Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 December 1892 — NEW IDEAS IN GOWNS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

NEW IDEAS IN GOWNS .

CHOICE COMBINATIONS FOR THE SEASON. A Popular Princes* Suit—Two Juvenile Toilets That Are Very Tasty-An Kitremely Oracefttl Princess Gown with Long;, Loose Umpire Front. Dresses lor December. New York correspondence:

VERY new fashion brings Its accompanying usage, and now, with the rage for empress, direcItoire and princess ’dresses, many a belle is powdering her face too freely, besides stioklng on bits of court plaster. Jane turned lup her nose, and said: “I never use powder, and I never have.” Then Mary looked sweetly at her, and said: “No, I am sure you don’t, and I am sure no one would ever think you did.” Somehow, Jane did not feel nearly so comfortable as she ought to.

Now let us drop anecdote and go into Utilitarian particulars concerning the princess gown shown in my initial sketch. It is flowered China crepe, cut princess style In the ordinary manner, and fastend behind with hooks and eyes. The upper dress is only attached at the sides to the under frock, and is made of striped or dotted crepe de chine. In order 1o prevent the joining from being visible, this upper dress can be attached to the under dress under the arms at the seams, as shown in the engraving, below the bust. The material is sewn on without l’ning, in thick pleats. The border and the back breadths of the overdress are shirred at the throat and fastened to the under dress. In order that the folds may not take up too much room, the crepe beneath them is fastened on to the under dress. The breadths at the baok are held by safety hooks that are attached to sijk gauze, which.falls from under the short jacket. This latter, like the trimming of the dress, Is of yellow satin, with neutral tinted embroidery, and it can be surrounded by a hand-embroid-ered border. It opens both baok and front, and is cut round. It Is only sewn to the under dress on the upper part, and is lined with silk. The broad

border running round the skirt Is only attached to the upper dress and is edged on both sides with tiny flounces or ruffles of silk or gauze. Both the under and upper garment must be of equal width, If the dress Is meant to clear the ground, but if it has a short train, It must be wider. The sleeves are lined with silk. The lower parts are made of bandß of satin, with puffs of gauze. The upper part of the sleeves are gathered and puffed. Now, if you aie at all clever, my dear woman, you can make such a dress yourself, or have It done at home, under your own direction, by an ordinary seamstress.

The two pictures in which juvenile toilets are shown, along with those for women, were drawn from the actual garments as worn by live persons. The dress of the young girl was made of sil-ver-gray bengaline. The yoke had alternate rows of white jace insertion and silver-gray ribbon. The older girl in the same group wore a dress of cream cashmere, the edge of the skirt being of cream embroidered tulle. The deep corselet, which was laced behind, was cream silk brocaded with gold scales, to form the appearance of a cuirass. The little child in the third picture wore a wrap of pale-blue flannel, with wide ribbon bows to match. The notable feature of the mother's home toilet was an apron of figured Indian muslin, trimmed with fancy lace. Lovely woman is now sitting up nights, ruining her eyes, and neglecting her children, her husband, her engagements and a let of things, to make a collection of impossibles for Christmas gifts. She thinks it costs so much

less to make them herself, but she would do better to go to the stores and buy them. But that makes no difference to her. She thinks people like things made by hand better than they lo “bought things,’ butthey don’t She loesu't, but she thinks she is different rom other people. When her cousins ind aunts and folks give her a lot of >dds and ends made of floss and eceenric bows, she pretends she likes them. The trouble with the average Christnas presents women are now evolving s that they are good for nothing, that .hey take up a lot of room, and that they iever match anything else you have. L’hose dreadful bureau covers, for instance, made of flimsy gauze, painted ind with crisp ruffles all around them, f course they are pretty to look at, >ut you can’t spend the renainder of your life sitting up nd admiring them. What else can ou do with them? You can't hink of putting such things on the rnreau, unless you are going to have mother bureau to use. These things re not pretty a minute after they are he least soiled, and they are soiled the rst minute that you look at them. Over hese things half the women you know, Yourself included, are fretting now. Do

vou want a big ger list of impossibilities? *Tou can make a lovely little pink satin business to hold telegraph blanks in. You can paint celluloid soap boxes, too. They will please him, and when he is far, far away, and goes to get his soap and finds you have taken away that ol(l zinc box he carried so long, how surprised he will be. Of course, we have been laughed out of making impossible tobacco pouches and things like that. All our presents are useful. There is the dearest little blue satin thing, only a tiny square that folds up just the size of a stamp and ties in a dear little bow, so the stamps won’t .fall out How George will like that! He has always carried his stamps in a big sheet in his bank book, but this way he will have them all loose and con* venlent Oh, no, they won’t spill out, because there is the dear little bowknot, and, of course, when he takes a stamp out he will be just a little oareful. The only thing to be really particular about is to tie up the box again after you have got the stamp. And ho won’t mind that a bit. My third Illustration shows a handsome, modish gown, for an afternoon or visiting dress. If preferred, bengaline could be used instead of the cashmere, with which the original was made, and velvet instead of the surah, the vel-

vet being of a shade darker gray than the skirt, and the zouave of gray or black passementerie. In the final picture, one dress was of gray bengallne. trimmed with Russian embroidery; corselet and wide band edging; the skirt was gray velvet, with two rows of the embroidery laid on it; oollarette of crepe, trimmed with the braid. The second dress was of pale-blue velvet, striped with cream. It had a corselet of cream surah, und narrow flounces of blue velvet round the bottom of the skirt. There is no doubt that velvet is the favorite material for trimmings. The shot velvets are lovely, but, oh, how expensive! But plain velvet always looks well and becoming, and this, or at least such an efficient substitute as the velveteen, are within the reach of all. Velvet sleeves ure muoh worn, as also are the round corselets, which, howevor, aro to a certain extent superseded by the folded stomachers of velvet, which suit a slender figure admirably, especially when they are finished with one of those long Bhaped buckles, which are being shown so muoh now. Tho favorite materials for walking dresses are tweeds, In gray and heather shades, blue or brown serge, and plain beaver and habit eloths In a number of pretty shades. Tta-gowns are extremely graceful—the long, loose empire fronts with bands, which coniine the front only to the bust-line, giving height to the figure. Some ‘tea-gowns ere made as a loose blouse, falling quite to the ground, and with the back demi-traln; and these are usually cloth in delicate gray, blue, rose, or ivory tints, bordered with nar-

row fur. The sleeves are of silk and lace in high round pulls divided by {ribbons; or there is half-sleeve of the doth bordered with very narrow fur, and a full puffed one of silk below. The corselet waists, whether of the open Russian type, the Sw.ss shape or the empire form, with folds or pleats, is a fashion likely to be extremely popular during the winter season, since it Is Invaluable for decorative effect. Very charming corselets are covered with silken crochet or tatting, and “jewels" or crystal beads are used for the centers of wheels and stars. Corselets formed of alternate stripes of ribbon velvet and jet are very attractive, and may be entirely black; or colored ribbon velvet and jet is very pleasing. Copyright, 18D1.

TWO GIRLS’ GOWNS

BOTHER AND CHILD.

OUT FOR FORMAL CALLS.

TWO OF A STYLISH KIND.