LITTLE THINGS BUT...

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20954, 6 November 1939, Page 3

LITTLE THINGS BUT...

MEN’S PET DISLIKES Small things annoy men out of all proportion. They hate a hair out of place—on a dress, in the washbowl, left sticking to a comb or brush. They can’t understand why an otherwise fastidious woman will carry a cluttered, messy handbag. And masculine eyes wince at finger nails disfigured by a paint job that is chipped and outworn: “Why doesn’t she take it off altogether, or keep her polish perfect?” they say—and you can’t blame them. The pet hate of a surprising number of men is the way girls will keep fumbling with their foundations. We all know the girl who tugs her corset firmly back into place on rising from a chair. (Why, oh why will girls not buy foundations that are long enough to come well down and stay down?) Then there are the girls who go hunting for wayward shoulder straps, inefficient hose supports, and bones that dig in at the waist. Unlovely gestures, all of them, and so unnecessary if foundations are properly fitted in the first place, and kept in good order. There’s no excuse any more for shoulder straps going a-roving because with the new adjustable principle, they can be lengthened or shortened as required by a tiny buckle that slides up and down. Suspenders, too, have come in for their share of improvement. The latest idea is a perfectly flat little grip that can’t come undone, break apart, or obtrude in any way. The proper time to make sure that bones are comfortably placed, is when the garment is being fitted. And that applies also to shoulder straps, suspenders, and any other details that cause those de-glamorising gestures already referred to.