Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 December 1892 — WOMEN AND WEDDINGS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WOMEN AND WEDDINGS

LIVELY CHAT ON DRESS AND USAGE. Tn Illustration of the Wedding; Topic Onr Correspondent Has Made Sketches from Photographs of Actual Brides—Growing ludependence as to Marriage Robes. Marriage and Modes. New York correspondence:

BESS and usage j |at weddings shall be the subject of j this article. One ; marriage toilet ' may be seen in the j initial sketch, and j another next be- ! low. In these! cases, the brides j chose to depart i from conventional i usage, and garb j themselves like! girls arrayed mod- ! estly and becomingly for an evening party. The fabrics were white satin, and the embellishments were in the same Color. In the first example thu sprays on the wai9t and skirt were embroidered by hand in the finest conceivable manner, making

an exceedingly costly toilet, as well as a beautiful one. The shaping of the gown itself was severely plain and simple. This young bride were no veil, or orange blossoms, or anything else to denote that she was at her own wedding. That was her fancy. The bride of the second picture put on a veil and a wreath of orange blossoms. The illustration shows the dress only, with its widely puffed sleeves, its high bodice, and its trailing skirt embroidered in silk and edged with lace. To a prospective bride, who writes to ask what she shall wear at the altar, in order not to he “the usual sort of thing," I can only reply that nine-tenths of the bridal dresses are still made of white satin or silk. Of course, I mean what are called full dress weddings. But there is a growing independence as to marriage robes, and any girl may indulge her own

taste —if it be good—in choosing the gown. In further illustration of the wedding topic, I have made throe sketches from photographs of actual brides. They have all married within a month. So far as they are fashion plates, they show three styles of hair-dressing and of corsage. Hut let us consider them ethically. In grandma’s time girls used to marry too young. Glance at the pictures here given, and you will form some idea of how the standard of brides lias been raised in latter years. No one of these ladies is loss than 21. They range between that and 28. The faces are bright, serious, und self-controlled. Not the faoes of children and unformed girls, but those of women fit to be companions of the men they have married. Kyes and lips In each case speak earnestness and gentle strcnglh. Only one of the faoes could bo called conventionally "pretty, ’’ and even that one, the first, wears so sweetly grave a look, .and so steady a light shines from the eyes, that it only adds to the effect already produced by the others, and one whispers to himself, "Men are not mi&rrying merely pretty faces and beautiful figures; they are marrying women, and soul and intellect.” Here and there a close study of one or another of the faoes leads to the criticism .that there is lacking a certain

confiding softness of outlines. But it is a good thought that this conies only from a lack of heart developement, and that is to be supplied. These women with straightforward, earnest eyes and quiet lips art going to meet the duties of wifehood as it should best and most wisely be met, and those duties, the new life, the new surrounding of care and tenderness and the dear weight of now responsibilities will light the look of love and womanhood in their eyes, and set its softness about their lips. The man who takes such a woman into his heart has the developing of a wellrounded woman at his hand. The years will bring these only a larger womanhood, not a narrowed one. The pretty girl, the pampered girl, the already selfish woman, the unrestrained child are going out of fashion. The pictures I have chosen are only a few of many. The beauty of soul Is being acknowledged. We may hope for bettei times, better men, better homes, and when that is said all is said. By the way, only one of these women wears earrings. The others have delicately modeled ears, a sure sign of innate refinement. They have all well-marked eyebrows, a sure sign of well-balanced iCental power. They have all well-marked lashes, and that

is a sure sign of the poetry and imaginative capabilities that go to make up the lovely woman. They all show those minor points of delicate beauty by virtue of which a woman is truly lovely. By the way, I am willing to wager that they all have a smooth, clear skin —the sort of skin that a woman with a wellbalanced mind and the good digestion that usually attends such a mind has. And I will wager, too, that their hands are as full of character, as beautifully unbeautiful as are their faces. If you would follow the conventional and never-changing French form of wedding costume let the material be what it may, but your gown must be highnecked and long-sleeved, really high and long, not filled in. You will thus carry out the old-time notion of being a veiled virgin in all ways, and don’t depend upon transparent tulle veiling. Here and in England the bride wears a dress as low as her neck permits, and, as the French woman never did, she wears Jewels. “The bride wore a magnificent pendant of diamonds, the gift of the groom, and a tiara from her father. ” How often we see such a line in the description of swell weddings. In the form of marching in and the arrangement of the party much latitude is allowed the taste and even fancy of the bride. The fancy that is governed

by the fundamental idea of the bride as a veiled and molest virgiji brought to her husband is likely to evolve a really tasteful and impressive wedding. That which has as its chief purpose the “starring,” as it were, of the bride is pretty close to vulgarity. The attendants are, as the bride decides, bridesmaids or pages. If the bride has a sister or a very dear friend she is maid of honor, and bears to the bride the relation that the best man does to the groom. Often all but the sister or lriend are dispensed on the bride’s side, who has then merely the maid of honor. Ushci's, who are supposed to equal in number the bridesmaids and balance the party, are essential, whether there are any maids or not. They see to seating the people if it is a church wedding, and to disposing the guests at a house wedding. Only after all this is done does the bridal party appear, and then the ushers are free to take their part in the bridal march or to take their places, as has been arranged. Whether or no there is a maid of honor, there must be a best man. He is supposed to be on hand, and to know everything the groom forgets, and as the groom probably forgets everything you see how important the best man is. He is more important than the groom. In fact I know of one swell wedding where the best man, standing of course close to the elbow of the groom during the ceremony, made half the responses owing to the groom’s voice going back on him. It is the best man who knows where the ring is, the best man who takes care of it and nudges the groom when it is time to use it, and it is the l est man who knows which is the bride, and keeps the groom from distractedly marrying one of Hie maids or the mother. The maid of honor, or the first bridesmaid, performs the same offices for the bride, who is never in the flabby and scared condition the groom is in. From the church' the bride and groom go in a cantage to the house of the bride. There is held a brief reception, or, if it is a morning wedding, the usual breakfast. Arrangements are usually

made so that there is a train to catch, or they all pretend there is, and the bride slips away as soon as she can to don her traveling gown. For a morning wedding the groom has worn a suit in which he can travel, unless he has beeni very French and done as the Frenchmen do for the 11 o’clock weddings, worm a full-dress suit. In that case, his best man drags him off to an apartment provided, and sees that he does not get his traveling coat on wrong side out. Then the two pretend to “slip away, ’’ and, of course, they are discovered and that is the time for riee and all that. As to the wedding journey, that is as they please. The English custom is to "borrow” fora week or so, the coiintry house or hunting lodge of a friend, some place only a few hours out of town. It is nothing short of vulgar and uncivilized to start a woman off on a long trip on cars or boat after all the excitement and weariness of a formal wedding ceremony. Home people have a craze for starting to Europe. Good gracious! Of course reasonable people expect to lose their illusions in time, but why take the risk of—throwing them up at once. And I should think miseries attendant on a sea voyage would effectually do it. Copyright, 1H92.

Secretary Tuacy t has changed his mind and will let Lieutenant Peary lead another polar expedition, after all. Three objects will be kept in view: To determine definitely the northern coast of Greenland, to ascertain if any land lies to the north of it, and to reach, if possible, the geographical location of the pole. There is a fascination in polar exploration that amounts to positive madness. Now that Lieutenant Peary has been seized with it he will continue to make expeditions until he either finds the pole or leaves his bones somewhere in the north. Unfortunately, the fate of many arctic explorers, as skillful and as intrepid as he, points to the latter result as most, probable in his own case. Money and time are the heaviest burdens of life, and the unhappiest of all mortals are those who hava more of either than they know how to u&. It Is easy to tell when a man is flattering your neighbor, but it isn’t sa easy to decide when he is flattering you —Somerville Journal.

A MARRIAGE DRESS.

FIRST BRIDE.

SECOND BRIDE.

THIRD BRIDE.