Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1873-09-01
FASHIONS FOR SEPTEMBER

| No perceptibe atom of IL has yet found its way
back to New York. The great business houses
are as blank of customers as If they had sudden
ly been infested by the plague, or petrifed by q
| volcanic eruption. The clerks stand behind the
| counters yawning, the goods lay untouched on
| the shelves, If some benighted woman, a
| stranger from the country, or an early arrival
does find her way into their desolate immensity
| she shrinks back, appalled, at her own temerity
and at the excitement-great as the appearance
of the first white woman in a new settlement
which her presence creates.
Only in one or two of the largest and most i'm
portant houses is there an evidence of the ap-
proach of autumn in fabric or costume, and this
consists principally of the appearance of Eng
hsh serge waterproof cloth and other stand ard
materials which come under the denomination
of useful, and are not materially affected by
fashion. The greater part OF the goods on exhi-
bition are summer silks, spotted foulards, India
silks and grapes, grenadines linens and batistes,
which have q fade and forlorn look in the cool
brightness in our late August weather, which
seemed much more like September.
THE FALL SEASON.
Notwithstanding this apparent dullness, how
ever, a prosperous fall season is anticipated
and great are the preparations for business and
pleasure which are being made by those whose
lot 1t Is to cater to the wants and whims of the
capricious public. Twenty-Five places of amuse-
ment, including two really first-class opera COM
panies, ought to provide relief for the over-ac-
and brilliant New York; and If this is not suf-
fcient, there are the churches, with their prima
donnas; the dry goods palaces, with their at
social life, enjoyment and activity.
The only drawback to this roseate picture is a
habit we have Of discounting the future to such
cies, and we are therefore always being dis
agreeably brought up on short turn by an I'M
looked-for event, which thus takes the form of
calamity. Half our rich men are rich on the
prospective value of property, which the build
ing or not building of railroad, the falling off
or increase of population in certain neighbor-
nunra he xzfa
or the opening of pork store may seriously
and detrimentally affect, and who are therefore
IKE "Jack" in box, either up with a spring
or down with jerk, and not to be depended
upon Tor even so long as fashionable "sea-
son."
There is the consolation to outsiders, how
eyer-who only see the show-that their places
are soon occupied, and that it matters little who
take the parts in the farce so long as it is
played.
CONVERSATIONS.
Year by year the fashionable world-that is
the world who own and occupy the great brown
stone houses on the fashionable avenues, and
particularly the world that lives in hotels and
boarding houses-remain away from them more
and more, longer and still longer, until their &C
tual living in them is limited to less than six
months in the year. This is perhaps only natu-
raj. The women of this class have no occupa-
ton, not even taking care of their own clothes
They have no housewlfely anxieties, no fruit to
pickle or can or preserve, no trunks of clothing
10 overhaul to see what will do and what will
have to be made over, and what will require
replenishing. They have no close calculations
to make in regard to the possibility of new cur
tains, no concealments to devise for faded fur
niture and worn carpets; no important decision
to arrive at as to which member OF the family
shall have the new best dress this year, which
the new furs, or which the new street suit. All
these points are adjusted or ad lust themselves
where 'mOney is no object, )" but to Others the
vast multitude of ''limited incomes" they form
great port of the work of life. and the breath
ing space afforded by the still long DAYS, after
the brief holiday, and before the crush" be-
gins, is gratefully taken advantage of by hun
dreds OF thrifty mistresses of modest houses, as
golden opportunity not to be lost upon any &C
count
These constitute the only arrivals from two
months'-more or less-Of sojourn in some rural
homestead, or inland summer resort; and If IL
Is the boys "second" summer, and there is dan
ger to 1t in q too early return to the close at.
mosphere of the town. SO much the better, the
husband and wife left together get acquainted
over again, renew the companionshp of their
early married life, and the mother has a chance
to gather up her forces and prepare for the ex.
ercise of those womanly virtues of which the
world makes little account, but of which il
"sENsIBLE" FASHIONS
There is q curious impression about, that all
ungraceful and unbecOming fashions are "sen-
sible;" at any rate they are called so, and to
dress sensibly is therefore with many SYNONYM
GUS with dressing in a manner repugnant to
their feelings as well as their tastes. For exam
pie, shoulder-straps are to some as great an an
noyance as corsets. Holding the most delicate
vi thC UOuy as III u VICE, lOTClLX upon IL the
whole weight Of underclothing, they become
most disagreeable and painful, and wear upon
the nerves as well as the flesh in a way that is
neither healthful nor pleasurable; yet, because
they shift the weight to another part of the
body-a part not nearly so well able to bear it
as the hips-they are universally called "sensi-
ble."
Tnose fashions are sensible which are best
adapted to their purpose; and the way to rem
edy an undue weight upon the hips, is to reduce
the ayoirdupois Of the clothing, not remove it to
ms
are i'll able to bear an additional burden.
At present, however, there is no necessity for
any sensible woman to be burdened or troubled
with clothing. The dress of women to-day is as
well adapted to their needs-if they choose to
make it so-as it is ever likely to be; and II they
indulge in extravagancies, or conform to abb
surdities, it is their own fault. Who wants a
more convenient dress than q walking skirt and
polonaise belted in and finished with a little
neckte at the throat? This is as practicable
with the exception of the difference between the
skirt and trowsers-as the dress of q man; and
the trousers have but little advantage except in
climbing fence, while the prejudice of women
themselves In favor of y certain amount of
drapery, gives us the skirt without question,
and renders discussion in regard to it unneces-
sary, at least at present.
If this pretty, convenient, inexpensive dress
Is made burdensome by being overloaded with
trimming, having paniers piled on over-skirts,
and basques on paniers and stiff wire frames
erected underneath to sustain the mass, that is
the fault of the wearer not of the dress. Bat
even this is not the case with the fashion as it is
fashionably worn. Rufies, basques, paniers,
and bustles have disappeared or been reduced
to the smallest fraction, and the highest style
Of to-day is conventual in Its neatness and clas-
sic in its outlines.
1t is questionable people who stick the long
est to an absurd fashion. They scold about It
and protest against it, until its originators have
got tired of it and it has ceased to be fashion
able, and then they adopt it and hold on to it
long after it has disappeared from the circle to
which it is supposed to belong. Hoped skirts,
paniers, bustles, and other modern reviyals ex-
emplify this fact.
RXTRAvAGANCE IN DRESS.
All the talking and all the writing in the
world will not prevent fine clothes from being
bought and worn, by those who can afford
them. Why should it? Who would not wear
rich silk, real lace and diamonds If 1t could be
done without making others suffer? would,
moreover, If were man and could not wear
them myself, would marry Q wife that could |
and upon the proper occasions insist upon her |
doing 1t too.
Extravagance is relative term. What would |
be extrayaRance in one would be simply con-
forming to the necessities Of social position in |
another. II AS husband wishes her to spend |
Ave hundred ollars Per year on dress, there is |
no reason why BIS wife should be unhappy or |
insist upon dressing like her when their entire |
income stands represented by this amount; or
why, If KS wife indulges In the one handsome
dress of n and real lace trim IL (which /