There afe about 2300 "Wrens" already enlisted, and no more can be taken for the moment. The Portsmouth naval depot has 900 of them, with 60 to 70 women officers in charge of them. The work they take over from the regular naval ratings is varied. Some are secretarial, some are in motor transport, and some are cooks. The youngest girls start as and some learn that in the Navy any message is a signal, even if it is not sent by officers.
Storekeeping is another of the sections taken over by "Wrens," and it is odd to think of women dealing with the issue of anchors and cables, bales of rope, and other stores sacred to the boatswain.
The women officers at the Royal Naval College are widely diversified in type. Two at least of those I saw yesterday served in the ranks of the W.RANS. in the last war, and one had a double row of medal ribbons, including a Russian decoration for service with an ambulance unit or the Warsaw front in 1914. She is today a first officer, responsible for the whole of the "Wren" detachment at one of our largest naval depots. belt.
Trousers have come in again for other occasions than merely air-raiding. These may be of black jersey, black satin, dark flannel. With them often goes an elaborate top of lace. Huge lace sleeves go with a lace blouse with a frill round the neck and down the two sides of the front. Sometimes net and lace' alternate stiffly on blouse fronts to give them a military look. Black satin loose blouses, worn with black jersey trousers, sometimes have pinkish lace inset in a sort of shirt front. There are high collars finished becomingly with a stock. They only need knee-breeches, instead of trousers, to suggest M. Beaucaire.
Lace comes in for day dresses as well as for the evening. Afternoon frocks are fitted with becoming little aprons edged with lace. This gives the hitched-up line which appears so often in dresses now, and it does it without interfering' with the skirt item. Some short afternoon dresses are made entirely of lace, with perhaps a lace apron in front and two or three tiers of lace in a waterfall down the back. The bustle is suggested by this. Lace calls for velvet, and a black. silk jersey afternoon frock with lace sleeves was linked up to the latter with black velvet bows, lending width to the shoulders.
Lace also serves for little touches. Bags are made of it. So are gloves. There are lace derivatives, Schiapacelli has long, slim dresses the necks of which have an edging of or are filled in by guipure, made specially for it by hand. Gloves are worn with this, also of the guipure. Finally lace is worn on hats or as little three-cornered hoods. On hats it usually drops in a waterfall at the back. Hoods are put on cloaks &nd coats for evenings and they may be made of lace.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.