The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-04-15
THURSDAY MORNING, APRIL Is.
[Harper's Bazar.l
New York Fashions.

used for the demi-trained carriage dresses
shown at the Spring openings, while palmer
wooden fabrics were employed for short dresses
to be worn in the street. Among the latter
were useful cloth suits of light colors, either
plain, or in tiny checks of cream with brown,
or two shades of gray. These were made with
plain skirt without flounces, but on which
was draped an overskirt that had the effect of
an apron in front, though the ends were turned
under out OF sight, and the back formed soft,
slightly bouffant drapery. The waist is
double-breasted coat basque, piped with red
satin, and ornamented with red satin bow at
the throat, and another on the position at the
back. Open.worked ecru embroidery is then
laid on the neck to form a Directoire collar,
and there are wide cuffs of the same. The
embroidery need not be used for travelling, as
it is rather dressy, and the bows are very gay;
but both bows and embroidery are fashionable
accessories to the simplest toilettes of fhe
Spring.
Among other dresses are those of the soft
wool fabric called Ia neige tissue, or snow-drop
heliotrope grounds, Or else red dots on blue, old
gold on blue or brown, gray on violet, etc. A
surplice basque, with kerchief about the neck,
draped overskirt, and kilt-pleated lower
skirt is the favorite model for such dresses.
Those of black on white are liked for ladies in
slight mourning.
The plain-colored French buntings that were
SO fashionable last Summer are becoming the
popular costumes for afternoons at home and
at the watering-place resorts. The new fancy
is to combine these with figured foulards, in
stead OF the heavy brocaded silks used with
them last year. These are especially pretty in
the creamy white buntings that are known al
so as nuns cloth, and as religieuse yelling
White challis, white mohair, camel s-har and
Chuddah cloths are also used for Summer
dresses for the country. Some of these have
the Tallien overskirt draped very high on one
side, or else opened its whole length to show
the aounces of heliotrope or blue silk skirt
beneath. Cashmeres in the new heliotrope
shades, in which a gray tinge prevails, are also
indeed, this latter fabric rivals the brilliant
red satin for Illuminating dresses.
Very dark satin foulards are used for the
street. The grounds are pheasant brown, olive
or violet, and the figures are round white
moons, with chintz patterns in them, or else
polka dots or Japanese fans. The deep apron
is finished with heavy festoons of the same.
and in the knife-pleating at the foot one or two
red pleatings are introduced. Lighter foulards
with cream. pale blue, lavender or gray ground
are made with quantities of Languedoc lace
for trimming them. A novelty is the twilled
silk or rather foulards, of solid colors suitable
for costumes, such as garnet, pheasant brown,
dark blue. and violet. Another novelty is 'sti-
ger,spotted1 pongee-a genuine India pongee
OF ecru shades with velvet raised spots of dark
red or brown. This is made up on Directoire
basques, with striped accessories and plain pom
gee skirt.
Summer silks are not entirely superseded by
the foulards and pongees, but the grisaille eff
fects, and those OF black striped with white,
are given up for gayer colors, and for the loose
ly woven Louisine silks. These come in the
same pin-heab checks and hair stripes former
~ used, but the checks are of heliotrope on
white, claret on white, or cream ON pheasant
brown, while the stripes are the merest thread
of old gold on blue, or lavender on violet, or
cream on myrtle green. There are also polka
dotted lavender and heliotrope silks of thin
light quality that make pretty dresses when
trimmed with creamy Languedoc lace. One
OF the prettiest simple suits has dark hello
trope kilt-pleated skirt, with tiny checked silk
OF lighter shade for the Tallien overskirt and
Directoire coat.
While the basque and trimmed skirt are the
prevailing style, great many polonaises are
also used. Some of the latter are seen with
straight backs not caught up in the least. and
quite full in pleats that fall lengthwise others
havel combinations of different fabrics for
ScarfS IN front or on the sides: and MANY are
cut off in front like basque, while the back
ID IN princesse shape. For basques the sur
plice effects are very much used, and quite
rival the Directoire styles in popularity. Vests
are not as much worn as they have lately been,
but are sometimes seen with the shirred fronts
OF dresses; thus the contrasting fabric is set
down the front of the waist like vest, and
the material OF the basque is shirred in clusters
each side OF it. Sometimes the basque is laid
IN pleats that fold on the bosom in surplice
shape, and this is repeated in the back
Another fashion seen again in French dresses
Is that OF making the middle forms of the back
very full, shirring them at the neck and at the
waist line, allowing the fullness to fall below
in position pleatings. This and the great bow
at the back are the favorite designs when coat
basques are not used. The bow is simply two
and the loops are pendent rather than straight
across; similar bow is at the throat, and if
the basque is belted another is at the waist in
'front.'. The narrow pleatings3already described
form the favorite trimming for the foot of
skirts; these are each three inches wide when
finished, and are made to lap an inch upon
each other, the pleating is then pulled out of
its flat folds, to look as bupchy as possible.
At the flower stores purple and yellow flow
ers are seen in great abundance. The favor
lite purple flowers are the heliotrope, lilacs,
asters and pansies, the latter being of man.
moth sizes, many of them as large as roses.
Among the yellow flowers are artemisias, mari
colds, sunftowers, and roses; buttercups were
so much used last summer that they are not in
favor now. But as usual there are more roses
than all other flowers together, and the prefer
ence is for soft crushed roses without foliage
The bright yellow Marshal Neil and the bril-
liant red Jacaueminot are used in the same
cluster. Purple and yellow flowers are also
used together.