cold cream applied sensibly will do all that is required, and if this is rubbed in at night, and then removed with a lotion containing rose-water, there will be no need to smother your face with powder next morning, as any grease remaining will be removed. Don't make a practice of dabbing grease on your skin every evening—> it will probably be quite unnecessary; just be sensible, and if you have been out in a cold wind apply a little wherever it seems to be chapped. The following is a very old recipe, which 1 have often made ut) for myself. It is fairly greasy, and is not suitable for anybody who lias a naturally moist skin, but it is beautifully pure, and also very nourishing; loz. spermaceti, loz. white wax, 2oz. # coconut oil, 2oz. white lanoline, loz. oil of sweet almonds, 2oz. orange flower water, 12 drops of benzoin, loz. olive oil. You can use this after you have washed your face in lukewarm water in the evening. "You can use oatmeal in little muslin liags instead of soap, and if you rub the milky oatmeal waiter well into all the crevices, it will cleanse just as v eil as soap. If you do use the latter, don t use any scented variety, but one ol: the many super-fatted soaps that are on the market. However tired you are when you come in, never, never omit the evening wash and clean up. The “flapper” is much more likely to have ugly hands than an ugly skin, and she also seems to neglect them much more. It is worth while wearing gloves in cold weather, instead of, as f so often see when I am in a bus, a girl clutching her gloves in one hand. The cold wind reddens and chaps the skin into a state of chronic redness, which may, in the end, be very difficult to cure.