National Republican., 1877-11-03
Fashion GOSSIP.

a, Pattefs patters through the night,
In the blessed morning light
Fashion Gossip.
The constantly changing and ever.recurrinq
topic Of dress though In some Of its aspects .
delightfully."- interesting one. Is yet the most
troublesome that afficts the feeble mind.
Every lady Of social standing fnds her soul
harassed by II at least twice a year, and who
shall tell Of the anxieties undergone by those
lanes whose worldly status depends entirely
upon their clothes2 The lady Of means,
whose position is assured, can afford to dress
shabbily If she chooses can even be "genteel''
in last years bonnet and devoid of a pull
back; but the lady without means, whose
standing is shaky-neverl The wife of the
clerk, whose salary scarcely pays rent, food
and fuel, and the daughters Of the bankrupt
business man, whose income IL derived from
Heavens knows where, must keep up appear
ances by dressing as stylishly, II not a.
richly, as the wealthiest. For the latter class
to forego one button from their gloves or one
trap from their slippers would be ruination,
and they must keep well up in the very latest
agony Of cuffs and cravats, bows back hair
and trinkets, fans, fancy shoe buckles and still
more ianciful stockings, and all other expcn-
sive accessories of the toilet. The sewing
woman, the shop-girl and the waiting maid
are each rs particular In their respective
spheres, and so on down through every strata
Of society to the hard-working Bridget, who
invests
THE SAVINGS OF MONTHS
in be-rufiled Sunday silk, so that she may
look as well as her companions There Is no
country like our American Republic in this
respect. We, who have imported so much
from abroad-French fashions, foreign wines,
italian art, English plays, even marriages ION
the European plan'-would do well to borrow
some sound sense from across the ocean In re-
gard to dress. Whatever may be the extrava-
gances Of Partisan women, they have always
an eye to tho eternal fitness Of things, and
are sure to dress appropriately. In La Belle
France the titled dame the mOnddine and the
demi- i-mOnddine alone indulge in furbelowsI
while the boHrgeoise woman sticks to her
plain gown of stout, stiff black silk, which
lasts lifetime, and the servant to her clean
| print or trim stuff dress, guitless of gewgaws.
In England Lady High-Flier has no fears that
her maid will cut patterns fer her friends in
| the lower regions from her mistress Worth or
Van Reuth costumes but Mrs. Shoddy Of New
York, while promenading Broadway in q suit
which cost half her husbands monthly income,
| Is liable to meet her colored cook, parading .
| twenty-cent alpaca made in exactly the samo
| style. But this Is one of the few evils in
"free country" under a republican form Of
government, which has produced so much Of
good that we may well overlook its errors, and
there Is no help for II.
Tho fashion-writer who would assist the
majority must not confine her descriptions to
| elegant imported costumes Of fabulous prices,
suited only to the creme de Ia creme Of society,
who are but as drop In the national bucket,
but must tell us how to follow the futile
goddess from afar, and to basque In her beams
with home material made up by American
| aodisfes. The best advice to tho middle
| classes, whose means are sure but limited, is
don't buy too many cheap dresses and don't
indulge too extensively in expensive superHui-
ties, Make sure Of
ONE GOOD SUIT
throughout, at least ol:eA year, Of fine mate
rial, and made by the best dreS~maker yon
know of, as these are by far the cheapest in
the end. If you are blessed with moderate
degree Of "gumption" you can make over your
last years best, with the addition Of little
raw material, into a second-best suit for this
year. Gloves, shoes and underclothing must
| first be well provided for, as necessaries, and
then divide your surplus pin-money In super
| huities. Remember that soiled fve-button
gloves and shabby ten. dollar boots are no
longer an fat, and that plenty of threc-butto
| kids and fresh boots of cheaper variety arc
preferable.
Amid all the ups and downs of fashion there
| Is nothing 50 serviceable as an elegant black
silk, and no lady In moderate circumstances
can afford to be without one. No other dress
| is such o standby or suitable for so many oc-
| casions, and no goods can be 50 utilized as
| long rs a scrap remains Black silks are very
much reduced In price, so that now hand
some grade can be bought for 81 75 a yard that
not long ago sold for $3.50 The soft yielding
amure silks seem more suitable for mourning I;
| yet both black and colored aniures are made
up with velvet for ladies not in mourning.
| Heavy dmTe silks for cloaks and polonaises
| can be purchased for from s. to s. per yard,
silk boureites for the same purpose for about
So. Antwerp silk, which Is still better, being
yard and three-quarters wide, costs from 80
to $40 yard, but 1t requires but two yards
and half for u long cloak.
WHAT SHALL I GET
for q walking suit2' and How shall make
+" are just now popular questions. Out Of
the endless variety Of goods to select from ona
| of the prettiest combinations for this purpose
Is that Of boHret'e and silk. American silk
is most scrviceablc, as II comes in all colors,
costing Sl.5O yard, three quarters width, and
wears like iron. If you are disposed to be
economical get six yards of silk and four and
q half yards of double bourette or nino Of sin.
gle width. Six yards of silk will not Of course
make whole undcrkirt, but you can make
the foundation of exactly matching alpaca OF
| cambric, as most Of the rcady-made costumei
are, and trim with silk at the bottom. The
polonaiscs are so long that no one is ever the
wiser. very handsome suit may be gotten
up in this way for less than fifty dollars allow.
ing twenty for the making. For instance, sup
pose you have a navy-blue bourefte, the kuotted
thread running through 1t being dotted with
straw color and cardinal. Ten yards of bou.
reite at So yard, aud six yards of plain navy
blue American silk TO match, for trimming
underskirt, sleeves, and collar. The bows
which fasten the front aud finish the loopings
may be mado of nayy-blus silk, lined with
straw color and cardinal.
much more elegant suit can be made by
using velvet for underskirt and sleeves, anS
expensive fringe and galloon for trimming
and they can also be made much cheaper BY
using inferior material. Most ladies hay,
half-worn black or colored silk skirts which
they can utilize for underskirts, sleeves, ami
trimmings, and thus save the expense Of new
some Day.
Some day" we say, end turn our eyes
Toward the fair hills Of Paradise.
Some day, some time, sweet, new rest
snail blossom, hower.like, In each breast
Soma m a..