Rensselaer Republican, Volume 14, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 September 1881 — Fashionable Elegance in Paris. [ARTICLE]

Fashionable Elegance in Paris.

Alvany Evening Journal. There is no city in the world that has grown to such refinements in personal belongings and in the arts of the toilet as Paris, and the actual status of a lady or gentleman, and particularly of a lady, is much more clearly exhibited by her personal habits and surroundings than by her clothes. There is none of the bareness even in hotels abroad that we are so apt to find at home, and the care which in hotels gives sofa and mantel and toilet drapery, a lavatory furnished with elegance, a draperied bed, and mirrors in abundance, in private life supplements all these with dozens of little niceties all tending toward delicacy and an exquisite refinement in the care of the person. There are dainty instruments, fine as jewels, for the care of the nails, the eyebrows, the teeth, the skin, and even the ears. Brushes for all uses inelude a dozen ivory mounted and inclosed in satin wood, satin-lined cases. Perfumed waters are distri »uted from crystal flasks with .silver tops that can be graded for removal so as to give it in quantity or drop by drop. Softening creams and velvety powders are concealed in priceless little jars of Indian and old blue china, and gloves and mouchoirs are kept in cases that communicate to them an indiscribableodor, faint yet most delightful. The underclothing used in the daytime, instead of being folded as formerly, a custom considered the very pink of neatness and order, is now hung upon the pegs of a tall revolving stand which occupies a very small space in the dressing room, and over this is thrown a light cover o* linen, which may be ornamented with German embroidery or etching. Under a cotton dress a lady will not unfrequently wear silk underclothing, the underwear being much finer and more daintily triifimed than the outside. Combs of every description, when not of ivory are of thin tortoise shell—and the shell are the more desirable. When a lady goes to her bath, over her nightdress of batiste she puts a dressing gown of pale pink or blue flannel, and the small slippers into which she thrusts her white feet are satin, lined to match. Toilet covers and draperies are trimmed with (Quantities of exquisite lace, and chairs, baskets, hanging baskets, and bird cages with ribbons and flowers. How it is all kept so pretty and fresfr looking is a mystery, but the French woman gives her mind to the care of her body.