The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1877-05-30
FASHION NOTES.

New corsets are stiffened with watch
spring steel instead of whalebone.
The ordinary brown or unbleached linen
may De used for blouse aprons, sacks or
gabrielle.
Satin is again rivaling silk as foundation
to evening dresses. and there IS scarcely a
full dress toilet without some satin about it,
If oply as lining to bows or piping.
Oxford suitings will be much used for
boys In striped and checked patterns, and
linen suits also come for hot weather made
up in coats and vests and knee pants
Watch-spring steels are used in the place
of whalebones for the waists of dresses.
They give more becoming fit than whale
bone, and define the figure to perfection.
For black bonnets Jet is sent out in more
finely cut small beads than were ever before
imported. 1t is sewed on fine black Brus-
sells net to form fringes of slender, quiver-
ing leaves.
The crepe and curled fringe of hair over
the forehead seem almost necessary to the
new bonnets which are generally unbecom-
ing If the front hair is arranged in fat
smooth bandeauI.
Muslin and other thin white goods will be
more worn this season than heretofore, be-
cause of the fact that all such materials are
reduced in price, and the STYLES in present
in vogue are admirably adapted for dresses
OF light and thin materials.
Princess dresses for little girls are fasten-
ed up diagonally by hooks or buttons set
underneath, and the buttonholes are on a
band of silk; the back of the dress is a
basque, and the plated skirt beneath fastens
on the side to the side seams of the front.
For home wear soft cashmere in light
tones of color will be worn for dresses on
cool days; the edges are scalloped or pointed
and piped with color; French dresses show
mixtures of this material with foulard-a
light gray cashmere being trimmed with
bias folds of white and rose colored striped
foulard.
To render the present style of clinging
draperies less uncomfortable in summer,
manufacturers have taxed their ingenuity
in the production of a shapelv and elegant
wire pattern skirt, with sweeper attached
which is in great demand by ladies who wish
for flowing outlines and a graceful sweep
given to their Breton costumes and princess
robes and p0lonaises
Russian blouse suits of white cloth. or
flannel, will have wide collars trimmed with
fancy worsted braid of turquoise blue; the
hat worn with this suit is like a Russian
sailor hat-in blue cloth, with ribbon around
it and little knob on top of the soft fiat
crown. Other sailor hats in straw have the
brims turning up all round; more dressy
hats are in the English shape trimmed with
ribbon band and tiny feather at the side.
New linen collars are cut low at the throat,
but they have revers that iold closely to-
gether and conceal the throat The edges
are needle worked in scallops of red with
black, blue, or gray. India colors are
wrought on the turned-over English points.
Long English and Russian blouses are
much worn by little girls until they are four
or five years old. The little boys wear them
too, for that matter, and they are made ex-
actly alike for both. With these we find
walking coats with princesse fronts, with
simulated vest fronts, and the skirts set in
large box plaits at the back and sashes set on
at the side seams. These garments are varied
by all styles OF trimmings; some have bands
of silk in longitudinal stripes from the
throat to the waist, ending on each Of the
large box plsits and held by button.
For travelling and general utility wear the
favorite colcrs in bunting are navy blue,
myrtle or invisible green and very dark
brown. The skirt and polonaise is the style
usually adopted as the most suitable. To
render dresses of bunting gayer and more
fanciful, the plaitings with which they are
usually trimmed are bound with silk OF
braid of some strongly contrasting color
Dresses of this material must be lined
throughout with something to correspond in
color or worn over black. 1t is too thin to
wear over white, unless when of some very
light color.