Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1873-11-01
THE WORLD OF FASHION
STYLES FOR NOVEMBER.

| NEW YORK. October 81, 1875.
The autumn Of 1873 viii be long remembered.
| Never was New York 50 rich, never were peo-
pie so poor. Weather beautiful beyond expires
sion, hsrvests glorious and glrnered in aSse.
upon every street corner; the great singers am
dramatic artists OF the world iost!ing each Other
| upon the sidewalk
| Then. whether from the inspiration OF eacl
| others presence, or the delicious influence o
| the atmosphere | know not. bat * is the OpiuiOI
| of authoritative judges that singers and actors
surpaSs themselves. Such a wealth OF music
| was never poured forth-it Is slartting eRtrtn-
| cling; IL is the inspiration thai We read d1JuJ.
| that men 90 mad over and that mere money
| seems poverty itself by the ssde OF. In the fac,
| OF this royalty of song one can understand tn
! enthusiasm OF the BeFliners, and II G Wild in
| toNcatOn OF the st. PetersbGrghers In Lucca
| and Murska and Nilsson We haze the ere am o.
| the world in music and song, and dollars hard
| ly earned are wen spent in obtaining a souvenir
| of genius so remarkable, of gifts so enthralling
| Di Murska has sprung upon us a surprise
| Ii New York was i'm funds 1t would smother her
| with roses anG furnish her with a glass coach
and six Even the grand opera is not able to
| eNtingulsh her, as il very nearly has lucca, and
| as it does everybody. Then the way in which
/ she has done il is simply delicious. Coming Oh
| the stage with her mass OF blonde hair sur
| mounting her small, rather worn face, like a
| grown up French doll, the New York critic first
eyed her leiSurely through his glass, then list
ened to the first three or four notes aud de
/ clared she would not do" her voice was
"thin," liquid sweetness possibly, but too long
/ drawn out But Di Murska went on singing
/ anu III little N0lle the new n Orh critic, who
is nothing ii not critical, and who therefore
never heartily applauds anything, was yelling
bTGr0 till he was hoarse, and clapping his only
4 pair of Kid gloves out of the limit of stitcned
/ propriety. The same with the public, only
| more so.
| Lucca, dear little woman sings as if a thou
| sand wonderful voices were imprisoned in her
| throat, and is superior, a. Is Nilsson also, in
| many respects, TO hi Murska, but she does not
create the vivid impression Of the Hungarian
| singer.
| THE ToILETTEs OF THE rRIMA DONNIE.
There is curious difference in the style OF
| dress adopted by the different prima donnas,
| alton.
Christine Nilsson has alw avs been a client o.
| Worth, the French man dressmaker aud Is said
| 10 be paSsiOuately fond OF dress; certainly Il
| must cost her great deal Upon her. Worth
| has expended all the resources Of his art in
! looping, hUnching, folding, and arranging
| drapery, and her costumes present the best re-
| suit OF the modern revival OF tliS method. But
| though harmonious a. whole. and perfect a,
| work of art, il destroys materials, and lacls
| the breadth ana grace Of outline, necessary to
| fine effect upon the stage.
| Thus the costumes of Nilsson. though exces-
| sively elaborate, are less bea rfu' tie eyes
| of many than those of other artists upon which
| evidently, much less time and money has been
| spent. one of WILSON'S tOilettes, tor example,
was of white satin, Se skirt striped, in addition
| to its pleating and putting, with cords stitched
u like those of a gentleman's shirt % OsOm,
| Twenty-Five in group forming one stripe. The
amount OF work on this dress was enormous, be-
tween four and five thousand yards of stitching
| being being employed upon the cords alone.
This, fer stage purposes, was all lost and
worse than lost. How It ruined the natural eff
feet of the beautiful material could be best D.
| preciated by observing the bridal dress OF ID
| Murska in Lucia di LammermOor, which is al
| most classic IN its simplicity. Lucca has no
| originality, and not enough OF ''style" about
| her dress to win admiration from New York
| audience; but hi Murska, while equally avoid
| ing the fussiness of the modern fashions, by a
| single stroke of genius achieves striking re-
| suits.
OPERA DRESS
The opera never presented 50 little that wa
| brilliant or effective in the way OF t0lettes a.
this season. The truth is, that Notwithstanding
the variety admitted in fashion the dark SAT- il
almost universal, and is worn upon all o,ca-
sions, except by the few persons with whom fun
dress in the evening is daily habit.
| Formerly nearly every one possessed a white
opera cloak and an evening bonnet, whicl
could be worn with a somewhat pass dress and
with the aid of fan, bouquet, lace handkerchief
and white or light kid gloves presented 81 trssC
avery gay and charming appearance. But an
| opera cloak is ont of place over a suit; il i,
complete i'll itself. and with it dark gloves may
be worn, and lace handkerchief AMI 9th n daii-
cate toilette accessories are not required; and
so II has come to pass that bet geen the dark
| distemPered shades of day greens aud browns
and the dismal attempts at Frightening up
street toilettes with old ight bOnRets or new
striped shawls our opera audiences have pre-
| scented a sombre yet dowdysh appearance very
I'M American. and which does them little credit
| in the eyes of distinguished foreigners who had
been led to believe in their exceptional good
| taste.
EVENING DRESS.
controversy is imminent in regard to even
| ing dress, which may or may not settle that
vexed question forever. At present no one is
| sure what evening dress reallyis With some it
Is the low straight neck and short sleeves OF the
traditions, with Others only the absence of a
bonnet or the addition of head-dress and GER
tain accessories to an ordinary toi lette. With
many il is the last new dress, or the best they
have got, whatever that Is.
Now, there is certain distinction which il Is
| very useful and highly proper 10 import to full
dress. The dress coat of the gentleman marks
his sense OF the ftne Of things, and of the re
| spect due to time, place and circumstance. lie
can wear the same coat for seven years, or re-
turn to II after seven years, and it is distinc
tive OF his recognition OF the social conventions,
and as well lifted to its original pur poses ever
But women have no such RESOURCE or security.
Very few Of them can aAJrd even one elegant
party or evening dress every season, or more
often than once in several seasons. Yet 50 fire.
| quent are the changes in fashion thaLdress-
makers cannot follow them, and a dress which
has cost much sacrifice to obtain will be Old
fashioned not only before il l. worn out, but
before 1t is put on.
In this emergency, some advocate the perms-
nent adoption of the English Z" evening dress,
viz: low neck ard short sleeves, but this, it is
claimed byothers, is not susceptible of sufficient
, , modification or adaptation TO individual taste
| and necessities.
| This is true, but it is not all the truth. Bare
neck and arms not only expose all deficiencies
OF figure, but the style is absurdy inappropriate
| to grown, and particularly middle aged or
elderly women. Ii is neither modest, digulhed,
| protective nor adaptable. and therefore un-
| worthy of consideration. The most picturesque
| style FOR a permanent full or evening dress is
| the Raphael This admits of numerous changes
and notifications, (still preserving the central
| idea,) and has the approval of artists. The
| feature is the square body, which may be cut
1 high or low, filed in with lace or simply Dor
dered with lace, finished with a standing ruff or
| 6De insertion. and edging laid close to the skin.
| Contrasting materials or colors may also be
| inserted at plessu e, and in fact the methods
may be as various SIS the tastes of the persons
| they represent.
The antique sleeve, or sleeve coming below
the elbow, would naturally accompany the
/ square bodice, and is the most suit ,ble, be-
| cause highly susceptible Of graceful and varied
| modification. The simplest form is shaped to
1 the arm, with deep ruffiss below the elbow.
But sleeves and ruffies may be longer or shorter
| full or scant; they may resolve themselves into
4 pleatings OF the material, with lace or muslin
| beneath; or q deep marquise cuff may be turned
4 up over the elbow, and the top slAshed, reveal
ing putting of lace or muslin beneath, as may
/ be seen in some rich toilettee this season. In
| fact the square bodice and demi-long sleeves
never 60 quite out; they possess so much of
grace and distinction in themselves, and admit