WOMAN'S WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 181, 18 December 1912, Page 8

WOMAN'S WORLD

(Conducted by "Eil«ea") DRESS AND SELF-EESPECT ... FASHION NOTES FROM LONDON. Loudon, October jio. Nothing reduces imperious London—•urely ever the most heartless of realists, with its horrid glimpses of the rich in their dainty motors and of wretched poor in their grime and rags—to such level mediocrity as does a pea-soup fog, from the depths of which I write. White becomes grubby, brown becomes drab and foggy, black takes a shabby grev tinge, green looks worse than any twe other disappointing colors together Only perhaps red and navy retain any thing approaching their owii. It must always strike a stranger to London as passing strange that the great metropolis, with all its manifold time-saving devices, its never-resting at mosphere of keen bustle and business, after all these many years of fops, should still allow one of those known "as "London's own"—the thick, yellow and greet description that makes the eyes smart and the throat sore—to throw confusioi over the city as it does. Everyone is under the conviction—for impatience and general anger towards tlie community at large mingles with the horrible vapors—that something should he done, but none arises clevet enough to prove what.

Said a sage recently, apropos of feminine clothes, "Being well-dressed doen not mean being fashionably dressed. It means wearing the right clothes at the right time and wearing them well," and the theorem is full of wisdom. There are poor souls who cannot b» happy out of the fashion whatever that freakish autocrat may order, and to those the statement was not made. But there are others, and there an infinitely more numerous class, who couldn't be in the fashion, although they would, and who cannot altogether still the littic pangs of dissatisfaction that assail th» best of women when they seem to be at a disadvantage in the presence of their sisters.

_So constituted rs the home-woman's life, that little things seem bigger to her than they would to, for instance, the professional woman whose interests an troader, and the fact that, despitf pliiioviphv, common-sense and Immof dress and self-respect are very nearly related and should not be ignored. No sane individual would advocate that particular devotion to dress that precludes attention to all the other more important things of life. But, if being well turned out affords the beautiful silky feeling of self-reliance and enjoyment that it does to many, why not have it ?

It's often rather a question of takiag some extra trouble than spending money that perhaps can't be afforded. If clothes must only be bought, that promise to wear well, there are little individual touches that need only depend on a deft hand and dainty taste in the making and the ability to wash and iron at home. So, a blouse that has lost its first freshness may sometimes be rejuvenated by a jabot and a slanting frill of hemstitched linen down the front and perhaps at the wrists. The kindly offices of the dye-pot it is well to bear in mind, and tlie addition of a lace collar often works wonders.

It is important to invest in good boots, since these are more economical in the long run than two or three pairs of cheap ones, and when their life is ended, they do at least, die in wellshaped dignity still.

Gloves have much to do, too, with self-respect, and a spotless pair (actually spotless!) of white gloves will often 'give a touch of distinction that was lacking before. Likewise a piquant button-hole, judiciously chosen, and i pinned into a fur sometimes will work I an apparent miracle. J But gloves, boots, collar band and cuffs 1 remain the most important of all essentials. And without rigid attention to these, not the most expensively gowned women could be classed well-dressed. FASHIONS OF TO-DAY.

A development in millinery is apparent this week, especially interesting after the long reign of flowers and hats of titanic proportions. If it's possible to choose between the rival charms of very large hats and quite small shapes, decidedly the small ones have the palm just now. In place of mammoth flowers, we are to have curiously small examples of blossoms, usually huge dahlias, for instance, roses and asters. TAPESTRY SILKS grow in wonder, and, amongst the most beautiful, are some that show gorgeous designs in peacocks' feathers in all the beautiful shades these proud birds show. They are, pre-eminently, since the pattern is wide and spreading, for the tall woman, but they certainly are most queenly in appearance.

THRACIAN CREPE is a material all may not know which makes up very effectively into blouses, reception and evening gowns. It is dull, fairly tough, and yet of a beautiful softness, and has the virtue of washing excellently. It's price—usually about 7s a yard—is accounted for by its width, which is 44 inches. SUEDE TRIMMINGS appear again in coats and skirts as collar, cuffs, and the rims of buttons. DOUBLE SKIRTS are to be seen on some .of the newest costumes, though these still incline towards the slim outline that has been in vogue for three or four years. Occasionally a narrow rim of a couple of inches is the only part of the underskirt that shows. This is then in contrasting color to the general toilette and matches the revers and cuffs. INJURIOUS VEILS.

That closely meshed or elaborately ornamented veils must be sinfully injurious to the eyesight of the wearer would seem to be only common-sense, but those of us who wear even thin meshed ones must beware, for here is a doctor's opinion, and this concerns all kinds of veils over the eyes:—

"The eyes, being marvellously delicate and sensitive, are perpetually trying to adjust themselves now to this line, now to that, now ignoring the teasing pattern or mesh, now conscious of it or affected by it. All this makes for eyestrain, headaches, wrinkles about the eyes, and for general and often serioY nervousness."