The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-06-07 00:00:00

GOSSIP ON DRESS.

In an article on "Paris Fashions" the Daily Tele-
graph makes some observations on the prices of dress
materials. "it is curious," says the writer "to con-
sider what is obtainable for .£4 or £5 a yard. Bro-
cades composed of fancy silk and satin, or of satin
and velvet, both textures being of one colour, need
not cost more than .£2, but by mingling Ottoman
with velvet and open work, and by working over the
thick parts in bold relief, it is easy to increase the
£2 to £3 or £4, even without going to the length of
a special pattern, as was the case with the particular
Royal robe in question. Every additional colour in a
brocade adds considerably to the expense of the
weaving, and the materials sold currently at the
marchands de nouveautes Louis XVI. silks,
Genoa velvets, Renaissance brocades—are seldom
marked less than 50f. or 60f., and even then they
may be in their second season and have
commanded a higher price on their first
introduction to the world. Borne of the jet-
woven tissues are extremely expensive— those
where the beads predominate, and which are like
coats of mail, and those whereon the bugles form a
more or less intricate pattern. Three guineas is a
very ordinary price to pay a yard for such fabrics.
Even to the Parisian milliner it is not all profit. Her
materials are costly in the first place, she being care-
ful to restrict her choice to the best of things, so that,
by the time she has conjured them into fairy form,
they are worth something approaching to what she
charges for them. It is wonderful how many yards
of fine lace may be ruched into a capote, the quantity
of ribbon needful to construct a handsome coeacle is
perhaps double what an outsider would take it to be,
all gold trimmings mount up to a good round sum,
the piece velvet—velvet cut up ruthlessly on the cross
—is generally worth twenty francs a yard; the best
artificial blossoms mounted on flexible sterns are far
dearer than real flowers at Christmas time, and, in
spite of Algerian ostrich farms, the feathers of these
'ungainly fowl' usually add a couple of guineas or
so to the cost of the bonnet or hat they adorn."

ON the subject of the prevalent styles of dress now
worn by -the elite in the French capital, the same
writer says: Gowns of white lace, with lace bonnets,
the amount of white relieved by this one touch of blue
and the tawny hue of the tan gloves, are worn at
Longchamps on fine days. It is strange how very
general a custom it has become to confine the choice
of gloves to a few shades of one colour. The same
favouritism ieshown for tan that was once evinced for
black. Evening gloves are not expected from the rule.
The paler shades of this tint—which has the advan-
tage of being presumably that of the kid itself— are
considered applicable to every description of toilette
—Snowy white, black, and richly-coloured alike.
Some women profess a taste for silk gloves, long
drawn out, and woven in lace patterns on the arm.
These also affect the tan hues, which renders them
less conspicuously unlike their-f atom.

A material promising exceedingly well for the
summer is Etamine, a sort of canvas, more or less
coarse, more or less transparent, and more or less in-
tricate in the manner of its embroidery. For the
most part small, insignificant patterns are chosen—a
few stitches of red and blue, having a sketchy
resemblance to a flower. But sometimes they rise
almost to the dignity of a Persian design, though
they more often keep well within the narrow
boundary of an antique sampler. There are many
ways of treating this material; the best is certainly
to have a silk skirt, and the tunic and bodice only of
the Etamine—the latter lined, of course. Supposing
the upper dress—a bouillonse tunic and full-fronted
bodice—to be of ecru canvas, lightly woven with red
flowerlets the skirt may be of, maize-coloured
faille arranged in box plesids the red of
the
.pattern re-appearing in the frilling, and
also shot with maize in the loops of ribbon
that drape the tunic. In this case the silkiness of
the lower strata gives relief and effect to the coarse
simplicity of the upper. When the skirt likewise is in
canvas, the gown is much less smart. Several
breadths cut considerably longer than the foundation
skirt of silk, are pleated to the bottem edge, where
they form a sort of ruching, and have their super-
abundant length absorbed into the upper draperies.
This is another method. A third is to have a skirt
trimmed with a silk-lined, box-pleated flounce, a
tunic hemmed up with silk also, and a jacket bodice
ornamented in a similar fashion. I was shown a
cream-coloured canvas gown made in this way, which
was covered with coarsely-wrought fruits of a dull
mauve, the edging of silk being of a deep violet hue.
ery pretty full vests for all sorts of gowns are made
of the Persian-wove canvas, the frills at the ends of
the shears being of the same material.

lux figured nuns' veiling, whereon the design is
either woven or printed, are also very fashionable
though less novel than the canvas. With these the
pattern is not necessarily floral; all sorts of small
geometric designs—rings, cubes, diamonds, spots, and
the like—being in use also. Silken skirts, linings,
pleatings, and the like render them in the same way
much more effective, and the more silk enters into
their composition the smarter they become. Pale
lilac veiling, printed with small pink and green sprays,
draped with pink and green ribbons and edged with
frillings to match, compose a charming costume.
Plain silk being much less expensive than figured, it is
a great economy to choose the brocaded or printed
material in wool or cotton. The effect of the patterns
on the baser fabrics is not necessarily so very inferior,
.while they have-the decided advantage of suiting all
occasions. The brocaded gown is always more or less
a robe of ceremony, and the wearer must afford to
throw it aside ere it has seen its best days.

A LONDON daily paper has a special article on
"Summer Bonnets," from which we extract the fol-
lowing: Those of the present season differ in many
essentials from their immediate predecessors. They
are all constructed so as to show the back of the head,
whether the hair is arranged in coils visible beneath
the hat or bonnet, or whether it is piled on the summit
of the crown. This has given rise to a new device of
the hair-dresser, called a nurize, and consisting of the
semblance of an abundant chevelure, drawn up from
the neck with a few natural-looking little stray locks,
softening the edges and falling upon the neck. In
front there is more height than fashion has of late
permitted. A large bow, fan-shaped in the tying, or
a group of blossoms, provides this height, which is
usually placed rather to the left, or perhaps the brim
is slightly raised just over the left :elbow, and a dainty
little bow or deftly-made blossom is tucked beneath
it. The sides are narrow, and thus suit round faces
rather than oval, but as this form is now both new and
fashionable, few ladies hesitate to wear it, whatever
the shape of their faces may be.

in instance of the new bonnet may be found in one
of tobacco-brown tulle, gathered upon slender gold
wires, and showing the hair through the transparent
meshes of the tulle. A large gold butterfly quivers
upon a group of brown leaves and yellowish blooms
placed at the correct altitude. The strings are of
brown terry velvet, the material that now supersedes
satin in the same capacity. Another is made of tulle
also, in the shade of brown known to milliners as
" bois," and containing a slight suspicion of green.
This tulle is arranged in soft folds over a crown of
brown satin straw, and is dotted with small crosses
made of gold beads. The whole bonnet is edged with
gathered bois-coloured velvet, upon which gold cord
forms a light tracery. A bunch of marigolds, set in
their lv.oad, cool leaves form p trimming.
Trtz favourite mushroom colour characterises a
largo number of the new bonnets. Embroidery in
this soft shade of fawn, upon gold tinsel, forms the
crown of one specimen which is made with a brim of
gathered dark green velvet, laced with gold cord. A
butterfly, made of the feathers of the lophophore,
appears to rest upon a bunch of fawn-coloured feathers
tipped with gold. The velvet strings come from the
middle of the back, and tie in a large and comfortable
looking bow beneath the chin. A black butterfly is
unknown to entomologists, but at present is a favourite
insect with milliners. Especially over mourning
bonnets do its jetted wings on those legs of twisted
wire give an appearance of airy uncertainty to its
Movements.

A PIECE of millinery that will find many patrons
has a crown of black tulle gathered slightly over gold
tinsel. The brim is crinkled in and out, and is edged
with beads of the "shark's teeth" shape. A deftly
tied bow of scarlet velvet is shrouded with the filmy
folds of soft Chantilly, the strings consisting of similar
lace. A red, red rose is fastened under one of the
crinkles of the brim, and a butterfly placed above it
apparently examines the texture of its petals. /The
artichoke bonnet has achieved distinction, the crown
being covered with leaves like those of the Jerusalem
variety of this favourite vegetable. The rest of the
trimmings are in moss green, a colour which is in very
great favour just now, both for dresses and entire
costumes. A dainty example of its use can be found
in a bonnet of open-worked Tuscan straw, edged with
a wreath of heath and small fern fronds. A large,
high, and fan-shaped bow of moss-green terry velvet
is placed at the left side, above the brim, and is
broken by a small bow of the same material in cream
colour. The strings are of moss-green terry.

HATS, though various in shape, are unanimous in
one respect—that of showing the back of the coiffure.
The brim is gradually pared off all round, with this
object in view. A picturesque specimen is of moss-
coloured straw, gathered in folds unusually full round
the brim. A large bow of pale greenish blue gros-
grain, with a small one in the centre, of moss-green
terry, forms the trimming. One hat, made of mush-
room-coloured straw, is edged with thickly-pleated
velvet, similar in tint. The trimming consists of six
or seven ostrich feather "tips" arranged in a semi-
circle, and all starting from behind a large bow of
mushroom-co/oured terry. The sailor-hat is still in
favour, the only modification being in the matter of
eth brim cut away at the back to show the hair.

• "James, do you love your sister?" "Yes, sir,"
" Well, show me how you love her." The boy stood
still not knowing what to do. "James, how do I
express my love for your mother ?" "Oh, you give
her some bunk-notes, but I ain't got any."