The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-02-26
[Harper's Bazar.l
New York Fashions.

The Cheviots of pure wool loosely woven are
among the favorite fabrics for early spring
suits that will also serve for travelling dresses
during the summer. These soft goods have
what was called last year the ''flannel finish -
they are evenly but loosely woven, and are
without lustre. They come in small pin-head
checks of cream with brown, two drab shades.
pale olive with darker green, and two shades of
gray. They are double fold, forty-five inches
wide, and are 81 yard. When made in the
simple styles now in vogue for such dresses,
eight or nine yards is an abundance for whole
suit. One of the favorite plans for such dresses
is the round full skirt, stitched as a border
but not flounced and worn with long sur
tout over dress that is left open below the
waist in all its seams-not merely in the
middle back seam. The only silk or satin
used on such suits is that employed as a wide
facing on the edges and up the opened parts to
the waist; this facing is sometimes in gay
contrasting color, though darker shade of
the same color will be preferred for plain trav-
elling dresses. The other popular design for
such suits is that worn during the winter with
a full skirt on which an apron is draped, and
an English skirted jacket-basque of medium
length rounded in front like the spring jackets
described below. A finer wool fabric for
spring is camel s-hair of thick round threads,
yet sleazily woven, like the beige de sante used
last year. The new broche goods of mixed
wool and silk are of very light pliable quail
ties, and have all the silk thrown on the sur-
face, and the ground almost covered with fig
thrrp nh I1fx =
almost concealed fy intricately woven ara
besques of cream-colored silk, or else pea
cock blue ground has pale olive green figures
of loose silken threads; these are single width,
and S1.25 yard.
A novelty is the summer satin de LYON.
which is almost transparent, and may be
classed among thin goods. The surface is lus-
trouS, and as closely woven as if twilled, and
will make up very handsomely in combination
with heavy satin. 1t comes in pheasant
rose and white. Bareges are also shown for
summer dresses, and will be liked for their
soft clinging quality.
The useful seaside grenadines that are all
weol come in pretty designs of bars that look
like hem-stitching, and in many lace patterns,
showing diamond figures, palms, or stripes.
These make dresSy little toilettes when pale
white, tea green, or light heliotrope colors are
chosen; but they will be more used for service
able suits in coachmen's livery shades, deep
green and pheasant brown. There are also
crape-like grenadines of thickness between that
of bunting and of silk grenadine, which are
said to be made OF fine camel 's-hair, and are
shown in all the new shades.
The fine dressy grenadines that have great
deal of silk in them are made to have the lus-
tire of satin, and are usually brocaded, and
have lace-like patterns. Sometimes only one
stripe is brocaded, while that next it has lace
like effect other patterns have large detached
figures, flowers or feathers. Great oval loz-
enge-shaped satin figures are strewn on lace
like grounds, and polka dots are in the square
open meshes
The genuine Chinese grapes, like those in
Canton Grape shawls, are imported in all col
ors to combine with silk or satin for elegant
costumes for the spring. They come in the
pale tints that can only be used for very choice
occasions, such as rose, Isabelle, cream, pale
blue, and in the darker heliotrope and coach
mans drab. They will cost from 50 yard up
ward, and are very narrow.
Soft figured silks to combine with these
grapes have very quantity contrasting colors
arranged in the design; thus cream-color will
have Japanese blue and bronze figures, a ciel
blue ground will have brown and ecru figures,
and old gold will be strewn with pale blue.
The new spring jackets to serve for outside
wraps with any dress, retain their English
shapes. They are mostly skirted coats, with
the horizontal seam which joins the waist and
skirt directly at the waist line instead of below
it. They are of medium length, as they are
rough-and-ready jackets to be worn with any
short suit, rather than wrap, for dress occa-
slons. The fronus are double-breasted, yet the
revers collar comes quite close to the throat
and the novel feature of these coats is the
curved front of the skirt, instead OF the cut
away bias slope worn last year. The back is
quite closely fitted by short side form, is open
in the middle seam below the waist, is folded
or has a lapel in the other seams has square
pocket flaps on the waist line, and two large
buttons i'm the side form seams. These details
it will be seen, are exactly those OF a gentle
mans morning coat. and the edges are i'm
ished with machine stitching, or else turned
up and faced like masculine garments. The
cloth used is Cheviot and English homespun of
light qualities in small checks and narrow
stripes of light tan shades, coachmans drab,
snuff brown and pearl gray. These light col
ors will be greatly preferred to black and dark
blue jackets, and will be worn with dresses of
almost any color. Large smoked-pearl buttons
with eyes in the centre are used upon these
jackets.