This Week it's Books By PAT JONES
ST. ROSE Of. LIMA wore a Dominican habit, though she was only a tertiary, and lived in the world, as far as such an angelic creature could be said to be living in the world.
Other women saints who were tertiaries also wore the full religious regalia, and one biographer observed that this was perhaps a much better way of dressing for some people living in the world than a tendency to wear the fashions of yesterday, thus demonstrating one's rejections of all things worldly, and looking a positive sight into the bargain.
Eccentric?
/THERE is a lot to be said for 1 the system of Rose and Co. It
would not work today because of the wide divergence between the clothing of religious and the clothing of the laymen, a divergence which will continue as long as
monks wear long habits and hoods and city men wear bowler hats.
The contrast between a nun's dainty wimple and the clothes worn by the modern miss are appallingly obvious.
Thus one reaches the situation where ladies witli great devotion to Mother Church and her liturgy, rejevting modern fashion for the money wasting merry-go-round it is, take to the clothes of yesterday, hang on and on to them (holy poverty and all that) and quite by accident, give other people the impression that piety and a slight eccentricity go together. .
Extremes
pOING from one extreme to the
other is a most entertaining book published by World's Work, called "The Art of Being a Well Dressed Wife" (12s. 6d.). i read it in double quick time, for it is written in Ann Fogarty's racy style which tempts you on from page to page.
Frankly, it frightened me, could find little quarrel with the beginning, which said "WifeDressing is an art, a science, a labour of love, a means of selfexpression, and above all, a contributing factor to a happy marriage."
Her plea to wives to dress with more dignity, leaving the loud and short play clothes to the teenage gangs, seemed sensible enough, but after the book was closed. only two facts.remained in my mind
Try this for your next picnic: Prepare a biscuit dough as follows: 6 oz plain flour, pinch of salt, 1 teaspoonful rice flour, 3 ozs. butler, egg yolk.
Sieve flour, salt and rice flour into a bowl and rub fat in. Mix a small egg yolk with a teaspoonful cold water and stir into dry ingredients, using only sufficient to make a dough that can be handled.
For the filling of the Bacon Pizza you will need R-10 rashers of best streaky bacon. Lay these on the grill pan and either grill or bake in the oven until they golden brown and crisp. Pan fry onions and green pepper in bacon dripping or a little oil until golden brown. Add tomato paste, a teaspoonful of sugar, and two teaspoonfuls of chopped basil or lemon thyme. Crumble or chop Four bacon rashers and mix in with these ingredients.
Roll out and pat the dough into the pizza pan (a shallow cake tin is ideal) and spread the mixture evenly on it. Cut triangles of sliced cheese and lay these on top of the mixture, covering each with half a rasher of bacon. Garnish with three black olives and bake immediately at 400 F for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot or cold.
that the author wouldn't go abroad if she could only take the three pairs of shoes the travel bureaux advise—she took twenty pairs of shoes, and on another trip, eighteen crinoline petticoats.
Is it right?
HER advice on clothes for air travel is very useful, but on thc whole, this book will entertain many women, who, on closing it will be no more well dressed than they would be beautiful after reading a book on beauty.
The trouble is that women with the capacity for self-discipline
needed to carry out the instructions of these experts will be putting it into effect already and the rest of us—we will never reform anyway.
This American book left me with one thought. Is it right in this day and age to spend the enormous amount of time, energy, and money on dressing up the dust as we see portrayed in this book?
Ann Fogarty is excused—she is a dress designer—but if we take her advice, heaven help us. All those not in castles will have to move into one for extra wardrobe space.
Stitchery
I N my dream system of educe lion, in which cost is of not the slightest consideration. a new forty-five shilling production would be a standard text book for the needlework class. It is "Let's Embroider" by Heidi Haupt-Battaglia, and presumably the best I can hope for is that it becomes a prize for those who have shown the most aptitude. it was first published in Switzerland, and is now published by Hatsford, that fine firm of publishers whose books are always a joy to handle.
The diagrams of stitches, actually photographs, are clear and easily understood, as is the whole book, both in its instructions and in its examples of the finished article.
Incidentally, embroidery is making a big come-back on clothes, especially dresses, including the teenage ones. The ability to embroider down the centre of her own frock might save the fashion conscious teenager a couple of guineas.
Saleswoman
TEAN BEHIND THE COUNsj TER, by Nancy Martin, (Macmillan, 9s. 6d.) will justify its existence as a novel for young girls, quite apart from its real purpose—to give the reader an idea of the circumstances, opportunities, and hazards, of a career as a saleswoman, either in the big store where Jean trains, or in the smaller shops.
It will come as a surprise to
Snug as a bug in a rug . . . . this little baby is due to grow fast, so his sleeping bag. in brushed AeriIan, can later be converted into a cuddlesorne dressing gown, simply by unbuttoning the bottom. The sleeping bag has a detachable. tie-in, spongeable sheet, and elasticated cuffs. It Is made by Harringtons, and sells at 58/9d. "Immacula" is wool's answer to the other fabrics which seemed to be having it all their own way where pleating was concerned. The Immacula durable crease finish, which keeps the pleats knife sharp, will soon be in the shops in this skirt and middy jacket by Sally Pigtails (s), designed for the 12-15 year olds in worsted Gordon tartan.
some parents to know that there are such things as Junior and National Certificates to be gained in this type of career, entailing further studies—in fact there is more to the job than meets the eye.
'Get 'em young
McDOUGALL'S (who seem to have a "get 'cm young" policy) have published a booklet, with colourful illustrations, called "Learning to Cook." It is all about cakes, and icing, and sponges, and even the book mark is put to good use with pictures of the basic utensils printed on one side, and the supplementary utensils printed on the other. Although it is for the young, it might improve the cooking of quite a few adults !
Peas and moths
"IATHICH", the magazine of the VW Consumer Association. has published its 21st issue. Many happy returns!
The June number sorts out the, problem of frozen, garden, and processed peas (with a comparison to fresh ones) and the results are very interesting indeed.
If you have trouble with moths (I am still burning with indignation against the family which chewed up my jersey dress) this is also the issue for you, as it contains a report on mothproofers, and moth repellents.
Just in time for summer it prints the weather records of the holiday resorts. Margate should stand by for an invasion of visitors if the report is widely circulated. Other items studied arc binoculars, and paper handkerchiefs.