Jasper Republican, Volume 1, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 May 1875 — The Fashions. [ARTICLE]

The Fashions.

TAXSBIXS The leading modistes have returned from Paris, and hare displayed at their openings the designs. It is the general remark that novelties this year are-confined to fabrics and colors rather than to styles. At some of the large tenses the eye is startled by die high Madras colors with thir vivid yellow and red; trot at the smaller, exclusive establishments very few of these gay plaids are seen. Instead of these are limousine stripes with a few lines of color on cream, brown, or gray grounds, or else those invisible brown or gray plaids already described, or perhaps green or blue or violet shades appear in the plaid. Modistes who imported plaid Lousine silks last spring in advance of the present fancy for than are now making overdresses of damask or clouded silks, or of the amurefigured wools, or summer limousines; if they use the plaid Louisines they choose those with rich bars, such as black on ecru grounds, brown on cream-color, or navyblue on gray.

Among the most pleasing dresses for visiting, church and carriage toilets are those of French gray or drab gros grain combined with softer silk of the same shade figured all otot in arabesque designs. The gros grain skirt has pleatings headed by shirred puffs, and the sleeves are of the same gros grain. The overskirt of the arabesque silk has a deep apron draped very /till near the foot of the dress and edged with very rich fringe. The basque is of simple design. Such dresses are made without jackets, as they are so light that they cannot be worn on days cool enough to require wraps. They cost from $250 to $275. Simpler costumes entirely of colored silk, and also of black silk, are made with short, loose, jaunty sacks, quite short behind and with deep-pointed or square fronts. These are made to wear over the basque that is worn is the house. The trimming is usually a knife-pleating with rich crimped fringe below. The Byron collar of many fine pleats of the silk is considered a stylish feature for these jackets. - Open English embroidery on black silk is not new this season, but promises to find greater favor than when first introduced. It is preferred for wide flounces, for narrow ruffles to edge flounces, and also for sleeveless basques, aprons, and sashes. When associated with rich gros grain of its own shade, or with handsome grenadine, it makes very effective garniture. BLACK GRENADINE DREBSEB. The newest and richest black grenadine dresses are made of the open, squaremeshed grenadines resembling Mexicaine, or of plaids alternately thick and thin, or else they are barred or lined with velvet. Those dresses intended for the house only have the skirt trimmed to simulate a tablier, but no separate apron. The foundation of the skirt is silk, and for this purpose the substantial glossy taffeta silk is used. The grenadine forms a flounce around the bottom, and is then elaborately draped on the silk; in many cases the front, back and sides have each an arrangement of their own. The flounce at the bottom may be either a deep bias-gathered flounce, shirred at the top, and edged with knife-pleating, or else there are many rows of knifepleating placed to overlap each other and headed by a shirred puff. On some dresses the knife-pleating extends up the entire back breadth; in others it is arranged in pyramidal form on the bottom of each breadth; while still others have three rows of the finest crimped pleating sewed on a gathered flounce. On the upper part of the skirt two breadths are shirred to represent an apron, and these have each a narrow ruffle meeting in the front; the back is then held in two large puffs with ends. Another tablier is formed of many crosswise folds of grenadine, which may be turned up or down, while others have reversed pleating. The basque is shaped fancifully and trimmed down the back and front with shirring or pleating to correspond with the skirt. The long-hooped bows and the sash-loops in the skirt are made of gros grain laid in fine knifepleating and pressed flatly. The coat sleeves are formed of folds of grenadine placed across from seam to seam, or else soft puffs separated by rows of shirring; instead of regular cuffs, pleating, a ruffle, and lace trim the wrists; it is the exception for imported dresses to have plain sleeves.

Grenadine suits that may be worn in the street as well as in the house are far more simply made. They are provided witlr deep aprons, over-skirts with bouffant back drapery, plain cuirass basques, and simply-trimmed skirts, like those described for silk and wool suits. The substantial canvas grenadines so long in favor will still be used for these simple costumes. Sometimes they form the entire suit, but in many cases they have basques and aprons of more fancifully plaided grenadine. Heavy crimped tape fringes trim street suits of grenadine. There are also pretty sleeveless jackets and tabliers formed of lengthwise insertions of yak, thread or beaded guipure, with grenadine between. These may be worn over silks or grenadines, just as the wearer chooses. PONGEE DRESSES. The buff, ecru and brown pongee dresses, so much in favor last summer, are again imported. They are trimmed with insertion of silk guipure of their own shade and with lace of corresponding pattern. The skirt and sleeves are of dark chestnut brown silk. The pongee overskirt has a tablier front that represents three aprons by having three bands of insertion outlining them. The jacket, with short back and long front, is composed of lengthwise rows of insertion alternating with the ecru pongee. Ladies of quiet tastes prefer these plain pdUgees to plaids or figured silks. morning dresses. Pale blue and rose cashmeres are twHa into elaborate princesse dresses for house apd morning wear. In some models the front is of pale blue silk, with a jabot its entire length made of white thread lace. The back of the dress is of cashmere, made in Gabrielle fashion, with the upper part of the skirt in panier puffs, while the lower part has knife-pleatings of silk in which white lace is laid. A second, of pale blue, has pyramids of knife-pleating made of blue and white striped silk, laid in pleats that show the blue on top with white beneath as a sort of facing.

Tbe prettiest imported dresses of washing goods are made of fine French cambrics that represent the checks and plaids of Scotch ginghams. Sometimes two colors are used in these. Thus a dress of blue and white cambric of small, irregular checks has a vert, sleeves, and inside ruffles of pink-checked cambric. There are first scalloped blue ruffles needleworked on each edge, and just beneath these, as if lining them, are the pink ruffles. This makes h pretty dress for country use. Blue and brown are put together in the same way* also blue and buff, or buff with brown. For brunettes are checked cambrics combining rttoe, black and white. FRINGES AND MARABOUT TRIMMING. The fringes so fashionably used for trimming silk sacques and costumes are made of silk braid or tape, crimped, or else merely tied in loops, from which depend balls or tassels of sewing silk. Elaborate fringes, made of clusters of the crimp braid resting on a thick silk fringe, cost as high as $4.25 a yard. The newest design has loops of half-inch braid not crimped, but holding tassels. This costs $3.75. The price of plain tape fringe of ordinary width is $1.25; light fringes for grenadine are made of very narrow tape well crimped, and cost only 00 cents a yard. The novelty of the season for trimming silks is called the marabout ruche. This is a thick band of crimped tape-ends, resembling feathers in effect. It costs from $1.75 to $3.25, according to width. It is most stylish when made entirely of the braid, but there are some very pretty ruches made partly of the braid and pfertly of sewing silk; these resemble old-fash-ioned moss trimmings.— Harper's Bator,