The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-02-09
THE FASHIONS.

fashions
There ia yerv little to chronicle in the way
of fashion gossip, save ball costumes and an
extravaoanee in dress and ideas. "Costly thy
habit as thy purse can buy" reigns pre-emi-
nent in every brain. Our republican court can
find no Iaces too rare, no silks too costly, no
Jewels too magnificent. no ~ lls % eccentric
for the qualification of luxurious taste. The
most exquisite ball costumes are clouds of
tulle or tarletan, airy, light as snow-drifts or
heecy summer clouds In one costume the
overskirt or snowy tarletan, extremely bout
fdnt was looped with such lilies as Undine
might have worn, with trembling sprays of
glittering silvery leaves. Amid the varied
colored and meretricious tastes displayed in
ballroom, there is nothing more refreshing
for the eve to rest upon than the harmonious
admixture of white and silver. Apart from
this simplicity in beauty, superb silks of the
heaviest brocade are rescued from long obli-
WON. These are not the old-fashioned bro
cade, but of the Pompadour style-for exam
pie, the riches grOs grain silk, black, en-
broidered in brilliantly assorted flowers. Pur-
pie pansies with golden eyes, half hidden
in emerald mossy leaves; regal feurS
de lts, or punches of violets, purple aud
white; dainty rose-buds, carelessly knotted
together with meek-eyed daisies. These mag
nhcent silks are also embroidered in patterns,
on the TeC6TS, the front breadth overskirt
or flounces according to taste and style.
lovely lavender gr0s grain pattern dress was
lightly traced with white brocading of pecu-
liar silver simmer, as if moonlight had been
imprisoned in the graceful design of the float
ing foliage; another was of slate-color ground,
embroidered exquisitely in wreaths of myrtle
and tiny clusters of gay flowers. The bril-
liancy of these hues can only be compared to
the delicate creations of an artists brush.
These rich silks and velvet costumes are in
tended only for matrons in the meridian of
life, and stately dowagers learning the diff
cult art of growing old gracefully.
For younger ladies and maidens making
their debut in society, tarletan has been the
most popular and fashionable style this sea-
son. The material itself, so to speak, is cheap
enough for the most economical, but the ele-
gance of the dress depends upon its volumi-
nous drapery, quantity and quality of trim
ming. This winter, tarletans, like all other
materials, have been extensively trimmed
with velvet; with the velvet clusters of small
flowers, such as daisies, violets, buds, and
autumn leaves. For those who prefer lighter
and gayer accomplishments and trimmings,
satin is used The over-skirt, either in tar
letan or tulle, is very long, and made very
bouffant, or the skirt worn over silk is CO.
vered with elaborate pufings; if founces are
preferred trimmed with satin, it is necessary
for perfect harmony that the flowers should
exactly correspond in color with the satin.
Silks and velvet of neutral tints have never
been more fashionable for full dress recep-
tions and balls, the quiet tone relieved aud
brought out by exquisite laces. In the revi-
val of this most beautiful of all toilette ad-
juncts tuT0Te exists only to be appreciated
by woman; there is a freemasonry on the
topic of laces, and that lone touch of nature
makes the whole world of womanhood akin.
The rarest articles in the assortment Of lace
novelties are in point AlencOn and founces of
Chantilly; it is light as gossamer, its traceries
are like fairy thoughts wrought into shapes
by air sprites. The robe of Aienc0n
inch gold is woven and the meshes thereof
are silver. At one of the uptown palaces a
piece of Aienc0n is exhibited about eight
yards long, perhaps an eighth Ola yard wide,
which will probably enfold some ''armful of
heaven" in the shape of an American bride,
at the cost of $4,000! The Titania-like fabric
was dotted with the Imperial bee and bor-
dered with royal lilies. There are cobweb
n1OuchoirS, 6erthes, founces, fans, aud shawls
in sets ranging from $1,000 to $1,000.
For dark and black silks, lace is decidedly
the most fashionable trimming, invariably
headed by rich jet gimps. Chantilly lace is
the most expensive, therefore considered
most desirable, but guipure and duchesse lace
for trimming are very much sought after end
extensively used. Very elegant Chantilly
lace founces, costing from 500 to $3.50 per
yard, formed the trimming for a heavy
Antwerp silk headed by gimp thickly studded
with Jets. The corsage, cut low and square,
was trimmed with full rufhe of narrower
lace passing down the front quite around the
points of the waist; wide duchesse sleeves
trimmed to correspond
The lace fever is contagious as it is expen-
sive, yet proves a revival of refinement in
taste. 1t is no misnomer to connect poetry
with rare old point lace, such as becomes
heir-looms in old families, ofttimes the sole
fortune of the child descending from an i'm
poverished housewife grows pale and fra
gile as the cobweb-threads in her delicate
fingers, and, it may be, blind over the fabrica-
tion. Such is the rage for lace, that grave
and reverend grandmothers disdain caps, and
wear only point-lace crown-pieces the size of
a tea plate, or in oval shapes, perhaps with
Marie Antoinette point. Old ladies in the
provinces ordering their caps from town are
desOle at the frivolity of earth, upon being
told they must take to chignon and crimps
or go capless.
The eccentricities of fashion are marvel
lous. Nature is rapidly reconstructing itself.
There is rumor that false insteps and false
eyelashes are among late Inventions. One of
our most famous rejuvenators has produced
an exquisite lfe-like enamel for the CON-
plexiOn which is extensively patronized, and,
in addition, a charming blue tint for the
shading of the outer corner of the eye-lid;
another still darker for the tracing Of the
veins of the temples and brow; added to this
q fine dark line drawn beneath the under
eye-lashes completes the ensemble
Frizzed hair, hanging low over the
forehead, is no longer worn by the
autocrats of fashion. The present simple
style is alike graceful and elegant, moreover
Becoming to all; drawn loosely back from the