Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 297, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 December 1913 — IN FURS AND VELVETS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

IN FURS AND VELVETS

SEASON’S LONp COATS REACH EXTREME IN LUXURY. One of the Best Models Fashioned of Ermine and White Silver Brocade —Prices May Be as .High as< One Likes. Of the long fur coats for evening wear we have had much to say before, but each day brings out new models in fur and fiir combined with velvet or rich brocade or plain satin or cloth. Some of the«,coats have a deep yoke or enormous collar and cuffs of fur and a very deep band e on the coat bottom, rounding up in the front and narrowing until it meets the collar, the central part of the coat being of velvet, satin or cloth. One superb model in fur and brocade is fashioned of ermine and white silver brocade, the fur forming the deep yoke and peasant sleeves, while the' brocade runs up and forms the entire lower part of the coat, and the big soft revers and cuffs which are turned back against the sleeves. Whole coats of ermine are many. Sometimes the pure white ermine is trimmed in the black and white tails or perhaps the black and white erfnine is trimmed in black fur, finest breit-

schwang, silky caracul or black fox. These fur coats are ample, luxurious, long or three-quarter; the right crossing far over the left, but so cut that the coat is drawn in toward the bottom to give the approved narrow silhouette. Of gorgeous seal, breitschwang, taupe and sable coats there is no end; but these are not primarily evening coats as are the ermine garments andVome of those of chinchilla. When it comes to fur-trimmed eve-

'ning coats, one hardly knows where to take up the tale. There are models in all grades of elegance and at prices ranging from S4O up,to a lofty point among the three figure prices. All depends upon the value of the materials used and the value of the name attached to the model. A famous designer charges well for his name and his ideas and when these expensive items are added to the cost of velvet, satin or cloth and fine fur, one has a sum Total appaulling to the average woman. And yet it does seem as if a large proportion of these very costly models might be sucessfully copied by many a tailor or dressmaker who would have been incapable of originating them. Even so, the beautiful material would make the coat expensive, but at least the goodly sum paid for the maker’s reputation and originality would be eliminated, and that means cutting down the price by at least one-half; while the profit of the importer who brought the model over, another large item, can be counted off the cost of 'the >garment.

MARY DEAN.