WOMAN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 64, 6 September 1911, Page 6

WOMAN'S WORLD

(Conducted by "Eileen"). ' LONDON FASHION NOTES | London, July 21. Lateness of season is not causing any ■lethargy among the milliners. They are just as much on the alert as they were a couple of months ago, and they still vie with one another in introducing novel features alike as regards styles and trimmings, ibeing sure in their knowledge that many new hats will be wanted by holiday-makers who expect to have many weeks of summer still in front of them and plenty of tii>e therefore to get their money's worth out of new and delicate millinery. WEALTH OF CHOICE. The result is a bewildering array of choice, and as hats of every possible dimension are obtainable at one and the same time, it is hardly possible to say that any particular size is the regulation one. While there are numerous indications that shapes of moderate dimensions are being rapidly revived and eagerly bought, shapes in every way opposite are still in immense demand, In a crowd — such as a struggle for tea at a London reception or garden party—the spreading hat brims are a constant pest. There are some shapes whose wide brims are shortened back and front and slightly curled up, leaving immensely wide sides to spread over the shoulders; the crowns of some of these are being reduced to plateau height, and therefore are almost non-existent. More of them, though, are quite high and well-proportioned. But very often we find that the largest hats carry the least trimming, masses of plenrouse feathers and generous loops of ribbon and frill upon frill of lace more often overloading a small brimless shape.

All through the summer only straws of the finest varieties have been used, and no kind has been more seen than the delightful Tagal, whose price <loes not decrease; next in favor one might perhaps place Leghorn, which is having great vogue this summer, not only in its natural tone, but in colors dyed according to requirements. Crinoline straw seems to have come into permanent use, and the best specimens of this, whicli v are everlasting wear, are not cheap; chips are used for everyday hats, whose shapes are large and whose trimmings sometimes hardly seen at all; satin straw is a variety that has many patrons, and extremely dainty are the Japanese, plaits; straws that have a rustic countenance are hardly seen this year, and when they are used it is only for the most ordinary of everyday and country shapes. Some of the gigantic hats have brim only of straw, the wire and muslin crown forming the foundation for frill upon frill of lace or for a cover of rose foliage to be in keeping with the tall floral mounts.

The tendency displayed by big-brimmed hats to have elongated sides has been copied in the case of the almost brimless pattern, for this, coming down well over the forehead, is given piquant little ear pieces which scoop slightly upward. The shapes which consist of nothing but crown are pulled low over the face, casting a shade over the eyes, and a very usual trimming for these is a set ef Mercury wings which, starting from tho front, almost encircle the shape, the whole being set on the head with a backward slope; a twist of narrow velvet or a cord is all else that is used, and this is placed all along the bottom part of the wings and finished in front in a small bow-knot. There are some shapes which remind one of a large thimble, whose plain effect can easily be overdone by drapings of lace. This material is one of the chief millinery assets, and it is astonishing to notice to what a great extent the "feather" of lace is used. The lace feather is not so expensive as the splendid ostrich variety, but its price depends a good deal on the' kind of lace used, and this is not always of an imitation species. Large hats which are massed with ostrich plumes often total an amount that would startle the economical mind; where money is no object, as much is spent in one feather-trimmed hat as has to constitute a year's dress allowance in the case of a girl whose parents are not so well off. Forty guineas seems quite usual for a big. hat of beautiful straw smothered with magnificent ostrich plumes or carrying a great display of ospreys. By the way, a new system of protest has been undertaken by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; this consists in a procession of sandwichmen parading the West End of London, each one carrying a picture illustrating a protest against the methods of obtaining osprey plumes. Tlie men attract much attention during their peregrinations, clad as they arc in sage green gabardines, their picture boards branding the osprey as "the badge of cruelty.'' NOTHING GARISH. Colored straws are, of course, obtainable, but at least 00 per cent, of the season's shapes are of some soft and neutral tone, running largely on beaver shade, a soft sort of putty color, and a pretty grey. Very many of the summer hats are built on the Weenie principle, and the deep upturned brim is covered with black velvet, as a change from dead white trimmings, there arc wreaths and clumps mode in the faintest pink and a deep cream. White and black effects are very usual, and the relieving touch of black on a white straw is not infrequently part of this shape. As the New Zealand summer approaches, doubtless the demand will be great for (lowers and foliage and feathers all of white or •faint pink or cream, the leaves being usually of muslin or silk, and the flowers usually of the latter with a few petals of velvet mixed. Flowers are used sometimes in such profusion that the crown is quite hidden, and the clumps seem to be growing from the brim. On the other band, some of the widest shapes have a clump of roses waving at great height at the left side, the other trimming consisting of long trails of rose stalks draping themselves about the brim. Rigorous simplicity of trimming characterises all the new French millinery, and fine straws have the preference there just as here, one of the finest varieties being picot. Many of these hats are handsewn, and the result is a softness and pliability which the machine stitch does not impart; also another result is added cost. Most of the straws are so line and so light and so pliable that, one variety can be used as a lining to another, and the result is a'weight lighter than when much velvet is used. Leghorn straw is used as a brim lining to crinoline. Crinoline is used to line satinstraw, and many other combinations are, of course, feasible.

at state functions at the Vice-regal Court in Calcutta or Simla. Similarly.; with respect to dinner parties, dresses' need only 'be such as are ordinarily worn on such an occasion in Tndia. No doubt there will be rich and striking costumes seen during the Durbar ceremonials, but there is no occasion for Anglo-Indian society to be anxious as to detail. i SHOULD SUFFRAGISTS MARRY? CURIOUS DTVORCE SUIT BY AN INVENTOR. New York, July 20. Dr. Lee de Forest, the eminent inventor, who perfected a system of wireless telegraphy, has started a suit for divorce, alleging that his home has been disrupted, in consequence of the suffragist views held by his wife and his mother-in-law. According to Dr. de Forest, his wife believes that "man is a biological necessity but a social excrescence." He has filed his suit at San Francisco, while Mrs. de Forest, in turn, intends to bring a suit of separation in the State of New York. Mrs. Harriet Blatch, Dr. de Forest's mother-in-law, is president of the League of Self-Supporting Women and one of the militant leaders of the "women's rights" movement in America. Dr. de Forest declares: —

"I am a victim of the suffrage move- ] inent. Had I known such a case as my I own before I married a suffragist, I would undoubtedly be happier to-day. If a young man wants to marry,- let him marry anything but a suffragist, especially the daughter of a suffragist leader/ "Mrs. Blalch's ideas for her daughter's future include nothing that does not spell suffrage. Her one object in life is to place her daughter on-the suffrage throne, believing that she is destined to be the great suffragist influence in days to come. Mrs. Blatch dominated our home from the day we returned from our European honeymoon. She permitted her daughter to marry me simply for biological reasons. When our daughter was born, two years ago, I had a -beautiful home on Riversdale Drive, in New York City. Two months before her birth Mrs. Blatch took my wife to New Jersey, declaring that no grand-daughter of her's should see the light of day in New York.

"From that day I have not livc-d with my wife, and I have only been allowed to see my daughter on Sundays whenever I was able to got away from New York. All my efforts to prevail upon my wife to return to me have, been fruitless owing to the influence of my mothcr-in-law. 1 "On one occasion Mrs. Blatch offered me .-CluOO to give up all my rights to my daughter. I have not been allowed to contribute to the support of my wife or my daughter. All my cheques have been returned to me."

The de Forests were married in 1!K)8. The wife is a graduate of Cornell University and a fully qualified civil engineer employed' by the Radley .Steel Construction Company of New York.

MURDER FOR HONOR WHITE WOMAN KILLS A BLACK MAN IN HER BEDROOM. A NIGHT ORDEAL. Johannesburg, June 22. Mrs. William G. Lumley, who shot a native dead on Sunday morning at Brixton, was today discharged by the magistrate who heard her dramatic storv. It was another case of the black peril, andMrs. Lumley acted with great courage and presence of mind. She w;as asleep with her seven-year-old daughter, when, at C o'clock in the morning, she felt someone come to her bed. "Instinctively I reached for the Webley revolver, which lay at the top of the bed. between my daughter's pillow and mine," Mrs. Lumley told the magistrate. "I then put out my hand to see, who it was who had touched me, and I felt a woolly head. I at once saw the Kaffir, and n't the same time I was seized by the neek of my nightgown. "The trigger of the revolver was very hard to release, but I managed to pass my left hand over the woolly head and reach the revolver with it. Immediately the revelver exploded the intruder said, 'Oh, missus, don't hurt me; I'll work for you for ever.' He at once tightened his hold on the neek of my gown and tried to strangle me. By a supreme effort I was able to pull the trigger again. „ "He rolled off the bed on to the floor, against the washstand, and lay face 'downwards. He never spoke after the second shot. My son came into the bouse soon afterwards and fetched a detective, hut. the native was dead before the ambulance arrived. It was my life and honor, or his life, and —well, you know. I fired. It was the second shot that saved me. Had he not got that he would have killed me. At that moment I gained strength enough to release the trigger. He knew I had been ill. It is not so long ago that I underwent an operation, and he took advantage of my present weakness." The natiye, his sister and other relatives have been in the employ of Mr. Lumley for four years. The first bullet fired by Mrs. Lumley struck the native in the left shoulder, and, it is thought, penetrated the. lung. The second shot pierced the left lung, and death was apparently due to hemorrhage.