American citizen., 1875-03-27
Items About New Suits.


An inspection of several boxes of
French dresses proves that it is in small
details alone that dresses are made to
differ from those now worn. In the first
place. new basques are very much
trimmed A Pompadour square OF shirred
silk trims the breast and back, and this
square is edged with fringe or with knife
pleating. Other basques have knife
pleats laid down their entire front in
vest shape; sometimes this is repeated
Ill the back, while still others have merely
four or six large pleats. Edges of basques
are cut in long squares, and piped or
fringed. Sleeves are trimmed their
whole length with shirrs or pleats to
match those on the basque, and an elab-
crate arrangement of these trimmings
forms the large cuff. The Worth back
with two side bodies, and English backs
with Marguerite effect, all others with
the side forms running up to the shoul-
der seams, are seen more often than the
plain French back. Some additional
pieating is put on to form position
basques, yet there are also many cuirasses
fitting plainly over the tournure. Tab
liers are also much trimmed, especially
down the middle of the long front; here
are double rows of buttons, or of droop-
ing loops of silk arranged in a cascade
or jabOt; or else there is shirred or
knife-pleated band inserted down the
front-not laid upon it. There are many
square tabllers open up the back, and "a
deep fiounce of the same material as the
apron is placed on the back of the lower
skirt to show where the tablier back falls
open. But if shirring and knifc-pleating
are abundant on basques and aprons, they
fairly run riot on the lower skirt. The
Boar regrets to say the fine fabrics of
new dresses are still cut up and gathered
in these elaborate trimmings, and that
the plain, simple costumes so long hoped
for are the exception rather than the
rule.
The trimming of skirts of suits is usu-
ally alike all around. There is fancy
for narrow knife pleating bordering the
skirt with wide bias-shirred fiounce
above it. Another design is two rows of
pleating, each finger-length deep, head
ed by a broad bias band that has from
six to twelve rows of shirring, leaving
only narrow friIl each side of the gath
ers. The new knife pleatings are so fine
ly folded that they look like crimping.
Shirring is done in rows that are very
close together, and the space between
clusters is pulled up sharply. Plaid
founces on plain goods are both pleated
and shirred.
A new tablier is Of shirred horizontal
puffs, fifteen in number, covering the
of q knife -pleating at the bottom. This
is prettily made of plain gray silk, while
the back has a revers or winged over
skirt of striped silk. The basque is
striped, and the sleeves are plain and
shirred down the outside seam.
One of the prettiest plaid suits has
plain skirt of soft gray serge with a
single bias plaid fiounce held by six rows
of shirring and edged with a knife pleat-
ed friil OF the plain gray. The plaid gray
overskir. is very deep, straight around
and open up the back, over a second fall
of plaid that is attached to the lower
skirt. An odd, bag-like pocket is on
the left side of the overskirt and there
are three long-loOped bows down the
front. The plaid basque has fine pleat-
ing of plain gray down the front and
back
Damask-figured goods are also used
for basques and tabiiers over plain
skirts. Many new lustrous goods not in
market here are shown in these imported
costumes. They are as soft and plant
as the dull woolens, but have a smooth,
lustrOus surface that does not catch dust.
Stripes, checks, blocks and the matelasse
figures are used in these goods. Gray
and beige browns are almost the only
colors represented. Scarcely any suits
are shown that are made of but one ma
terial; they invariably have plain foun-
dation combined with plaids, stripes or
figures.
Handsome black and chocolate brown
silk costumes, made stylishly, yet not
overloaded with trimming, have the
edge of the skirt cut in leaf points, and
q knife pleating placed beneath. The
tablier is six bias folds two or three
inches wide, piped, and edged below with
fringe, and then laid in crescent shape
ON the front breadth. A revers Over-skirt
trims the back breadths. The basque has
q shirred Pompadour square in front,
edged with knife-pleating. The back
has long forms that run up to the shoul-
der seams; fringe trims the edge. The
sleeves have shirring down the outside
seam, and q cuff edged with pleating.
New ecru and gray batiste suits have
: basques and aprons of checker-board
blocks with plain skirts and sleeves.
The shirr1ng on basque, sleeves and
down the tablier front appears in ali
these. Other ;bstlste basques and aprons
are covered entirely with Hamburg open
embroidery, and are worn above blue or
brown silk dresses. Plain batiste is
used for knife-p1eating both as tiounces
and on the basques, also as iniags Tor
open-worked batistes.
Pretty and inexpensive suits for early
spring are being made of the gray tweeds
that sell for twenty-five cents a yard.
The over-skirt is of the Empress shape
trimmed with many rows of machine
Stitching and with another shade of gray,
or perhaps plaid or stripes. The basque
has similar trimming down the front and
back. The skirt may be either black or
gray Alpaca and fine black mohairs
are made up in the same style, and fin
ishsd with very fine knife e-pleatin2s.
New waterproof cloaks for spring are
called McFarlanes. They are long, with
a belt in the back like the Ulster over
coats worn by gentlemen, and have a
cape that is careIessly thrown over the
right shoulder. English waterproof
cloth. of which they are made, comes in
invisible checks and plaids like the pat
terms seen in dress s-goods.-Harper's Ba-