Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-11-19
Hats and BOnnets.

give up the mode which perhaps they
accept just as reluctantly but which now
seems to have become a part of them
! selves. The recent revolution in hair
dressing strongly developed this con-
| servative tendency. It seemed shock
ing to many to remove the showy SUPER
| structure of puffs and braids and come
down to the unmitigated severity of the
simple contour of the head; but, dis
| tasteful as it was, it is accomplished, and
hair and bonnet no longer tower heav-
onward.
The first object of solicitude in fall
shopping is naturally the bonnet or hat.
The styles offered this year are various
many very picturesque and even beau
tiful, Others severely plain. Young la
dies find the Derby so serviceable and
generally so becoming that stiff and un-
feminine qualities are overlooked. They
cost, at the best stores, from S3 to Sc,
and, like gentlemaR's hat, can, when
defaced, be rebound, pressed and lined
for S1.5O, so as to be nearly as good as
new. A bit of the tip of feather or a
cord and tassels is the most in the way
of trimming allowable on these hats,
which must be of fine quality and good
shape or they are shocking bad hats.
One privilege this age must forego-
that of laughing at its grandmothers'
taste; for some of these bOnnets are
fac-similes of the old relics which used
to come out of the garret only for tab
leaux or to illustrate the absurdities of
our ancestors. Beaver, plush and satin
in endless combinations with the breasts
OF birds are the fabrics of which the inn
ported bOnnets are made. 1t is well to
view for yourself these extravagant inn
portatiOns, as they are the originals
from which the American stock will be
modelled, and you will thus educate your
taste and fix your standards before
making your purchases in more modest
places. They will bring you reliable
intelligence OF the shapes, colors and
salient points of the incoming styles.
Great latitude is to be allowed in form
and size. fyou fancy it you may wear
a shaggy beaver half the size of coal
scuttle, scooping up above the head,
with not a thing inside to relieve its
oavernous depths; or you may, if you
prefer it, wear close-ftting, cap
shaped little affair on the back of your
head, clnging so closely as to be
almost invisible but for the birds breast,
or gold harpoon, or beetle, or almost
what you will, so it nestle closely to the
bonnet.
Then there are shapes and sizes all
the way between these extremes; some
not very unlike the close straws which
prevailed last summer, and which are
sure to be popular with those who pre-
fer the jttSte miLtsU in style.
There is a strong flavor of orientalism
in the brilliant colors of the materials
gold, red, inconceivably bright, then
again these and other hues in such per-
feet combination as to produce low
tone; the kind of color harmony which
is found in India fabrics, and which
Western eyes begin TO understand.
There is absolutely no trimming in the
inside even of those bonnets which in
cline upward and show the entire lin
ing. This may be of contrasting color,
but is severely plain, leaving the face
quite to its own resources; another BIT
ter pill for the conservatives, but good
news for such as are their own milliners,
for there is no part of the work which
so surely betrays the unprofessonal
touch as the inside trimming. So let
amateur hat-makers rejoice that one
difficulty in their way is removed. The
strings are made, as for some time past,
of soft satin or other soft material made
double, and fringed or trimmed with
bows at the end; they are broader and
shorter than last season, and tied in
front instead of behind as they have
been.
There is no kind of skilled labor in the
domain of dress which commands so
high price as millinery. One must
pay sum for a bonnet altogether dis
propOrtioned to the cost of material and
time required in making it. And, as it
is the work of artists rather than ar
tisans, this is as it should be. But hap
py are they who can supplement slen-
der purse with skill and taste; get the
prevailing idea, then buy frame,
plush, bird, satin, and, TO the
pleasure of wearing beautiful
bonnet have the added joy of being the
creator and author. But such, like
poets, are born, not made; and the null
titude mast still walk the safer path un-
der professional guidance. It is quite
customary now for such as desire eco
nOmical methods TO purchase their own
materials and take them TO a milliner to
make up for them. This many very
tasteful and competent ones win do for
fifty cents, or one dollar, and thus
greatly reduce the cost of bonnet.
But, while you may get some one to
make your hats for you, you must wear
them yourself; and there is an art in
that as well. What loads of millinery
are spoiled by not knowing how TO wear
it'll Some peoples hats always seem
thing apart from themselves. Whereas
a French woman and her bonnet are
homogeneous; are one. 1t sets upon
her head naturally, as if it were a
growth. Summon all your esthetic con-
sciousness, or, if you have none, find out
from some one who has, if your new hat
should set forward or back; rest down
closely upon the head or on a little cor
onet of hair. These points seem insig-
niticant, but they make the difference
between being well dressed and not;
and / think it Is Emerson who describes
the peace TO be attained from the con.
seriousness of being well dressed as Sec
ond only to that which comes from an
easy conseience,-Ghristian linton