WOMAN’S WORLD.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 June 1922, Page 10

WOMAN’S WORLD.

FASHION NOTES FROM LONDON. THE SILK-KNITTED FROCK. Writing of spring fashions, which win be reaching us in a short time, a contributor to The Queen states that a great sensation of the spring season is the triumph of the silk-knitted frock. Now that fashions are more definitely determined, and we are beginning to see the new models actually worn instead of being merely displayed in the fashionable dress salons, one realises that the knitted frock in its new guise, embroidered and beaded out of all recognition, and carried out in quiet, sober colors instead of flaunting tones, has assumed a quite different aspect. No longer are dresses of this description relegated to sports wear alone. Every other well-dressed woman possesses one, if not more, of these gowns, which are being adopted on all aides for smart luncheon, visiting, and street wear, seeming to meet the requirements of the early spring season with greater success than anything else. Indeed, the rage for silk-knitted gowns and three-piece toilettes, worn with loose-fitting coats made of thick wool fabrics, seems to be taking the place of the orthodox tailor-made suit that generally enjoys so universal a vogue round about the Easter season. The newest knitted costumes show a two-piece sweater dress made in fancy stitch wool and silk, with a matching cape en suite, both the cape and the dress being elaborately worked in black or colored silk fancy braids.

Acoording to the newest idea, trimmings of this sort are arranged in the form of bands and panels rather than all-over embroideries, while not a few show narrow edgings of monkey fur or short-haired pelts, such as ermine and musquash. One of the smartest varieties of these new street toilettes takes the form of a grey or beige-col-ored knitted silk dress, over which is worn a short, open-fronted coatee cut on loose sacque lines. This is of suede cloth of a contrasting color, boldly worked with moss embroidery to match the dress, the lining of the coatee being of crepe de chine to match the embroidery. Black or the new lacquer brown silk

jersey is also being largely used for dresses and eapes of this description. Gn many of these Chinese embroideries worked in yellow or Oriental blue are to be seen, 'while silk jersey in beautiful tones of lavender, mauve, violet, and the new sea-green are also utilised to fashion toilettes of this type, and they are running dresses of crepe marocain and the new crepe Roumaya hard in the race for favor. ELABORATION’. For the moment, at all events, simplicity of design has little favpr amongst the designers of the new knitted dresses. In their latest elaboration one notices that although the jumper design may predominate in these dresses they now appear trimmed with ’ many rows of buttons, silk loopings, I ladder-strappings, appliques of cloth, as • well as the richest beaded effects, the last-named more often than not executed in the new minute copper bugles: these look so well arranged in the lat-tice-like embroideries that figure prominently in dress trimmings of to-day. So far has the use of eilk jersey permeated that one finds several dress designers introducing fine black jerseys as a medium for evening frocks, specially when intended for restaurant wear. A beautiful model of this sort showed a side-draped dress o'f black jersey embroidered all over in bright and dull jet beads, which, made with V-shaped decolletage and no sleeves, was held at the waist by looped chains of cut jet arranged on either hip. A fine jetted fringe outlined the side-drapery of the skirt, which revealed a lining of dull black crepe marocain. To ■wear with this toilette was one of the new hel-met-shaped jetted head-dresses that are coming more ami more into vogue as an accompaniment to restaurant frocks and theatre gowns of every type. Apart from knitted silk frocks, the (favorite spring toilettes seem to be made of fine navy blue serge, tricotine, gabardine, or kasha cloth; many for the moment, at all events, are to be found piped, braided or beaded in scarlet, or a new shade of rose-red that is enjoying a great rage. Yet another novelty is found in fine lawn handkerchiefs bordered in crossstitch embroidery, which, made to match the new’ waistcoats, are worn tucked into the breast pockets of these smart tailored coats. For with the return of smartly-pocketed coats tiny pocket handkerchiefs, which are carried more for ornament than for use, have once more returned to fashion. SERVANTS BY SHIFTS (By an American Correspondent of the Daily Mail.) New York City. “Sorry, madam, but I can’t stay. My ‘shift’ is over now and I have an engagement to keep.” , This is the answer you may get if you are mi-stress of a home in New York, and you ask your ’‘home assistant” to serve lunch twenty minutes later than usual. Only one-half of one per cent. Oi the women of the United States keep servants. The others do their own housework, not because they cannot ttU ford servants, but because they cannot get them. Women are always bringing forward some new idea to lure girls to undertake housework as a career. The latest of these is the “home assistant” scheme. “What we are doing is to put domestic service oh an industrial basis, ’ the Originator of the Idea explained to me, with that efficient, somewhat severe, air of the successful American business woman when I saw her at the Home Assistants’ headquarters. “We don’t want any more uneducated drudges; we want intelligent, capable women to help us in our homes, and those of us who have the assistants are well satisfied.

“The home assistants we send out are trained cooks, general servants, or housemaids. They may have been clerks, typists, shop assistants, or just girls who lived at home before they came to us. We do not care what they have been so long as they are intelligent. “Before they go into domestic service they have to go through a twoweeks’ course of training, I take them into my own home and show them their duties. I have every practicable labor-saving device, and a well-planned model kitchen, so the girl leaww her

work in the most favorable circumstances, and discovers how easy it can be. “The home assistant (she continued) works eight hours a day if she is a whole-time worker, four if she is a half-timer. The whole-timer gets £l5 a month, but she provides her own food and lodging, so that while it seems a high wage, the saving in food must be deducted. “Both mistressj and maid sign a contract agreeing as to hours and the use of labor-saving devices. They may mutually accommodate each other in such matters as staying overtime one day and having time off another day, but overtime not especially arranged for must be paid extra. “Our idea is that the domestic service worker shall be as well paid as the shop assistant, and have the same amount of time to herself, and it seems as if we had solved the problem of how to get girls to go into service. There were several girls in training at the headquarters, very attractive, intelligent-looking girls. Some of them were girls who have come to New York to take various courses of study, and to help out their living expense they are willing to do four hours’ housework each day. The hours of Work are generally from nine to six, with an hour off for lunch, but, of course, this is arranged to suit the convenience of employer and worker. A woman who wants dinner cooked and served will have a halftime assistant for four hours at night, so that she can have dinner guests. Or the assistant will come in time for breakfast, stay till after lunch, and then another assistant will come at two or three for the afternoon and night work.

BEAUTY SLEEP. SOME IMPORTANT POINTS. Many women do not realise what a tremendous factor sleep is, not only in preserving but in cultivating beauty. The old idea that beauty sleep was sleep gained before midnight is an exploded theory—what time is devoted to sleep matters not at all so long as sufficient hours are taken consecutively, for the things that make for beautifying during that time have nothing whatever to do with whether that sleep is taken before midnight or at early dawn. To be really restful, sleep must always be taken in a well-darkened room, for nothing is more injurious to the eyes than to wake in a bright light, and the woman who wishes to preserve the perfect contour of her face and keep her back straight and supple will sleep with as few pillows as possible.

It is a curious, but well authenticated fact that on every woman’s face one side is more wrinkled than the other, and in every case the wrinkled side is the one upon -which she usually sleeps. The Japanese women, who are remarkable for their smooth, unlined faces, sleep with a wooden pillow, scooped out in the centre where the head rests, and beauty culturists attribute the fact that they seldom have wrinkles to this practice, which not only x prevents wrinkles, but also a double chin from making an unwelcome appearance.

Now, although such a method would be far too spartan for the modern woman, a very efficient substitute can be found by establishing the habit of sleeping on the back with a very low and not /too soft pillow. To those who are accustomed to “curl up” when they sleep this habit will be a little difficult to cultivate at first, but the benefit gained will be well worth the effort.

If your night’s rest is to be of real benefit as a beautifier you must learn to relax both mentally and physically before you sleep. Stretch the limbs and let every muscle relax 1 , for only by doing this can complete rest be obtained for them. Try to make the mind, as far as possible, a complete blank, or at least banish all worrying thoughts. The woman who carries her worries to bed is laying the foundation for more and deeper wrinkles than she would ever gam by day. —Daily News. THE HOME COOK. RICH RABBIT PIE. Cut up and bone a young rabbit, put it into a stewpan with a few herbs; •pepper and salt. First cover with water and simmer to half a pint, put a puff paste round the edge of a piedish, put into it the rabbit, some slices of bacon or ham, two hard-boil-ed eggs cut into slices, and some forcemeat balls. Season the whole with pepper and salt, and a little pounded mace, pour in a cupful of water or stock, cover the top with a good puff paste. Make a hole with a knife in the top and bake it in a hot oven, taking care not to let it get too brown. POTATO PIE. Take l‘/ 2 lb of leg of mutton slices, five or six potatoes, two eggs, and a little milk. Boil the potatoes, mash, and rub through a colander, then mix with them 2 well-beaten eggs and enough milk to make a thick batter. Lay the steaks or cutlets, well seasoned with pepper and salt, in a dish with alternate layers of the potato batter, the batter being also placed on the top. Put into a moderate oven and bake a nice brown. CURRANT DUMPLINGS. Half a pound of currants, or raisins, if preferred, (Jos. finely chopped suet or beef dripping, 2 small teaspoons powdered ginger, 2 eggs, I pint milk, i/olb. S.R. flour. Mix all thoroughly together, then add the milk and eggs, and shape with balls and boil in a large saucepan of holing water, or boil in the shape of a lobster in a wellfloured cloth. In this form it will take one hour and a half; in balls, about 40 minutes. Serve with a sweet sauce. BOILED FRUIT PUDDINGS. Line a basin with a nice pastry, then fill it with well flavored apples cut in quarters and sweetened. Tie over a cloth and boil some hours, according to the size of the pudding, three, hours for a medium size. Peaches or plums make a very nice pudding. The pastry should be made with S.R. flour, | cup butter or beef dripping to 1 cup flour, a little sugar, a pinch of salt. Serve with cream. APPLE CUSTARD. Take 2 well-■beaten eggs, £ cup sugar and grated rind of 1 lemon, add 2 cups milk, 2 gups sliced apples. Mix .well

and set in a dish of hot water, in ft quick oven. Cook until the custard is firm and serve with whipped cream or a meringue on top. AMBER PUDDING. Three eggs, their weight in sugar, butter and flour, juice of two lemons, grated rind of one. Beat the butter to a cream, then add the sugar and flour, the eggs beaten in by degrees, then the lemon juice and grated rind. Butter mould well, pour in the mixture, and boil quickly for three hours. RESTFUL ROOMS. An eminent art critic and philosopher remarked recently that beauty in dress and beauty in the home lead to improved health. To look at beautiful things is to be made happy, and to be happy, is to be made well. Take, for example, the case of a woman suffering from nerve strain. Her ideal setting would clearly be a room that, in its every aspect, suggested peace. Grey and all shades of grape color—soothing, quiet tones with something of twilight and <t k>ng shadows on the grass” about them —would be the suitable colors. Furniture shbuld be plain. Dark lacquer or, better still, hand-polished mahogany, reminiscent of cool lakes on autumn evenings, are the correct choice, care being taken to avoid fussiness in color, shape, or ornament. Too much pattern is obviously baneful, so all hangings would be plain, or at most only dimly covered with designs that neither catch the attention nor irritate the consciousness. There should be no over-crowding, no too brilliant surfaees, no frieze or dado to carry the eye wearily upward, no excess of smalt ornaments. A divan covered with cushions would do best in place o<f a sofa, and a few low, wellupholstered armchairs. Vases should be simple in outline and satisfying in color, a luminous white Chinese bowl, for instance, or a rich sang de beef. All the light must, of necessity, come from standard lamps, low again, and carefully shaded. The pictures would be of paramount importance, for these must all be illustrative of repose, never of movement. Rembrandt’s “Mill” is typical of what is meant, with its sunset skies and subdued golds and bronzes. A stilllife might also look well —one of those Flemish flower-nieces that time has treated so kindly, keeping their colors in a measure at once pleasant and exhilarating. Other color schemes could be selected, provided they conformed to the essentia] principal peace and quiet. DURABLE MENDING. It is a good plan, when darning socks, stockings, vests, etc.—in fact, anything of stockinette texture —to put a backing of net and draw the hole neatly into shape upon that elastic foundation, before starting with the actual darning. It not only obviates the possibility of a loosely-worked< hole, but adds quite appreciably to the life of the article.

The best parts of old black veils come in very usefully for thin black stockings if they have plain mesh, without chenille or hard spots. For underwear, mosquito netting is wonderfully strong for masculine garments, and a finer Brussels net is ideal even for the daintiest of feminine lingerie. In applying the foundation patch there is. no need to turn in the edges—they would only cause an unnecessary ridge; and the plain edge can easily be stitched on around the hole, leaving a good half-inch of the net beyond to prevent fraying. If you want your mend to be beauti•fully done, you should first slightly buttonhole or blanket-stitch the edge of the hole to the net with ordinary sewing silk; but be very careful not to draw the stitches too tightly. Another way to add to the life of stocking heels is to darn them lightly up and down before they are taken in weai - at all. Youthful knees would be all the better held in restraint by a patch of black net neatly applied on the wrong side while quite new, thus reducing the strain upon the stocking in its earliest stage. FAULTS IN DIET. “Modern children get far too much f« «><i between meals, and often they are given far too much chocolate.” So said the superintendent of the Middlesex English Infant Clinic in London to an English newspaper representative. “A little milk chocolate is very good for a child,” she continued, “but I don't think it ought to be given him until he is two years old.

“The children we have here all suffer from having too much chocolate, sugar, biscuits, bread, and potatoes. The mothers like chocolate and candy, and so give it to the children. These sweets, as well as the biscuits that are given between meals, spoil the children’s normal appetite and interfere with the food supply they ought to be taking. Modern children, as a rule, have too many ‘snack’ meals; their diet is not sufficiently varied, and they do not get enough water to drink. “Fruit in moderation Should be given children after they are a year old. Raw apples are specially good when they are cutting their teeth. Bananas, that excellent fruit, which contains no harmful pips or seeds, are rather neglected in children’s diets. Oranges have always been advised, and now, after some years of disapproval, some medical men are advising tomatoes for children —tomatoes, however, without the seeds.” CLEANING LIGHT FURS. A light fur should be cleaned by placing it on a table, preferably out of doors, and sprinkling it well with calcined magnesia. This should be gently ■nibbed into the fur with a soft handkerchief or piece of white flannel. When clean, the fur should be shaken and rubbed with a dry, soft cloth, and then put away, if no longer required for immediate use, in tissue paper. Some women clean their light furs by sprinkling them with magnesia, putting them in a bag (a pillow-case answers the purpose for a stole or muff), and shaking them about well; but the rubbing, though more tedious, is the better plan. Ermine, white fox, squirrel, or any light fur, can be cleaned in the way suggested. AVhen the magnesia becomes soiled, a frosh supply • must be used, and the fur should be beaten on the wrong side to dislodge the powder thoroughly if it uppers to adhere. Warm flour is also successfully used for cleaning white furs, and bran warmed in the oven is excellent for darker furs.