The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-05-12 00:00:00

GOSSIP ON DRESS.

ISABELLA OF BAVARIA, who wore a peaked bonnet
a yard and three-quarters in height, would find her-
self- If she returned amongst us in that particular
bonnet (remarks a writer on millinery in the Londoa
Standard), quite in the fashion still, for thouo
bonnets are flatter, lower, and closer as regards theit
absolute shape, yet trimming is piled on to such an
extent, and such excessive height prouuced by it,
that Madame de Campau's description of the headgear
of Louis XVl.'s time is quite applicable now. She
wrote : "Head-dresses, with their superstructures of
gauze, flowers, and feathers, obtained so great a
degree of loftiness that the women could not find
carriages high enough to admit them, and it was
seriously observed that, if these preposterous erec-
tions continued, it would have been found necessary
to raise doors and the ceilings of boxes at the
theatres, and, in short, to introduce a new order of
architecture." Compare the above with the descrip-
tion of a bonnet recently seen in Paris, which was of
fine black straw, with a wide brim, much pointed
in front, lined with a red fancy straw, with gold
thread interplaited with it; the crown was high, and
on the extreme top of it was piled the trimming, con-
sisting of flame-coloured ribbon set in large upstand-
ing loops and ends, glorified bulrushes and brownish
green grasses rearing their heads amidst the bows—a
fiery furnace on the head—the height attained by crown
and trimming combined being little short of two feet.
Truly the tendency to run to extremes in fashion
marks women in every age. Not that monstrosities
such as these are worn by those whose taste in dress
is good; neither are they sent out by the best
houses. Shapes are, however, very fanciful, turned
up here and indented there, cloven in front, or behind,
or at the side, and in most cases over trimmed.
Many of the fancy straws have silver or gold thread
introduced, and those shapes intended more espe-
cially for summer wear are, if possible, more trans-
parent than they were last season, the hair being
seen through them in those few cases in which
they are not literally loaded with flowers and foliage.

Tin insect mania has broken out again, and beetles
and such small game, known to fair Americans under
the generic term of "bugs," meander over gauze and
tulle, perch themselves on bows of ribbon, or find a
home in the heart of a full-blown rose. Soldier ants,
green and red beetles, and extremely realistic cater-
pillars are bonnet ornaments of a by no means
pleasing character, and though preferable on
the score of humanity to the wearing of dead birds,
are meaningless, and, therefore, irritating—realism
pushed to a point. Ridicule, which has, to a certain
extent, cured women of sacrificing the feathered
tribe to their whims, will probably prevent them
from making amateur entomologists of themselves,
and so the creepy, crawly craze will soon, it is to be
hoped, be over.

LACE, artistically arranged, is one of the most per-
fect materials used in bonnet trimming—it lends itself
so admirably, in clever fingers, to the purpose; and
the new method of raising it above the brim in a
circular shape, thickly gathered with a knot in the
centre, is as graceful as it is pretty. Very fine wire
is used to keep the lace in place and shape. An
example is in fine open-work straw, the shape close
and small, and the height, not extreme in this
instance, gained by the circular lace ornament, which
is of the finest black Chantilly; folds of lace cover
the crown of the bonnet, and at the back of the lace
erection, between it and the crown, are set the most
natural-looking sprays of lilies of the valley with their
leaves; the strings are rather wide and of the exact
shade of green of the lily leaves.

A 'GOOD model of a Directoire bonnet is in red
straw, the brim lined with black velvet; a bow of
black faille ribbon rests on the hair, the same sort
of ribbon is passed round the high crown of the
bonnet and arranged in bows on the back rather to
the left side of the crown, short full red ostrich plumes
giving the necessary height. The Directoires are
tending in shape towards the wide-fronted pokes worn
by our grandmothers, one recently inspected being
precisely like that seen in a portrait of a lady in 1825,
trimmed, too, in the same style. The brim is wide
instead of peaked in front, and continued round more
to the back, and the crown is encircled by ostrich
plumes, the colour grey—what was called at that
period lavender—and the feathers and wide strings
of the same shade, the only appreciable difference
being that the material of which the grandmother
bonnet was made is apparently of silk, and that of
the more modern creation is straw, velvet lined,
Voila tout.

HATS are larger than ever; here, also, the fashions
run to extremes. Either "picture hats" are worn, or
else hats, or toques, so small as to be, so far as shade
is concerned, absolutely useless. Thus the brim of
the new sailor-shape is so abbreviated that it hardly
deserves to be called a brim. What these hats have
lost in brim they have gained in crown, which is con-
siderably deeper, but this is no improvement. The
original intention of this kind of hat was to shade the
face. When the real purpose of a thing is thus lost
sight of entirely, it becomes inartistic and inhar-
monious from the right point of view, because it is no
longer useful or appropriate to the occasion for which
it is, or should be, worn—the raison d'etre is, so to
speak, gone.

MOST of the new hats are made of one-coloured
straw and lined with that of another shade or colour,
or else one of the fancy straws already named—black
and beige, black and maize, black and pale grey,
black and green, and navy blue and red are popular
combinations in straws. In large hats the Lagardiere
is one newly introduced and well worn in Paris.
It has a very wide brim and is of fine black straw,
the edge of the brim, which is turned up all round,
being ornamented with a wide fancy galon in green
and gold; a knot of prairie-green ribbon beneath the
brim rests .on the hair, bows of the same ribbon.
mingled with bunches of pink rhododendrons and brown
leaves covering the crown of the hat completely; the
larger bunches of blossoms set in front. This is not,
however, the style of trimming most adopted for
hats, for, as a rule, the flowers and ribbon loops are
placed at the extreme back, where they secure the
turned-up brim, and fall over the crown to the left
side. Shot ribbons and striped ribbons, either in peau
de soie or moire, these last being known as bebe
ribbons, are much used for hat trimming, as also
those with borders.

A BECOMING hat for a girl is a species of sailor bat.
the brim being larger than that of the ordinary sailor,
and slightly turned up all round, the left side is raised
to a level with a rather low crown. The model is in
grey-blue straw, lined with velvet of a much deeper
shade, the bows of velvet and ribbon being set on the
back of the crown. This hat was prepared to match
a pretty spring dress of pale blue-gray lainage, worn
over a blue-striped silk petticoat, the only trimming
being a silk cord in two shades of the blue which
outlined the edge of the pointed bodice, elbow sleeves,
three collars (each being larger than the other, the
deepest reaching to the shoulders), and the drapery,
which fell in a straight piece on the right side, and
was caught up in large poufs on the left side and at
the back, showing the silk petticoat.

TAB hats for children just brought out in Paris
are really charming creations. Among the prettiest
are the Eliane, the Sylvine, the Mauviette, and the
Tristan. The first-named is for a child of five or six
years, and is of beige-coloured 'straw, lined and
trimmed with marine blue 'velvet; the brim is turned
up all round, but especially in front, the trimming
being chiefly at the back, the wing feathers running
through the loops of velvet being, however, set
towards the front, The second hat mentioned is for
a youngPr child, and is of pale yellow straw, trimmed
with white Pain ribbon, white crepe lime, and white
ostrich plumes, which fall over the upturned brim on
the left side. Number three is of Italian straw, the
large brim, which is slightly upturned, being unlined,
and the sole trimming an arrangement of knots, bows,
and short ends of shot-green ribbon with a satin
bordering. The Tristan is for a girl of nine or ten,
and is of English straw, turned up with an Italian
fancy straw; the grey velvet trimming consists of a
series of bows, which are fixed at the back, where
the brim turns right up, and continued to the top
of the crown, round which is a broad band of
ribbon.

A BONNET for a tiny trot of three is in the Directoire
shape affected by those grown up. It is made of the
old-fashiom d white rice straw, and is trimmed with
either milk-white ribbons the tone of the straw, or else
red and white ribbons. The model was in the two
colours. Beneath the brim, to rest on the child's hair,
was set a bunch of vivid-red fluffed-out ribbon, white
ribbon bordered with red being used on the crown;
the strings, of the same ribbon, fastened under the
clusters of loops at the back of the bonnet, and were
tied beneath the chin, keeping the side brims of the
bonnet in place and giving it the proper poke shape
in front. Such bonnets have the quaintest effects on
baby heads, and are not otherwise than becoming;
but the dress to wear with them must not be of too
modern a cut, or the result is inharmonious, particular
styles like these requiring to be carried out in detail.

THE omnivorous taste of a baby may be known
when the subject is seen wandering aimlessly about,
with a shaving muc, in one hand and the birthday
book of Thomas A Kempis in the other.
WAS IT MIND READING ?—Bagley: "Bailey, do
you know that Gigley is a mind reader ?" Bailey:
"No. Is he ?" Bagley: "Yes, indeed. He quite
surprised me this morning. I wanted the loan of a
sovereign and so I stepped up to him and said,
,Gigley, my dear boy, it's a long time since I have
seen you. How is your health ?' I hadn't said a
word about the sovereign, but all Gigley said was
that he was sorry, but he hadn't got it, and he left
me with a bow.' Bailey: "Wonderful !"
LAW GLOSSARY.—The code of civil procedure :
Don't. Attachment of real property: Home, sweet
home. Attachment of I.ersonal property: Tying tin
can to a dog's tail. Release of civil prisoner: Kiss
me quick and let me go. Extension of time to
answer: Speak quick or I'll shoot. Preferred causes:
Those which produce desirable effects. Action to
compel determination: Spanking a lazy boy. Action
to recover real
_property: Digging to find the side-
walk. Money paid into court: Preliminary fee for
matrimonial agency.

THE NUNS AND THE CHILD.