Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 August 1895 — GOWNS AND GOWNING. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

GOWNS AND GOWNING.

WOMEN GIVE MUCH ATTENTION TO WHAT THEY WEAR. ttiiaf Giennos at Fancies feminine. Frivolous, Mayhap, and Yet Offered la the Hope that the Beading May Prove ReetfOl to Wearied Womankind. Goeeip from Gay Gotham. Mew Tork correspondence:

EALLY fine figures fc should be as perfect in the lines of the back as in those In front, and while \a. woman should not be blamed, perhaps, if she is not pretty in front, there is no excuse for her being anything but graceful and attractive in the back of her. If she won’t stand l well, the dressmaker cannot help the i dullness that ruins Lall contour in front, but she can build up the correspond-

lag hollow in the lower back, and the result is a series of unimpeachable curve* that incites the beholder to hasten her steps, only to meet with disappointment In the front view. woman who is round shouldered is even harder to manage, but the crafty dressmaker seizes upon the blouse effects allowable now, and with a loose box pleat falling from just vhere the ugly curve at the shoulders begins an appearance of straightness Is secured, while the closely fitted sides, and perhaps a line or so given by a stiap or ribbon drawn from the sn«>u det to the waist at just the right angle, complete the perfect back. Most women are much too broad across the back below the shoulders for

beauty, but a little space of shirring, the letting in of a point of lace, pr the drawing down of ,many i>auds to the waist will mitigate the difficulty and make it safe from notice by the usual eye. For the woman whose back is as flat as a shingle, all sorts of devices may be used; as, for instance, cross way shirring and smocking is resorted to where the back needs curve and fullness, and smoothly drawn goods where it doesn’t. To have a bad back means either carelessness or poverty, for the defect can be remedied, and the dressmaker who can so transform awkwardness is going to charge high for the service. If she does her work well, it is fairly worth the price. The set out of the skirt from the waist in the back also assists in giving the needed out-curve wkeresthe figure lacks it The woman who has actually no end to her back, but whose clothes would slip to her heels with nothing to stop them, has an artificial waist line made by hooking up skirt to bodice, and by the outsweep of the folds of the skirt from this point Other* women are horridly short waisted in the back, without any curve to complete the back ! hither, and they go on being wide and flat tIH the is obliged to “draw the line.” Such a woman usually lacks at the hips and is the same all the way down both sides and back. She.ean be greatly improved by a skirt very ful| on the band and by a bodice .finished ag In. the first picture, Right in the center of the waist line At the back the bodice fits down in- a little

point, while the roll of silk that edges it la actually allowed to lift a little above the apparent waist line under the arms, setting down low again in front to do battle with ugliness there. The smocking of this dress begins at the shoulder line and is drawn in towards the waist to add to the needed taper, while the yoke flattens out the round shoulders and the two strap pieces are drawn actually over the outsticking shoulder blades. The sleeves, too, do their share by being set low on top of the shoulders to give needed widtlrtbere, and by being put well In at the back to narrow appearances at that point. The design cleverly combines all the necessary tricks to restore, or to actually make, the needed proportions that the natural figure totally lacks, And with complete success.

The second figure shows a gown adapted to the woman whose waisi slides down to her heels. Note ths value of the little upstanding bow, and observe the taper produced by filling the back at the shoulder line and above with insertions, and by reducing these to a narrowing series that ends under the bow in a point. This line of Insertion may mask a “hump” at the shoulders, and the two side insertions that stop at the shoulder line will further suppress protruding shouldet blades . Three big folds and the sweep of a train supply the lack below the waist, and the unsightly back is made entirely comely. These are the days when there 18 little that is startlingly new, and when to make up for the lack of novelty, exaggerations are freely indulged In. L&ce having been so long the vogue, is now fashionable only In avalanches and

billows that threaten to swamp a whole costume, including wearer. Big hats are larger than ever. Yards of drapery are festooned about the biggest sleeves; if a gown is already covered with ribbon, one can safely put on more; four colors having blended Into acceptable harmony, a couple more may be added and the demands of the waning season be met Skirts resist this tendency to highly wrought effects with considerable success, but above the belt the standards are such that the batiste garniture appearing on the third pictured dress is but moderately elaborate. It is used upon a blouse of blue silk crepon having a gathered front and plain back. The yoke of embroidered and spangled batiste Is banded with dark blue satin, the collar and belt being of the same. Then there is a double collar of the batiste deeply pointed at the edges, and fluffy chiffon rosettes set off the collar. Even traveling dresses are affetft&S by the general demand for elaboration, though, of course, they escape the tidal wave of fluffy and other crushable dainties. Whatever may be said against overdoing the trimmings of dresses for ordinary use, there is an advantage in making the traveling rig ornamental, for it will then be also serviceable as a street dress. So, for once, a fashion has been set by wealthy wornen that can be copied by less fortunate ones, to the latter’s advantage. Two examples of these jaunty costumes are presented Jn . the remaining pictures.

The first Is sketched In navy blue mohair and is made with a very full and deeply pleated plain skirt. Its bodice Is made of gathered taffeta shot with violet and blue, and is trimmed with mohair straps, three in back and front with shorter tabs at the tops of the latter, all studded with tiny steel buttons. The standing collar and belt are also of the mohair with button garniture, and the sleeves, which haVe Immense puffs and fitted cuffs, are of the same. Sliver gray cashmere is the fabric of the second rig for Journeying, and, like the first, Its skirt Is plain, and pleated with accurate nicety. Any sort of silk or shirt waist may be worn with this, for the cape Is heavy enough to furnish the necessary warmth. It Is made of alternate white satin and gray cashmere bands and fastens with a gray strap piped with white. Its collar Is high and warm and is also piped with white. The very fact that but few novelties are offered for current wear at this season of the year makes the reception of such new items as are put forward especially cordial. Indeed, that hardly expresses it, for fashionable women are so eager to try them that their haste Is almost frantic. One material that has suddenly secured this late summer favor Is banded with rows of aluminum-set Jewels separated by insertions of thread lace. It struck the fancy of those of Extravagant taste and has appeared in brilliant magnificence on the waning fancy waist Made up in the prevailing blouse fashion, it Is dazzling enough to give distinction even among all the multitude of glittering things that glare under the summer sun at the swell resorts. Pliny says of a Roman gentleman whom he does not name that he was able to repeat the ‘‘lliad” and the “Odyssey,” the whole of the “Aeneid” and most of the poems of Horace from memory. “Wake Nicodemus,” a very popular song during the war, was written by Henry C. Work, the author of “My Grandfather’s Clock.”

AN UGLY BACK MADE SIGHTLY.

SHOWY EFFECTS IN SPANGLED BATISTE.

FOR TRAVELING OR THE STREET.

A SECOND MODEL OF DOUBLE USE.