The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-10-30 00:00:00

GOSSIP ON DRESS.

A FOREIGN resident (says the Queen) wha nDt long
since published his views of society in London, speak.
' log of the wife of a well-known politician, says,
, "She never dons a bonnet or a frock, selects a coicut
or a jewel, without being satisfied of its applicability
to the figure, face, and complexion with which Lusting
has endowed her." This is the whole secret at
dressing well. The fashions aro so diverse now, that
there is no excuse for women not making is study et
what suits them, and choosing accordingly; yet not
one in a dozen has sufficient individuality to do it
This is the season of all others when tea gowns are
in request. Many wear them for home dinners,
others, again, especially in country houses, don them
when the afternoon drive or walk is over, before put-
ting on a dinner dress I will describe sonic new oac4
just from Paris One of chaudron plush, with 3
pinky tinge in the red, was made somewhat lung'
waisted at the back, with heavy gathers, thres large
buttons marking the waist. It had a jacket basque
at the side, with more large buttons, the whole of
the front consisting of a drapery of lace caught
down hero and thorn with loops of ribbon
and long bows. The lace was arranged over soft silk,
of a lighter tone. It was lined with blue, and a nar-
row pleating of the blue just showed occasionally,
when the wearer moved. This lace was the new
Aquitaine point, the pattern thick and heavy. A
dark green satin had the edge of the pointed bodice
outlined with cord . the front was pink, but the gi een
satin down the sides had handeowe galons of green
beads, and puffings of pink appeared at the edge A
the basque. A. less costly gown was made of light
blue cashmere, with a deep puff to the elbow of the
sleeves, the rest of the a ni covered with black velvet,
a collar of the velvet, a mitred straps of the same
to keep the fulnes3 in i lace tit the back and front
A petunia plush had a t of light peach silk, veiled
with black esprit net, .rig in tiny pleats from the
waist and allowed to fl The tea gown which most
resembled an ordinary a was a golden-brown terry
ottoman, fitting the fi closely, velvet covering the
front breadth.

FANS are becoming more and mare elaborate,
especially in their trimming. Some of the newest
transparent black lace fans have a cascade of the black
lace on the miter rib, fastened here and therewith dia-
mond brooches,sothat, if possible, they are rather prat.
tier closed than open. Another I ad mired in uch had steel
and black pompons, or rather faithful mutations of the
dandelion seeds, which as children we used to call
" blow-a-ways." These mostly form part and parcel
of the now fashionable spangled fans. The lyre-
shaped fans, with pearl handles, are touch worn, and
the feathers employed for them have a great deal to
recommend them on the score of beauty, especially
the tufted marabout. The bonnet pins are a novelty
in dress which sell well. Some are shaped like a
sword, probable a fashion borrowed from the Princess
of Wales, whom I have often seen wearing a diamond
hilted sword to fasten her bonnet on. Others, in gold,
have a seed ball for the top, while some are like the
playing card club. The brooches for fastening ties
and strings are tempting too. Some in oxidised silver
represent five deer, or five rabbits, or five donkeys, or
five stags, all well modelled ; others, again, are a
simple bar, formed of either pink coral, turquoise, or
pearls. Combs are much born in the hair, and those
made of celluloid are both good looking and inexpen-
sive; some have a row of balls, some are copied from
Spanish models, while others have only two teeth, and
are meant simply to confine the small twists in which
the hair is worn now.

Iris all these adjuncts of dress that have so much
to do with appearing to the best advantage. Tuckers
of lace and muslin are going out, and are being re-
placed by ribbons and velvet. A new set of collars and
cuffs in dark velvet are covered all over with small
coins, united by chains, while others are formed
of upstanding loops of ribbcn of two colours,

I HAVE Been a good many vests to dark green and
black woollen gowns made of the Primrose League
flannel, which has primroses in would-we natural
colouring printed on cream flannel. It may be that
the wearers are anxious thereby to exhibit their poli-
tical principles, but the flowers might be almost any-
thing else as well as a primrose. It may interest some
of my readers to hear of a few artistic dresses now the
height of fashion. One, a lettuce-toned brocade, made
en Przneesse, with a front beaded in crystal and
Venetian beads, in a soft silk of the exact tone of the
brocade. A tea gown made in figured nun's
veiling, porcelain-blue on cream, opened over
a soft porcelain silk ; the sleeves cut on
the cross, like those worn by Ellen Terry in the" Mer-
chant of Venice." A Watteau pleat appeared at the
back, which was part and parcel of the ruff; the same
piece forming also the revers in front. A girdle of
metal chainwork confined the fulness at the waist. A.
very exquisite brocade of a largo Venetian pattern in
gold and white was made with a Watteau pleat, so
arranged that it could be dropped to the waist, and
there simply added to the drapery, and the back of the
bodice was complete without it. The material and
pattern were exactly the same as that worn by Ellen
Terry in "Olivia," only red. The fulness of the front
drapery was so planned that bodice and skirt were in
one, the material, uncut, falling in indescribable cross-
way folds. This style looks well in plush.

A LETTER from India not long since requested that,
through the medium of The Queen, some few lrinta
might be given to women who were neither old nor
young. The writer was young looking, but had a
grown-up daughter. and was desirous of knowing
whether it would be incorrect for her to wear her hair
in a fringe and to adopt the same styles of dress as
younger women did. There is an old saying "that a
man's as old as he is, and a woman as old as she
looks." I can but quote the best of all examples, the
Princess of Wales. The mother of grown-up sons
and daughters, she looks quite a young woman, almost
a girl, still, and dresses in the style that suits her and
young women best. Women of middle age, or who
have passed their first youth, have acquired the knack
of looking considerably younger than those of the
past generation at the same period of lifo. Perhaps
they take more pains with their face and figure, and
oar fashions are more youthful. Looking round at
most fashionable assemblies in the present day, there
is little marked distinction between the matrons and
the maids. The former occasionally wear more
costly fabrics en
,orande toilette, but the hair
is dressed much in the same way, and no one wears a
cap habitually unless compelled. It is a feature of
our nation that mothers and daughters ,3ften might
be mistaken for sisters. The truth is, no one can
advise on these personal matters. A wise woman
watches the lines grow in her face and studies not to
strengthen them by over juvenility of attire. A wide.
brimmed hat, which throws a shadow on the face,
makes a woman look years older, but the high.
crowned narrow-brimmed hats are far less trying. It
requires judgment to know when to discard the wear-
ing of hats at all. According to the present fashions,
it would be best to wear high straight collars of velvet,
and, where lace is admissible, plenty about the throat.
The hair should only be tinned up from the nape of
the neck when the throat has no sign of scragginess
and the style does not tend to harden the side outline
of the cheek bones, which have lost their youthful
roundness of fleshly covering. The fashions of the
day favour slim women', but slimness too often to-
wards middle life degenerates into undue thinness,
which is by no means youthful. Therefore thin
women must conscientiously study their own indi-
viduality, and not take too great liberties on the
score of embonpoint, which keeps off wrinkles. though
it may enlarge the waist and make the study nt
drapery a serious "no. Stout women should
avoid waist seams, and carry the skirt and bodice in
one, down the sides as much as possible. Let them
avoid fur borderings to basques, just as short women
should banish them from the edge of their skirts.
Tall women may indulge as much as they please in
soft-falling drapery, indescribable in its arrangement;
but short ones would thereby acquire tublike propor-
tions. It is a great mistake of English women that
dark and fair, short and tall, thin and stout, adopt
the same modes, whatever they may be In all the'.
things the appearance is the point to be considered.
but remember, a woman is as old as she really looks
to others, not as she thinks she looks herself, if
blinded by vanity.
0 wad the powers the girlie gie U 9
To see oursels as it hers see us,
It would fra' many an error free es.
Belwer, in " Kenelm Chillingly," writes: "In
youth a man of the world should appear older than
he is, and in middle age. and thence to his dying,
younger. Begin your -wig early, thus you never
become grey." The advice is worth a thought as far
as women are concerned also.