Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 February 1892 — DRESS AND HAPPINESS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

DRESS AND HAPPINESS.

THEY ABE BOTH INTIMATELY CONNECTED. A Discussion of the Dress of Woman as Wife—How Young Married Women and Older Married Women Kuril Make Mistakes—Handsome Velvet Wrapper—Reception Dress, Etc. Timely Advice to Ladles.

XE swallow will not make a summer, nor will one smile make a happy home. Happiness is only to be had in tills world by wrestling i F or it in the way )acob wrestled with [die angel until he got a blessing from the celestial messenger. Drd ss. though you may riot think so, is very intimately connected with human happi-

ness, and if home bo woman’s empire, then is it the more necessary that its empress should at all times he as neatly and tastefully clad os her purse will permit. Young married women make really a terrible mistake by taking the position that now that the honeymoon is over there is no necessity for that scrupulous attention to dress, and the older married women commit an equally dangerous error by not continuing the old-time neatness and exquisite tidiness which was once so pleasing to their yoke-fellows. I therefore propose in this article, writes our New York correspondent, to discuss the dress of woman us a wife, as man’s constant companion, or even as Petruchio calls her: “My goods, my chattels, my house and my household stuff.” At any rate, call her by any name you choose, the unwritten law of the world puts her in the man’s house not merely as Petruchio terms it as “household stuff,” but. as an ornament, a gracious figure, a being full of sympathy and comfort and counsel. The sagacious woman above all things knows that man wants tho world to think well of liis wife. As a rule, the well-dressed woman has no greater admirer than her husband. Hence should she ho, of all things in the world, most careful of her appearance as the priestess of the home sanctum. This is her way of showing that she appreciates his admiration. Most women look well in what are termed wrappers, deshabilles, and loose house gowns. In my first illustration I present for your thoughtful attention, maids as well as wives—for there never was a woman who had not at some time in her life an intent to marry—a charming loose houso gown made up in garnet velvet with coral dots. The fronts are double, tlio outer ones in velvet hanging loose, and having no gores; while the sides and back are fitted to the figure so as to make the train hang well. The Watteau

fold starts from the neck. It is made of a breadth of the stuff taken straight and let into the center seam at the back, which for this purpose must be opened for an inch or so below the waist line. The side breadths must be cut bias. The two back pieces should bo cut bias and be left as long as desired. The under fronts have a flaring collar which is also lined with the velvet. The surah front is sewed on one side to the lining, buttoned in the middle, and hooked on the other side. The passementerie girdle, coral and garnet, is also sewed on one side and hooked on the other. The straight collar has a chemisette sewed to the lining of the garment and closing at the back. The sleeves are double, those of velvet being cut straight, split up and lined with the coral surah. The undersleeves ' are puffed, and have a frill falling over the hand. Both sleeves are sewed at the same time in the armhole seam. The entire robe is lined with white satinette or thin silk, which must have two flounces with machinesealloped edges. Another lovely loose house gown will be found in my second illustration, of an entirely different style and possibly more likely to call forth a fuller chorus of plaudits than the velvet wrapper, in that it is younger. It is strange what an instinctive dread of old age there is in a woman’s nature. It is partly the men’s fault, however, for there is no reason in the world why the middle-aged

woman should be pushed aside. True, some wine sours, instead of becoming mellow, and oftentimes it Is not the fault of the wine itself, but of the atmosphere to which it was exposed. Well, to return to this exquisite garment, which at a glance appeals to your love of graceful drapery, I may say in a word that the material is a crepe do chene of hydrangea tone, made up with an embroidered front of old white watered silk, having a few folds at the side hidden by the sash belt of blue velvet. This ribbon passes through an opening

and is fastened at the back under the collarette. The Watteau pleat is gathered at the neck and hides the opening of the gown. The sash is tied at the front, its long ends falling as indicated. The broad collar is of cream lace and runs into the crepe do chine jabot garnituring the fronts. The neck is cut out as shown and trimmed with a ruflle of white silk muslin scalloped. The sleeves are of crepe de chine, having three folds on the inner side, and are set off with a deep lace ruflle which falls in jabot stylo when the arm is lowered. A great mistake made by the young wife is that all tine feathers must be kept for public show, that anything is good enough for home wear, where as a rule you only meet your intimate friends. “They know that I have better dresses, if I only choose to wear them,” you will say; but let me ask this ingenious economist how sho thinks a shabbily dressed woman looks amid elegant or even ordinarily flue surroundings. Poor enough, I assure you; quite out of plaqe—in fact, a most disagreeable discord. “Keep thy house and thy house will keep thee," says an old proverb. Upon tills wise saw I would embroider a more modern motive —viz., respect thy house and others will respect it. I grant vou that a guest must needs lind something more than tine clothes in order to feel at h >n;o. A satin gown w Ith Pompadour figures of itself might furnish forth a very cold welcome, even admitting that it was garniturod with the warmest smiles. Men love good cheer, and good

cheer iB never more enjoyable than when presided oyer by a pretty woman appropriately gowned. in my third illustration you will see an exquisite little house dress, so graceful and becoming that it would almost have the effect of a liberal education on your husband, with particular stress on the word liberal. It'may be made up in many ways and with many combinations of tone and texture, but one very pretty way would be to select a ehevroned woolen displaying a harmony of lightgreen, cream, und black. The dress should bo cut umbrella style, by which I mean in narrow breadths and very bias at the top, so that the stripes of the material may join more and more at a point. You finish the bottom of the skirt with a black velvet ribbon about an inch and a half wide. The coreog •is of the same material, only the upper portion is covered with a gray silk muslin blouse-fashion, and falling a little over the corselet, which is made up of Byzantine gold material. It must be boned and made over a strong foundation and finished top ami bottom w'ith biuok velvet ribbon. On the lower side this ribbon is tied at the back and falls in long ends. The skirt is made deml-train and has very few pleats at the back. The cutout is gathered and there Is a narrow ribbon sewed under the head of the gathers and tied in front. There are double sleeves, the under one of the woolen material covered with puffed silk muslin. The puffed portion must bo cut straight and bo gathered top and bottom. The cuffs are of the same material as the corselet and have the same finish. A very useful garment for the privacy of the boudoir may be made up in plain or stamped flannels with lace garniture at the throat ami wrists. You will get an idea of what I mean by glancing at my last Illustration. As a rule, however, such negliges are hardly permissible in dining or living rooms, although with a little thought and moderate expenditure they may be made to assume quite a dressy and coquettish look. It all depends upon the wearer. It will be

remembered that when tho messengers arrived to inform the Princess Victoria that she was Queen of England, that lady, then not much more than a girl in hor teens, had not yet risen, but springing oat,of bed and snatching up the first neglige that presented itself, she met the dignified ministers with such a charming grace and composure that they never once thought of her inappropriate toilet.

As the great majority of homes fall within the category of modest ones, it behooves the lady of the manse to exercise economy with regard to dress, and make the hard-earned dollar go as'fur as possible. In view of this fact, I recommend to your notice the sleeveless velvet casaque which you may wear over any dress and thus often impart to it a look of newness and tidiness. Black probably would be more likely to go with the largest number of dresses, but there are neutral tones which harmonize with almost everything. These casaques are at present very modish, and, in addition to the fact that they are easily made and quite inexpensive, they are as a rule very becoming. If you wish to attain a little mere brilliant effect you may trim with fur and fit a plastron to your gown. It is at times quite astonishing how one of these sleeveless casaques will furbish up a ldst year’s dress and give the stamp of novelty. Skirts keep stubbornly to their plainness, but then it is a pla'nuess that calls for infinite skill to attain the right hang, fitting glovelike around waist and hips, and then, with an exquisite gradation, spreading out into a fullness that allows perfect freedom of movement. To think that it should ever come to this—to be told that a well-fit-ting skirt is more difficult to make than a well-fitting waist. A Milwaukee Arm deals in bicycles and pure maple sirup, two things that certainly ought to go fast.

VELVET WRAPPER.

CREPE DE CHINE HOUSE ROBE.

RECEPTION DRESS.

FLANNEL NEGLIGE.