The Cecil Whig., 1874-10-24
THE FASHIONS.
Extracts from Demorests Monthly for Noo.
TALKS WITH woMEN-LETTERS TO YOUNG
HOUSEKEEPER.
BY JENNIE JUNE.

THE SLEEPING ROOM" He giveth his
beloved p."-Let any of US try to recall
sleeping rooms which have impressed them
selves upon the memory, pleasantly or
otherwise, and we shall see upon what
slight apparent causes hung our liking or
repugnance. There is well-remembered
room which belonged to the vine wreathed
cottage of an English relative, in an Eng
lish village. The walls were whitened and
held a few pictures-not at all cheerful-of
Ananias and Sapphra, the Crucifixion, and
the scene in the Temple; but an old china
pot full of dried rose leaves stood upon a
very old, carved bureau. The small, tri-
angular, diamoned- -paned windows opened
upon an old fashioned English garden, full
of gooseberry and currant bushes, pear and
plum trees, beehives and bird roosts. roses
and daffy- down dillies, "old man" and
scarlet-runners, peppermint and sweet mar
joram. And though a quarter of a century
has passed, yet the little girl of seven,
! lying luxurously between the sheets of
heavy linen, white as snow, and scented
with lavender, feels again the morning
breeze upon her cheeks, gets the odor of
the sweet-brier and the roses, and lives
over again the dreamless nights of an
English Summer, in pretty English home.
Women need exercise in more ways than
riding or walking even; they require to use
their hands and arms, to throw out their
chests, to put the whole body in motion.
| No Health Lift, no gymnastics are half SO
good for this purpose, as making beds, and
sweeping, busting, and arranging rooms.
Then there is something peculiarly agree
able in the thought that an intelligent
hand touches and smooths sheets and pill
lows, evens everything off nicely, removes
with care dust from vases, bottles, books,
and monks and 1aavaS tha
toilet apparatus in order, and takes away
whatever is unsightly. The time required
is very little, indeed, when the work is
done with regularity, and the satisfaction
Is immense.
! Let us make our sleeping rooms in some
sense hallowed ground, sacred to repose,
to gentle thoughts, to truth, to purity;
representative, in brief, of the life we hope
for when the last sleep opens the portals
upon diviner day.
Felt is uniformly faced and trimmed
with vevet-so largely indeed that investi-
CATION alone reveals the fact that it is felt,
and not velvet, of which the hat is com
posed. Upon black felts and velvet much
jet is used in conjunction with feathers,
but upon browns and grays leaves shaded
in all the natural Autumn tints are placed
under the brim, or mounted upon the side,
with velvet bows, the long feathers lying
over the crown and dropping almost or
quite to the shoulder.
The long, soft ostrich feathers, shaded
IN grays and browns, are feature of the
season, and match precisely the shades in
troduced into the groundwork of the new
dress fabrics, of which more by and by.
Birds are also in great demand, so great
that the prices are daily becoming higher,
and orders cannot be supplied.
Walking Jackets depend altogether
upon their cut and shape for their beauty
and style. Flat braid and galoon trim
mings are used only upon cloth, and the
palmer they are made the more stylish
they are, but they must have the high,
close cut, and the neatness of finish which
belongs specially, as is supposed, to the
talor's art.
parations for the Winter season were never
more brilliant, and never more sensibly
adapted to universal wants, tastes, and
means than they are now. For the fash
ionable belle, and the grand dame, there
are complete toilettes, and out and indoor
garments in preparation of surprising
beauty and elegance. Aprons, skirts,
cuirass bodices, dolmans, jackets, and opera
cloaks, are covered with embroidery
Black materials sparkle with black Jet
beads, gray ones with steel beads, and
white with white jet. Each part of the
costume is worked with a special design
composed to suit its form, although uni
form on the whole. The fronts of the
bodice have their design, tho back has its
own, and it is the same with the basuues,
revers, pockets. The embroidery is work
ed with either wool or silk of the same
color as the material.
The novelties in fabrics this season are
very numerous and have quite cast into
the shade the staple materials upon which,
for many years, we have been accustomed
to rely. Oxford homespuns, soft, large
meshed all wool diagonals cashmere cloths
camel's hair mixtures, Scotch cloths in in
visible checks and stripes, and in all shades
OF gray and brown, together with stylish
materials in English worsted, coarse mesh
ed, and fine, some damasked, and others
wrought in patterns which resemble dice
as much as anything.
Stylish suits for misses are made of
shepherds check in all wool, trimmed with
black velvet, and worn with black velvet
sleeveless basque. Velveteen of a good
color, and not too thick, is, however, quite
costly enough for growing girls, especially
where money is an object.
Dark coiors are used Tor girls much more
than formerly, and brown suits, with brown
felt hat, are considered extremely stylish.
Garnet also is very fashionable.
There is q new material for red;,ootes
this Fall, which, though it cannot super
,,rit1 and iii h na5 a. AZ ohoe .i' .neI popu-
49, 9s..a -" " uu .noIc "no o"i-
thing distinctive, and which bears the
stamp of fashion.
The new fabric is known as Matelasse
silk and Matelasse cloth; the latter is "A
mixture of silk and wool, and both are
kthick, and have the appearance of being
wadded and quilted.
1t looks particularly well mounted with
velvet collar, cuffs, or revers, but is not
very becoming to short figures, nor does
it give elegance to the form; we do not,
therefore, advise it for sleeveless jackets,
although it is used for these, unless, in
deed, the figure was slender to thinness
and wanted filling out, as little boys want
buttons, sail over.'