FOR WOMEN FOLK.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 213, 16 February 1915, Page 6

FOR WOMEN FOLK.

•" BY EILEEN."

'' Eileen '' will be glad to receive items of interest and | value to women for publication or reference in this column. I

FASHION NOTES FROM LONDON. London. January 25. ''Business as usual" lias tuned the Biitish shopkeeping public up to fai hevond its ordinary attitude towards the buying public. Having watched tin conscientious customer spending what flie could, lest the Christmas season fall short of its sparkle, for others, the idea seems to have come that she can he induced, under the shadow of spending time, to continue buying for her household For no sooner are notices for desirable Christmas gifts down than those declaring a sale are up. Ar.d no whisper this year, it will be , noted, of the imperioi:; "one week only" sales that, it must surely be acknowledged, are oil the whole bad. must this year be a godsend to greatly overstocked shopkeepers. Fur hats are not so much Eeen this winter, rather slrnngely, since furs aro a good deal e!:e:'|v:- than usual. fhe:v;h u good many toques and hats are furtrimmed. A few white fur toques, trimmed with black velvet leaves >r petals sewn into the fur, are smart looking. Shot silk brims, narrow and sharply upturned di>tingui-4) some of th" newest- toques, the rrowiiM of which are of panne velvet, black or dark colored. Few of these have much trimming. Feather wheels, made by curling actual ostrich feathers round and round into wheels about six inches across, are novel embellishments that, so far appear on black velvet toques. Three deep flounces, not very ful 1 (though full and he-frilled gowns ar> being predicted by some first-class de s'gners) and starting from >a bodice plain r.v-r the bust and swathed l;>osil> round the waist and over the hipscalled "the cuirass"—are the latest idea for girtish figures. t Pink chiffon in a very pale shade is again returning to favor for lining lace yokes, vests, sleeves and chemisettes. Wool black satin, which has the advantage when good of being almost uncrushable and the disadvantage, when ; not so good of not wearing very well, . is an excellent medium for the simple picturesque afternoon styles that have now come in for newly grown-ups. Plastrons of lace in various designs are again being used both on lingerie and indoor dresses. Motifs of ratine ' arc popular, too. Eton coats with deep-pleated basn'ieattached are in fashion in America. These have bands four inches deep attached. which have the appearance of loose belts and which come slightly below the normal waist-line, the fn:i'( the coat being rather loose. Amongst the many novel patents of the year is one in connection with th" hobble skirt (surely a little Into in day) which it 1s said enables the wearer to walk without hobbling. The lower part of the skirt is accordeonplatcd, the upper part fits closely round the hips, and is gathered lower down and attached to the accordeonpleated section by means of ehi-tic concealed i n a fold passing round the garment.

Does it not always seem impossible to us that wc should be treated precise Jy like other people at the hands of those whom we love—whose love we are con vinccd is ours? —Ella MacMahon.

DDNT'S ON DEESS. Don't expect your hair to shine unless you brush it well every night and morn in /». Don't buy cheap boots or gloves Don't wear your walking dress in the house. Don't use a cheap, poor ribbon in millinery. Don't send anything to the laundry before it is marked. Don't on any account put a dresj away without brushing it. Don't forget to iron the wrinkles oni of sleeves occasionally. Don't let boots and shoes wear thromrii before thev are soled. Don't take a bodice off and put il away immediately—lay if. out to ;> ; r Don't hang a skirt up by the fasten-ing-fix two tapes to it for this pit:-, pose.

THE BELGIAN V/OMAir. Mndame .Marguerite Coppin. Uol'diiTi'; having poetess, is contributing a ser\'i of articles o>] "The Belgian Woman'' to the Lady's Pictorial. Mdlle. Coppin before the war compelled her to loav» her native land, was one of the leading writers and publicists of Be!giir,\ with some dozen books to her credit. In her first article, "The Writer," she

-ays: "Education in Belgium is excellent. • n my country a girl of eighteen years old has completely finished her studies, and is well equipped for any intellectual' work if she is at all clever and h:ts taken advantage of the good teaching provided for her by the State schools or town schools. Of course, tlie greater number of girls thus taught marry, or, remaining single, adopt Ic menage—'■very household avocation—as the main '•d absorbing interest of their lives. The Belgian woman is more ef a he.ustlm;l the majority of your women h re, she takes great interest in cleaning cooking, tidying the rooms; she al.io likes to cut clothes and sew them, in short, she is a thoroughly good housceeper, but with a foundation of history literature, physical and natural sciences

■:d always of mathematics, which re deems her from ever becoming a coinmen drudge or an insignificant party ;i the household. However, wo count an important and ever-growing minority of

intellectual women who have made a I name i:i what we call in Belgium 'tin I Belgian literature of French expression'; poets, novelists, play-writers, publicists, essayists. They are read wherever French is spoken, and some quite count in Paris among the French

Now is the lime for the nervous amateur to set her hand and lnimj to the making of blouses and so save a considerable amount of her dress allowance, create a new interest in life, and he able to afford better material than of old. For there are few of the style of today that cannot be copied by anyone with intelligence. The most satisfactory scheme is to find a not too complicated pattern, ascertain that it is"the right measurements round the bust, and cut fiom this a cotton blouse on which to make experiments.

writers—a fact which is for us the nc plus ultra of litorarv fame. Let in speak of poets first. We shall fail anion;,' them names well known by French critics, Mmc va n Elegem, Mine M. T. Dominique, Mine. (I. Remv, Mme M, Bicrme, Mine. H. Avril, Mme 11. (ioffin, Mme. A. Colin, Mme. M. Govers, nn 1 many more. They represent many aspects of talent, give many interpretations of art, but—and the foreign critics on Belgians are unanimous to state it—thev all show themselves in their poelrv very feminine, very womanly; they are, each and all of them, calm, serene, often simple, full of modesty, of a discipline,] exaltation, of discreet sentimentality Aim never find in |heir pages, sacred I: all deep find pure feelings, the furiuii', enthusiasm, the passionate lyrism, of their French sisters. Neither the bull Wing cup nor the dagger of Sapho; a mother, a daughter, a wife, spiaks: a bridge or a fiancee sings, happily, raptur-ou-'y. but with prudic reserve, ->f ove. and trust. . . . the poetry of honest well-balanced, believing souls, rather of neutral shades, grey, or mauve, rose also never black, or gory red or impena purple,"

All blouses are now loose, mainlv nil have hng yokes, and Raglan sleeve, not n-.aily so difficult to fit as the <ld styles, not many fasteners, and open neck?. Let the new chum not be dismayed by the magazine fashion writer's nolions of the amount of material reqtiir(r. s.nce, when the fundamentals are satisfied, the odd parts, eulTs, collars, vests, etc., can ofte„ be cut out of odd bits in a way that would seem complicated if set down in directions. Also a slender person can do with less fulling than a bigger one, and very often odd ■ pieces of fancy material left over fro- • | other essays come in capitally for fin- { ishings. The joy of acquiring a remnant seemingly a little too skimpv, should never be spoiled for lack of a'little enterprise or dressmaking courage. It is well, if smartness be the object, to try and have the blouse exactly the same color as the skirt, even wlie n it it is of quite different material. Contrasts are for the moment out of favor.

SERVIAN WOMEN. There is nb country in the. world where women occupy a more dignified or honored position in the home than in Servia. The Servian idea is quite different from that of the Turk, who keeps his women behind shut doors, or the flertnan, whose ideal woman is a good hausfrau. In Servia the woman is the companion of the man. _ A man is responsible for his unmarried sisters, and throughout the Balkan Stales it is considered rather a breach of etiquette for him to luarry before his older sister. Xo Servian would feel she could hold up her head in society unless she couIJ speak four languages. 1 here is hardlv a Servian lady who cannot play some musical instrument, ftmbroiderv. drawing, painting, and sculpture all arc studied. Servian woine,, lire «-erv domesticated. and tin- highest ladies pay personal attention to. trivia! matters of housekeeping. There are two women doctors practising in Belgrade, and women teachers galore. But public opinion, on the whole, j is rather against women entering the labor market.

WOMEN'S PHILOSOPHY. One may hear of ppnple being swept of tlnir feet by a single wave of love, hate, grief or fear. To the onlooker the sweeping may have appeared sudden, overwhelming in its violence: to the person involved, it was probably the outcome of mature reflection, of calm deliberation.

Fur it was not. only there—this possibility amid the vast, mid complicated arniv of luiman possibilities— little seed .L'enninatiiiy in tlx' soul'.' The reaping was the inevitable Jesuit of its treatment, the discipline to which it had been subjected, whether of encouragement or repression.—lsabel Clarke. "I sometimes think that we modern women are too selfish io love anvbodv properly. We arc so much e.n tin' lookout for our own happiness that wo usually overlook the man's hale of Jhe bargain. Why should T expect, to have a faultless', man made for me? I'm anything but, faultless myself.—llrs Baillie Reynolds. ~%P,almoßt every man and woman there.