The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-12-25 00:00:00

It is a good many years ago now, and Clarice and
Eer husband are well-to-do people and dear friends of
mine, and I like to think I have forgotten all about
that terrible Christmas-eve, when I saw the shadow
for the second time. But there are times when lam
nervous—and old folks are apt to be nervous some-
times—when I fancy that I can see that shape grow-
ing out of the darkness, and hear the newsboys shout-
ing the confession of the miserable man who took a
fellow creature's life in mistake, and got nothing for
his pains but the dock and the hangman's noose.

GOSSIP ON DRESS-I
THE clear and fresh complexions of Englishwomen
never look better than when seen in their wintry
frame of furs, velvet, and plush. This last offers an
excellent illustration of the manner in which a mate-
rial may be socially disgraced by cheapness of pro-
duction. Again and again has plush come to the
front as a fabric most deserving of the suffrages of
individuals of good taste; and just as often has it
been vulgarised by being produced in inferior quali-
ties at low prices. Good plush is most sumptuously
soft to the touch and rich to the eye. When it
matches sealskin in colour it is frequently very diffi-
cult to tell one from the other by the aid of sight
alone, unless both materials are close under the eye.
But cheap plush is a very different thing.
Compared with the qualities in which this material is
first introduced to the fashionable world by Parisian
and English modistes, that produced at a low price is
as a plum imitated in artificial manufacture to the
original fruit with its fullest, richest bloom upon it.
It conveys an impression to the beholder which
Anericans graphically characterise as "mean." Last
year, low-priced plushes were to be met at every step
almost. in artistic London suburbs plush mantles,
plush costumes, and plush skirts were seen at "church
parade" in the dull greens, bright terra-cottas, and
livid olives bbloved of the esthetic. But they were for
the most part cheap, and hung badly. Good plush
at ono announces its excellence by the way in which
its folds hang. They show a dignified independence,
a stately symmetry, which the cheaper kinds know
nothing of. This involves a certain substance and
weight, and as a consequence, in well-made costumes,
plush is not very freely introduced. It is much in
favour for mantles, whether long or short. The latter
are supposed to be used when walking, the former in
driving or visiting. The texture is rich and soft in
the highest degree, and the tone of colour is naturally
improved in beauty by the fineness and thickness of
the pile. The linings are a salient feature of
these winter mantles, and it is always con-
trived that they shall be seen in little
glimpses, which often says more to the imagination
than uninterrupted views. For instance, a mantle
designed specially for the Grand Dechess of Vladimir
is made of grey plush so very close in pile as to re-
semble velvet. The lilting is composed of satin in the
most delicate shade of pale pink. Fitting closely to
the figure at the back, where it is short, the fronts are
straight and rather long. The back and sleeves are
quite covered with a beautifully fine embroidery in
the Oriental mingling of tints known as " cashmere,"
lighted up with threads of gold. This embroidery is
continued down the fronts forming a kind of hem.
A collar and small hood Of chinchilla fur complete
the trimming of this decorative little garment, warm
and cosy as it is becoming. The visite Bariatinski, so
named by its Parisian designer, is in bronze velvet,
and is made with a pelerine sleeve, a shape to which
the last few seasons have well accustomed us,
and one which is likely to remain in favour as so
comfortably accommodating the arms in cold
weather. A gold passementerie trims it down the
back and from the shoulders to the waist in front
Round the edges is a fringe composed of large balls
matching the passementerie, and of the size of the
" greediest " of bigarreau cherries. Between the
lines of passementerie in front is a wide stole of blue
fox, grebe, or chinchilla. The pelisse Hapsburg, long
enough to cover the entire dress, is made of old
green and gold matelasse, lined with Celadon green
satin. The collar is very high, and is covered with a
ruff. Three rows of gold embroidery define a sort of
yoke in the pelerine, the pleated sleeves beginning
just under them. Three similar bands of gold em-
broidery run from neck to feet on either front. This
is one of the most elaborate and expensive of the
new mantles, and it is much too heavy for any but
the strongest to walk in. For the latter purpose,
short jackets of plush or cloth, tight in the back,
straight in front, are made.

FOR dresses themselves, the modification of the
outlines still continue. The tournure or dress-im-
prover grows rapidly smaller; which is a fortunate
circumstance for those who are largely built, and
whose amplitude needs correction rather than any
addition. Bunches of folds on the hip, added to still
larger bunches arranged over an extensive cushion at
the back, renders a stout figure ridiculous. It is
possible to be comfortably endued with a substantial
fleshly envelope and yet not present an appearance of
such uncle e width as to excite the laughter of the
frirolouc.. But this is possible only when a certain
independence is maintained with regard to the
laws laid down by fashion. Till lately, very
stout women wore cushions as thickly stuffed
and as large in extent as did their slender sisters
for whom this especial mode was originated. But
recently, a dim sort of comprehension has begun upon
the subject. It is perceived that straightly falling
folds reduce the appearance of bulk. Consequently
many of the very newest dress models for stout
figures are thus arranged in front and at the sides,
while at the back the draperies are scanty and the
underlying cushion appreciably reduced in size. No
steels are worn behind the knees. But one is used by
the best milliners, and it is placed just below the
supporting cushion. This latter appendage is fairly
on the way to be reformed off the face of the earth,
and all persons of taste will agree that the sooner it
disappears the better.

POULTRY-DECKED hats are to be supplemented this
season by muffs to match. Lstst winter, it is true, a
pair of doves or a whole tribe of poor little linnets
were to be seen occasionally grouped upon the muffs
of those who probably supposed themselves to be well
dressed. Can any woman be said to be well dressed
who adorns herself with the bodies of the slain? The
small birds have long been sufferers. Perhaps they
are now becoming scarce, which may account for the
fact that larger ones are coming into favour. A Paris
fashion journal announces that sea gulls, golden
pheasants, guinea fowl, and the brilliantly plumaged
lophopbore, are being prepared for being worn whole
on the muffs of the seaspn. We may be permitted
to hope that this may prove to be one of the
Parisian modes which will not be adopted by English
women.