The Portland daily press., 1880-02-04
[Harper's Bazar.l
New York Fashions.

for spring and summer dresses is a revelation
of what French manufacturers have lately
done in the way of improved coloring as we'll
as in the variety OF fabrics. They have taken
Eastern stuffs for their models in color and in
pattern, and have initiated these designs so
beautifully that many of the prints recall the
hand painted and embroidered decorations
done with so much labor on the silks and fans
and porceains of China, India, and Japan.
There are many India patterns of the CASH
mere colors in palm leaves, such as have been
worn during the winter, but the special sue
cess in spring goods has been in reproducing
Japanese effects, with their characteristic
fruit and flowers-the hawthorn boughs and
plum-tree blossoms, crysanthemums and
dwarfed peonies, with reeds and grasses, not
emitting an occasional dragon, with bees, but
terfiies and other insects. These figures are
brought out in their natural brilliant colors
strewn upon q light ground OF some quaint,
pale fade tint, such as creamy Satsuma, or
else salmon or soft rose, or perhaps she'll pink,
or the faintest blue of the sky, or it may be
tea-color, which is sometimes that of the tea
rose and again sage drab. When the costume
is made, the gay stuff serves Only for part OF
the dress, and to combine with it is self-colored
goods OF the same quality in the dull and light
tint of the ground of the figured fabric A
few dark grounds are shown, with peacock
blue for the prevailing COLOR or the dull red of
Kaga ware, brown and olive shades and the
superb blue Of old Nanbin porcelain. The
careful purchaser asks at once if these gay
colors will fade, and the more careful mer-
chant believes they will not or he wonld not
have imported them. However, great care in
washing them will be necessary. and the laun-
dress should first "set'' the colors with sugar
of lead for blue, alum for green, and salt for
various colors. The improvement in fabric
consists in dispensing with dressing and glaze,
and making all cotton goods soft finish
that is, without stiffening or lustre. The laun-
dress must therefore omit all starch, and iron
the dress on the wrong side, to restore as near
ly as possible its original appearance.
Flelr de the, one of the new fabrics, is as
thin as linen lawn, though made of cotton
threads, and is, like Grape, SO elastic that you
can stretch it in your hands. 1t is said to re-
turn to its natural crinkle after having
this in dark grounds, such as peacock blue, dull
red, brown or black, strewn so thickly with
tiny flowers that the ground is nearly covered.
This is handsome enough to be made up over
silk as the French modistes use batistes.
A pretty fabric that looks like the crins led
silk of Canton Grape, but is altogether cotton,
is called Grape Yeddo. This is as thick as per-
Gale, but as soft and pliable as silk. The gay
Chinese colors and designs prevail in it. Yo-
kohama Grape is similar to this, but is mostly
shown in robes of most artistic colors in wide
stripes while the remainder of the robe is q
pale shade, either the green of jade or tea
rose color, strewn with very small leaves or
buds
The rougi-surfaced mummy cloth that
proved so popular last year is imported again
in stripes and in figures, with the faded-out
coloring peculiar to it, and which experience
proves does not fade further by washing. Some
patterns have stripes of foliage; others have
palm leaves strewn about; some have Japanese
objects, especially fans; peacock blue stripes
alternate with gray stripes, and are dotted over
with tiny red crysanthemums, or with olive
green leaves; pale blue or tea-colored grounds
have bright red roses, hile brown shades into
ecru and has blue myoSotlS all about upon 1t.
Plain mummy cloth is brought IN turquoise
blue, in bright Chinese yellow, in cream and
pink shades to be use1 with the figured cloths.
Palm-leaf stripes are lovely with dark grounds
and there are designs producing twllled effects
precisely like those on rich cashmeres. Some
times the brilliant dark colors are reserved for
a stripe near the selvedge that is to be used for
bordering the dress.
Alsace cloth is smooth like cambria, yet
without any dressing or glaze. This is brought
out with a border, stripes in Japanese designs,
and chine figures ON pearl, gray, lavender or
bronze grounds Small polka dots are also
seen in the body of these goods in pretty con-
trast to the ground; thus lavender dots on
brown, red on cream-coor. and white on Nan
kin blue. The Japanese borders will be vines
covered (as never were vines before) with
chrysanthemums and peonies.
Another novelty called faille is repped cotton
as firm as pique This is put up like silks by
the manufacturers, and is more like French
goods, with its Vatican designs of pinks,
fieur de-is, marguerites and arabesques, than
the other goods lately imported. The grounds
are white, cream, lilac and Sevres blue. Mas
tic grounds have figures OF red and violet that
are very effective.
Fou!ard batiste is u thinner fabric as soft as
foulard, and has white grounds on which are
brilliant colored feathers, crosses, how-knos,
outline designs OF flowers, leaves and fruit,
ANA sometimes real Japanese letters that may
mean poem, and again may not. Jaconets
and organdy muslins are very largely imported,
but there are few of the satines and cotelines
that were worn last year, the latter is replaced
by the faille, which is more evenly repped
than cotelne. Bordered lawns are among the
prettiest of inexpensive goods, and the colors
are in new combinations; thus a lilac solid
colored lawn will have borders for its founceS
combining cream aud blue with lilac; rose
colorad lawn has borders of rose, rouge, and
black, showing the blending of two red shades
now so fashionable: a sky blue organdy has a
border of black, gray and blgs, while one of
turquoise has gray and dark blue border.
Sometimes marguerites or other small flowers
are on dark borders that trim white, blue, rose,
or lilac dresses.