Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 February 1892 — FADS OF DAME FASHION [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FADS OF DAME FASHION

BEAUTIFUL TOILETS OF CAY DANCERS. A Dainty Combination of Striped Faille— While Surah with Cream Feathers—FurTrimmed White Satin—Creped China BaU Gown—Other Late Styles. Our New York Letter.

AS the Good Book saith, “Out of the fullness of the heart the mouth speaketh. ” And now that the Lenten season is drawing nigh and —~the pleasure seekers are makingxvhat 31 believe the runners call a spurt—that is, In this case, a sort of mad haste to get in all the dancing before the season closes —my ears are I daily crammed with * gossip of the dan-

cers and tales of their beautiful toilets, for I must remind you that the lady of fashion holds back some of her more ravishing gowns until the close of the season. She wants to expire in befitting glory; she aims to leave such a void that the world of gayety will not forget her by the time another season rolls around, says our New York correspondent. In the fashionable world, as in the financial or business world, a leader cars only muintain her supremacy by constant effort, by untiring . devotion to the art of pleasing, by making friends and gathering In admirers; in a word, by achieving and preserving popularity. Life is short and pleasure is fleeting, so I hasten to your rescue, O worshipper of modes, with counsel and, advice, for it is a pretty difficult task to dance and think at one and the same time. As a young friend of mine said to her mother, “Mamma, Nature has been very kind to me; now you do your share.” In my initial Illustration I set before you a dainty combination of striped faille with white lace, the lace being most tastefully applied both on the corsage and skirt, and the gown having absolutely no other garniture. A safe canon in the art of dress ornament is: Not too much, but of the best, for quantity in this case only serves to accentuate lack of quality. A lady famous for her good taste in matters of dress was one evening asked to admire the lace on a certain hull dress. She replied that sho could not, as there was too much for admiration and too little fi r astonishment. I have noticed this season quite a number of debutantes left over from

last year, by which I mean girls of 22 nnd 23, who would fain pass for 19. They don’t dare assume the dangerous simplicity of the genuine debutante, so their gowns often perplex you quite as much as their faces. In my second illustration I set before you one of these gowns, a charming ligured silk, white and cream, made up very simply, and very daintily set off by feather tips on the shoulder and in the hair, which is banded with white satin ribbon; feather fan to match. I overheard a dancing man asking a witty society woman if she knew the young lady’s age. “I used to think I did,” was the reply, “but she has grown out of my recollection."

A famous designer of gowns was once mistaken for a poet. “Poet!” he sneered, “poets only stir the intellects, I reach imaginations.” And when I gaze upon such an exquisite gown as the one pictured in my third illustration, I’m half inclined to think the creator of modes was right. Here you have an altogether lovely ball dress, a delicate pink satin garnitured with silk muslin. The corsage is round and lias a ceinture of darkgreen velvet. The white surah underskirt is draped with muslin, panel style, and caught up at the bottom, as shown, with rosettes from which extend velvet ribbons reaching to the waist. The bottom of the surah skirt has a ruffle of tho white silk muslin. The satin overskirt is bordered with florets, which must not bo embroidered upon it until

the skirt has been draped upon a form, and, in order to attain good results in draping, you leave the skirt entire and don’t do any cutting until you have basted thoroughly. At the back the skirt is gathered and there is a demitrain. On the left side be sure to make your panel much smaller than on the right. The corsage laces at the back and the ribbons are tied in a bow with ends reaching quite to the bottom of the skirt. The crossed portions of the corsage have no seam, and are caught to the lining. Bertha in silk muslin, and the double puffs of tho sleeves are omauented with pink daisies. In front, be-

tween the ribbons, there are small ruffles of the muslin running to a point. For a young person no prettier dancing dress can be imagined than pink silk muslin over surah, with a draped corsage ornamented with a large rosette of pink satin ribbon. The ceinture is of pink satin ribbon, and closes at the back under a large bow. The sleeves should be very much puffed. Lace sleeves set off with a cluster of rosebuds are very modish. I have seen some charming effects in mauve—say a mauve gauze over a satin underskirt of the same color, embroidered with pearls. The gauze skirt is slightly caught up with a bunch of feather tips and there are feather tips on the shoulders. ' You will find a lovely ball gown pictured in my fourth illustration, a blue silk crepe de chine with sleeves and tabller of white silk gauze spotted with dark blue. The trimming consists of dark blue and white galloon and small bows of white satin; gray gloves. This gown has the advantage of uniting picturesque quaintness with style, a rare union, for the young person who elects to be poetic must pretty generally relinquish all claim to stylishnoss. If Sappho could revisit these earthly scenes, her poems would no doubt achieve a great success, but her gowns would be voted dowdy. Her skirts might hang properly, but you could almost wager that the needful ruffle would

be lacking, and that the hip gores would not be quite even. The reason of all this is obvious. The human mind is capable of just so much activity, and if you exhaust it making verses you mustn’t expect to find that your last season’s gowns will appear to good advantage when nobody has been looking after their harmonies. Fur trimming seems to have taken such a strong hold upon popular favor that nothing save the breath of May flowers will frighten it away, if, in fact, it will even be willing to go then. It is simply übiquitous, or, better said, everywhere you least expect to find it, and I must admit that it has pressed feathers very closely this season. Tea negligees, reception dresses, street gowns, ball toilets, all display their fur trimming My attention has been specially attracted by the positively lovely little jackets in velvet, made sleeveless and left open to show the neck and chemisette and edged with fur. But this season fur has not been content to border skirts in the plain old-fashioned way; it has wound itself in graceful curves upon train, and even diagonally around a gown in serpentine coils; it has edged the corsage, coming in direct contact with the fair skin of the wearer; it has acted as ceintuie, and even nestled amid the wavy tresses of the lady of modes. In my last illustration I take pleasure in calling your attention to a very charming ball toilet with fur trimming. It is a white satin, garnitured with soft gray fur and old go'ld, the old gold being embroidered with black silk stars. To complete this elegant and showy costume, you need gray gloves and a black fan. Baby bodices and deep corseleis are in great favor. I have seen some very pretty effects attained by a deep corselet in velvet and jet and then belyw a stylish hip puff, Huguenot fashiwi, so-

called. Greens are much affected, particularly for tea-gowns, which take on more and more garniture and accidentals, as the music people call them. You can produce a very taking little costume by making up a silk blouse in some pale color, cut V-shape, und wear with it a black skirt, and by simply adding a net or gauze overskirt you achieve mnch brilliancy. So far as I can note, thore is no intention to relinquish those effects by which a greater breadth of shoulder is attained, only there is an apparent inclination to substitute the shoulder frill, which gives an aspect of breadth without making it seem so like a trick or a device. To this end you must have recourse to a yoke from which hangs a loose but not over-full frill of the n aterial. In tea-gowns and house dresses you make use of some cobwebby material like chiffon with sprigs of embroidery and button-holed at the edges. Lace, too, is very modish for shoulder frills; Chantilly, Brussels, Spanish, or guipure. You need not encircle the bust entirely, but stop at the shoulders in epaulette style, and, in this case, you may carry it down in cascades to the point of the corsage in diminishing width. Guipure in faint yellowish tinge is much worn, spreading itself in wide pelerine-style, over the shoulders. A real novelty is the Russian blouse in scarlet serge to be worn with a black skirt. The blouse has a narrow black velvet yoke, outlined with narrow strips of short fur, from which it falls. The sleeves are of black velvet, tight-fitting, with fur cuffs, and loose oversleeves of the scarlet serge reaching to the elbows, and also edged with fur. There must be a belt, of course, and the skirt should be fur-trimmed to match, making up an extremely quaint and pretty house dress.

The vagaries of an'exquisitely tender conscience are appreciated when a woman stands uttering her sympathy for a hard-worked street car horse, while she is happy in a sealskin taken from its original wearer while yet alive, and delights in the gay plumage of a song bird shot down while warbling Joyous notes in its native woodland.

WHITE SURAH WITH CREAM FEATHERS.

PINK SATIN AND WHITE MOUSSELINE.

CREPE DE CHINE BALL GOWN.

FUR-TRIMMED WHITE SATIN.