Evening star., 1925-06-04
Handkerchief Size Fixed by Royalty
BY LYDIA LIE BARON WALKER.

be interesting to know for our own
sakes as we'll as for those who are
to receive hand!lerchiefs as gifts
from us that il was that daintiest of
mortals, Marie Antoinette of the
french court, to whom we owe in the
main our most prevalent style of
handkerchief today. She it was who
asked Louis VI to have the shape of
ha andkerchiefs standardized as squares.
Hitherto they had been of whatever
shape and proportions fancy dictated,
ard might have so continued had not
he King of France issued an edict
that the length of handkerchiefs
,hall equal their breadth throughout
he kingdom" Then the riot of color
began, and if variety could not be OBJ
aimed in shape, at least it would be in
hue. and 1t was not unknown for
Frenchwomen to carry handkerchiefs
to match their moods and sometimes,
Incidentally their garterS. Blue was
supposed to signify that the one who
carried the handkerchief was in love,
and lavender that she was depressed.
Squares Still Prevail.
Now. although variety has stretched
To both color and shape. the influence
of that French edict of 1885 Is still
felt in that the majority of handker-
cHleIS are square, anu Il uepdi tua (
from this shape marks novelty.
Hound handkerchiefs, some with bor-
derS of net, are not now uncommon
for evening use, although the tri-
angle is rare indeed. To those of us
most accustomed to the unadorned
ha andkerchief it is interesting to know
that so many other varieties have
been originated that in Paris there
Is a shop devoting its entire attention
to 'muchoirs," as they are called in
France.
NIuchoirs Artistic Gifts.
Today the handkerchief Is coming
into its ancient prestige as gift
worthy of the wellto-do and artistic
giver, and so far is it now set from
the commonplace that such quaint
beings as handkerchief dolls have
come into existence as being
worthy conveyorS of the handkerchief
gift A handkerchief forms the skirt.
another the shawl drawn tightly
around the shoulders, third is
headdress and a fourth muff. The
body" of the doll may be nothing but
cone-shaped piece of cardboard. The
face. set in the top. may be tiny
dolls head, or one made of stuffed
cloth onto which a face is painted
and to which wool hair is attached.
1t may even be in the style of a rag
doll with button eyes, nose and mouth.
Another style is that already men
toned as the handkerchief corsage.
One handkerchief deftly folded like
length of ribbon makes rose that
seems to have many petals. The
handkerchief is folded to make a
somewhat narrow strip and then
wound to form the rose. One of these
roses with a green handkerchief fold
ed so that four ends simulate leaves
provides foliage" and the rosebud
so encircled is placed in a lace paper
holder. A pencil or skewer should
form a stem to which the rose and
the petals are deity fastened with
string. The stick and string are COM
pletely concealed by the holder and
by metal paper wound about the
stems" in true corsaGe bouquet
style. If you do not have the holders
(Which can be bought for few pen.
MES each) you can thrust the skewer
or pencil through lace paper dolly.
Instead of the metal paper dn case
may be wound with ribbon tied in a
bow with Streamer ends.
The size of the muchoir corsage de-
pends upon the number of roses 1t
contains. One makes a very small
uosegay, while three handkerchiefs
relied into roses with the foliage"
make a corsage that is sufficiently
large for the style. Could anything
be daintier as gift for girl
graduate?