The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-03-03 00:00:00

GOSSIP ON DRESS.

FIZANCES HODGSON BURNETT, the popular novelist,
short in stature, plump, and fresh-coloured. Her
ste iin dress is [esthetic, and she usually affects
egark tea-gowns, confections in white crepe or
qicate neutral shades. Out of doors she wears long
.ush !wraps, of picturesque make and dainty colours.
er little sons are also carefully dressed, and taught
) be hivalrous in their manners.

" Ylm would be surprised," said Mrs. Miller to a
.oupl of ladies whom she was instructing in her
.ess I theories, "how many fashionable ladies of
'ashington are going about in trousers." But it
ust e remembered that these hygienic substitutes
r petticoats are not called trousers. They are

called' leglettes, and when it comes to matters of
dress there is ever so much in a name, Juliet Capulet
to the. contrary notwithstanding. The future will be
able to demonstrate whether a woman is any more
strong-minded for the knowledge that she wears
things like trousers, though not called trousers.
--
THE most original design in evening bodies is (re-
markS " Iris" in the London Echo) extremely difficult
to make anti to fit. It is composed of stripes of
velvet ribbon and lace. Jet or silk ornaments are
placed on the shoulders and at the back. A full
cascade of lace descends in graduated arrangement to
the-waist, and the basque is trimmed with a profu-
sion of lace falling over the hips. Such a body can
be worn with a black skirt, or with one in almost
any shade or style. As every lady likes to have a
black skirt for the evening, it may be mentioned that
one or two of the London houses are making them
with alternate stripes of jet ribbon, worked on a silk
mesh, and plain silk. Glace silks are again in great
demand in Paris, where Sarah Bernhardt has given
an impetus to " old-fashioned" dressing just falling
short of "historical." Here there has arisen a preju-
dice against any " shiny " dress materials, and dull
satins, or limp, clinging Surahs have usurped the
places of those fabrics which our grandmothers liked
to be thick enough and rich enough "to stand of
themselves."

IN day dresses the cold weather is still restricting
us to the thick materials. As long as these are worn
there will be no great change in the way of making
them. They lend themselves better to the becoming
long and rather straight draperies than to more
" fussy " arrangement. Navy blue, dark green, and
tan colour divide favour just now ; but, happily,
women of
.taste now consult their inclinations, and so
stripes and tweed mixtures enjoy deserved popularity
also. Some few large checks are seen, but unless
very well made and draped they are by no means
becoming. Perhaps one tires of them more than any
other style.

JitcxF,Ts bid fair to be both essential and smart
parts of the spring outfit. Fine white cloth, lined
with a bright colour, will probably be the extrava-
gant and rich ladies' wear. Such will be finished
off with a dainty hood, to correspond ; but the
prospect is somewhat alarming for smoky London.
" Tailor-made " jackets have been so much imitated,
as far as plainness goes, that the French tailors are
making them with much greater elaboration of style
and trimming. But to the young English woman,
possessed of a good figure, there is nothing either more
fascinating or more becoming than the simple cloth
cover-coat, either double-breasted or cut away at the
throat for collar and tie, and enjOying that exquisite
fit and cut which is only to be had by paying rather
a long price to a fashionable London ladies' tailor,
and is therefore really "exclusive." Those who pur-
chase ready-made copies may be assured that they
can never deceive a sister woman into the belief that
they are wearing a "tailor-made coat," whatever
ignorant man may be cajoled into thinking. An
extremely chic costume was brought back from Paris
by a fashionable young
.grande dame the other day.
The jacket was of darkest blue cloth, edged at the
seams and all round with the finest gold braid, and
the dress was tailor-made, of pale blue cloth. Coloured
plush jackets, too, are good style just now, even in
the gayest shades. Mantles are still large, much
trimmed and costly.

THE high-crowned, narrow hats have had such a
long and tedious run that anything would be welcomed
as a relief to them. Red velvet toque hats, bordered
with real Astracan, and trimmed with upstanding
bows of black moire ribbon, afford some variety, and
a good many ladies affect for afternoon wear these
little toques in moire silk, with velvet borders. The
best style now in hats is neatness and trimness. One
of the aristocratic milliners has just turned out a hat
of electric blue coarse straw to match a dress, simply
ornamented with some of the embroidery that was
used for the gown, and a twist of bright ruby velvet
just crossing the front.

THE same lady has also imported from Paris a
novelty which may or may not be liked here. It is
somewhat higher in the crown than the sailor shape,
of which it is an exaggeration. It is of dark green
straw, the brim is three inches wide at the back, and
considerably more in front. This was lined with
velvet of a darker shade, and the trimming is nothing
but a wide shaded ribbon, looped into a huge, careless
bow, of which the ends fall to the waist. Paris
pictures show a great desire to revive this fashion of
bygone days, and it will probably give an original
touch for a while to summer headgear. Grey is in
favour for hats and bonnets; but really good style
exacts uniformity now in the dress from the crown of
the head to the sole of the foot; and a fashionable
toilette would be vulgarised directly by one inhar-
monious addition, or an ill-selected pair of gloves.

EVERYWHERE is predicted great favour for brocades
this season. They have been produced in the most
beautiful designs, and reflect great credit upon their
makers. One that will be popular for wedding or
"full dress" toilets is the "silver wedding" one, made
of very thick, soft, white silk, with bunches of lilies
of the valley brocaded upon it in brightest silver.
Others have largo btinches of oats, barley, and wild
flowers unconventionally darnasse upon their purest
white ground. In coloured brocades the wonderfully
dainty devices of Louis XIV. and XV-. are reproduced.
It sounds very " original " now to hear of a ground
colour of vivid yet pale green thickly strewn with
tiny bunches of many tinted rosebuds, tied with true
lovers' knots of pale blue. Such are, however, to be
seen. In silks, the first consideration is that they
shall be spotted, and the second striped, generally in
moir6 and satin. The blendings of colour this year
promise to be daring and gay. Very bright green
will enjoy greater popularity than it has had for
years; certain shades of yellow will appear with
great frequency; and red of a tone of the most
dazzling poppy tint will be first favourite in that
scale.

MOST of the dressy toilettes made of late (says an
authoritative writer in Myra's Journal) have been in
composite styles ; one part is borrowed from one
epoch, another from a totally different era, and the
corsage, either by its cut or by the arrangement of
its ornaments, is a reminiscence of a third period, and
yet all the parts are so cleverly put together that
they harmonise well and produce a graceful and effec-
tive costume.

A SIMPLE but very stylish costume, in slate-grey
plush may be taken as an example of one of these
composite toilettes. The corsage and tunic are cut
together, and form a species of redingote, open at the
sides and in front over a skirt of Louis XV. brocade;
the front of the skirt forming the tablier is richly em-
broidered, but where it shows between the divided
panels of the redingote the embroidery is omitted. A
separate drapery of plush is added at the back, and the
corsage is ornamented with brandenburghs. A small
muff and capote are made to match the costume in
slate-grey plash, trimmed with a little gold cord to
correspond with the gold embroidered tablier.

-.-
VELVET is used in the same way as plush for cos-
tumes of this description, combined with cloth, Indian
cashmere, or with faille; and for simpler dresses cloth
with Indian cashmere, or with faille, has an excellent
effect. Braided ornaments, passementerie, or fur
trimmings are employed with cloth. An excellent
model for a young lady is a costume of beige cloth;
the plain skirt is ornamented on the left side by a
series of irertical bands of brown velvet, each one
terminating in a loop, and by a pointed panier drapery
of the cloth. A long polonaise of the cloth is fastened
from the left shoulder to far back on the right hip;
the front forms a long tablier falling straight on the
left side, but draped on the right under a passemen-
terie ornament; the back is draped with it on this
side, puffed in .the centre, and straight on the left
side. The edges are pinked out and lined with brown
bands pinked out in the same way.

Very handsome costumes are also made with cloth
redingotes over a velvet skirt trimmed with gold or
silver braid.

RUSSIA AND BULGARIA.
FERDINAND "A ROBBER OF POWER."
The St. Petersburg Official Messenger has published
the following communique setting forth the views of
the Russian Government upon the Bulgarian ques-
tion :—" Recent foreign private telegrams stated that
the Russian Ambassador at Berlin had made proposals
to the German Government regarding Bulgaria. In
order to form a correct judgment concerning the
present state of affairs, it is indispensably necessary
to bear in mind the views originally expressed by the
Imperial Government upon the Bulgarian question.
The 14reaty of Berlin forms the basis of the order of
thing i established in the Balkan Peninsula, in pur-
suance of a general understanding among the Powers.
This order of things constitutes the only interna-
tional guarantee against _ . convulsions fraught
with danger to the future of the young
States of the Balkan Peninsula. It was pre-
cisely from this point of view that the Imperial
Government has regarded the events which
have occurred in Bulgaria since the abdication
of her first Sovereign. The arrival of Prince
Ferdinand of Coburg in Sofia and his assumption
by force of the princely power were contrary to the
stipulations of the Berlin Treaty, for which reason the
Imperial Government declared at the time that it
did not intend to recognise the Prince as the legal
ruler of Bulgaria, and also endeavoured to induce the
other Cabinets to express themselves in the same
sense. In view of the wish expressed on all sides to
put an end to the existing alarming state of things,
the root of which is more particularly traceable to
the ambiguous situation in Bulgaria, the Imperial
Government considered it its duty to make a fresh
endeavour to obtain from the Powers a declaration
, affirming the inviolability of the treaty stipulations
with regard to Bulgaria, and the necessity of bring-
ing the principality back to a legal status. The
natural consequence of such a declaration on the part
of the Powers must be representations at Constanti-
nople with the object of inducing the Sultan to make
it clear to the Bulgarians that the person who now
bears the title of Prince is not the legal ruler, but
merely a robber of power. According to the views
of the Imperial Government, the initiative of such a
declaration belongs without doubt to the Sultan,
whose rights as Sovereign are immediately affected
by the illegal state of things at Sofia. Without
anticipating the future, the Imperial Government,
in order to dispel any doubts concerning the objects
and intentions, in no way conniders it neces3ary
to conceal its mode of action, which it is firmly re-
solved to bring to bear upon the Bulgarian question
in the event of the removal of the reasons to which
the continuance of the crisis is due. Bulgaria owes
her existence to the sacrifices and efforts of Russia,
who for this reason alone continues to extend her
sympathy to thatcountry, and looks with sorrow upon
the trials which it has to undergo. Standing equally
aloof from prejudices as from partiality, and thus, not
considering it compatible with its dignity to interfere
in internal disputes, the Imperial Government, at the
same time, is far from entertaining the idea of making
anyone responsible for the past. Even sincere avowal
of the aberrations of the past will, in the eyes of the
Government, be a pledge of a change for the better.
Russia solely desires the welfare of Bulgaria, and will,
after the removal of the usurper, await the first
sincere declaration of the Bulgarian people made
through its representatives in order to consign the
past to oblivion and to provide for the re-establish-
ment of relations based upon mutual confidence. In
this the Imperial Government is also far from intend-
ing to prejudice in any way the liberty of the Bul-
garians, a liberty assured to them by the Treaty of
Berlin, in all that concerns their internal institutions
and the administration of their country.
"The Imperial Government cannot forget that
Bulgaria owes her freedom more especially to Russia,
and that it is not in the suppression but in the defence
of the rights of the Bulgarian people that Russia's
direct mission lies, if only the persons who are called
upon to guide the destiny of this people would under-
stand how to make a reasonable use of their rights.
May the Bulgarians, taught by experience, at length
see the necessity of renouncing their personal rivalries
and schemings and unite their efforts in order to bring
their country into the way of legality and prosperity.
In such a case any foreign intervention would become
purposeless and superfluous, and the installation of a
new Prince would be accomplished without obstacle,
and under the conditions stipulated by the Berlin
Treaty.
"The above considerations have guided the Govern-
ment from the commencement of the Bulgarian crisis,
and have induced it from the outset to reject the idea
of the eventual restoration of a legal status in Bul-
garia by the use of force. At the same time, it is a
matter of course that until the removal of the usurper
from Bulgaria the Imperial Government will continue
to regard the present situation in that country as an
illegal one, retaining the firm conviction that in the
removal of it lies the most efficacious means of insuring
general tranquillity."