Democratic Sentinel, Volume 12, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 July 1888 — FOR THE LADIES. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FOR THE LADIES.

A Budget of Breezy Gossip Relating Exclusively to the Fair Sex. —a* Accompanied bj Some Sotes on the Ever Changing Styles in Feminine Attire. [SPECIAL NEW YORK CORRESPONDENCE.] She was a buttermilk-maid at a garden party for sweet charity’s sake. She was an idealization of the rural original. There was no tan on her face, nor a fleck of barnyard dust on her toilet. She sold buttermilk at ten cents a glass as fast as she could use a ladle with her gloved hands. A few soft words and a roguish glance went with each glass without extra charge. On her head was a hat of a shape that a real milkmaid might have worn, only in this instance the leghorn material had cost five or six dollars, and a bunch of fine white ostrich plumes added as much more to the toilet. The kerchief which was brought around her shoulders and crossed over her breast suggested country simplicity, if the observer was not expert enough to know that the lace-edged article w r as worth fifty dollars at a moderate valuation. The gloves were of the daintiest silk, and she was spoiling them in doing that one afternoon’s duty with buttermilk. They were light violet in color and in perfume. It is a whim of the season to scent such gloves with the appropriate odor. The apron had been made for the occasion, of the same material as the kerchief, and, like the gloves, was being ruined by spatters of buttermilk. I reckoned that the service she was performing would cost her about fifteen dollars in perishable material, and, considering that fact, who shall say that the beverage she dispensed »was dear at a dime a glass, notwithstanding the same fluid can be bought in the streets for three cents ? Wash goods that can’t be washed are a feature of the season, especially in toilets to be worn at the summer resorts. The wealthy belle aims at a sort of simplicity that cannot be cheap. Her lawn gown for the lawn may be made of a figured fabxic quite within

the reach of a shop girl, but she trims it so daintily and expensively with lace that the aggregate value makes it exclusive to the richly endowed belles. Moreover, the embellishments are of such a texture that they would be ruined by the wash-tub, and so the comparatively cheap lawn is worn only until soiled, and then thrown away, while the owner thinks she is making a concession to economy by having the lace transferred to another dress of tha same kind. A beach promenader is apt to carry a muslin parasol, and this may be trimmed with crepe lisse in overlying sections, producing a soft and feathery effect. Makers of parasols have taxed their ingenuity to produce novelties, and these usually take the form of embroidered muslin, white being the popular color. It is a unique fashion for the present summer to have a set of covers for parasols made detachable, and to match the various toilets with which the sunshade is to be carried. The form has an elaborate handle, either of modeled silver or gold, or carved ivory or shell, and these exquisitely and artistically embellished handles cost almost any price that anybody feels like paying, for they are sometimes set with jewels, besides representing a great deal of skilled handiwork. A handsome handle and form, with a set of twelve assorted covers, may easily cost one hundred dollars, although half that sum will buy a tolerable outfit. If the belle desires to be further extravagant, she may have as many handles as covers, and prove that they are inseparable by painting the former in enamel of colors and designs to match the latter. It is not often that the useful is combined with the ornamental where dress novelties are concerned, but I have just seen some new parasol handles which really do serve a purpose other than providing their owners with a formidable weapon. The

knobs at the ends of these new sunshades are in the form of muzzled dogs' heads of various breeds, and upon touching a conveniently placed spring the muzzle opens and discloses a safe receptacle for any small article, such as a railway ticket, a tiny scent bottle, or even a few stray silver coins and unwieldy coppers. “Only a woman’s hair” has been the subject of many a tender poem, and Pope himself tells us that “beauty draws us with a single hair.” The Japanese have improved upon the little lame man of Twitham. They are making ropes of women’s hair—a ton of

this material having been used in building a Buddhist temple at Kioto. If they had left it on the heads of pretty women and induced them to go to this temple they would have found them a greater attraction than the whole ton of ropes, without the women, could ever be. A radical change in an accepted style of coiffure is always a matter of slow growth, but there is at last a chance of the fringe going out of fashion. The number of ladies who turn their hair up from the forehead is daily increasing. The hair in front is arranged in rolls, waved or slightly curled, and the back is either plaited or turned up to meet the front part. This innovation of bare foreheads is all well enough for women with low or only moderately high brows, but the real intellectual forehead is unfeminine,no matter what may be said of it as indicative of brain inside. If the hair grows evenly and rather low, and especially if it have a natural kinkiness, it can be becomingly brushed back; but seventy in a hundred women cannot afford to take away a shading of hair from above their faces, and so the majority of us will struggle for another summer to keep our bangs crimped in spite of the straightening humidity of seashore atmosphere. Millinery grows to great dimensions under the summer sun, and hats which would be outlandish in the cities are reasonably picturesque in the country. Still, it will be seen that there is more of ornate shapeliness than usual, mere expansiveness of brim being less a feature than hitherto. I had a talk with an artist to-day about big hats. Said he: “It is a mistake to condemn them, if they be worn with artistic taste. The fundamental rule to be kept in mind in wearing a very big hat is to make that article appear as something separate from the individual. What I mean is, that when hat, hair, veil, etc., form one mingled mass, that makes the girl seem to have an enorbulk of head, and a veritable monster is produced. But if such a hat rests on a symmetrical and simple head, it looks like a separate affair and is usually becoming.” Another thing that he said was: “Why don’t you publish a good sound doctrine about the wearing of veils in summer ? Belles desirous of protecting their complexion, from tan and freckles, or aiming to conceal imperfections of that sort, often hang a veil from hair to chin. Now, that may be well enough, so far as enhancing the beauty of complexion is concerned, but the trouble is that it hides the eyes, and thus robs a face of much expression. What do I propose? Why, I would have you wear your veils harem fashion, coming up to the eyes but not

covering them. There never was a pair of unpresentable eyes, unless marred by accident or natural defect, and so why cover them ? Let any girl try the experiment of a veil worn Turkish fashion and see if she doesn’t multiply her powers of attraction.”—Chicago Ledger. .< Alpaca is much worn again.

A BUTTERMILKMAID.

LAWN FOR THE LAWN.

A BEACH PROMENADER.