National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-01-15
LADIES DRESSES.
HOW TO MAKE AND WEAR THEM.
Underwear "A NeH.Fashioned Wrinkle Ready
Made Goods-Wedding Wear-SeH COlOrs-
Fashionable Observation-Disclosures
vet Worn Morn Than Ever.
TBY FRANCE FARwELL.l

wedding day had in her method art amounting to
| positive genius. There are many women who are
utterly unable to put on their garments properly,
no matter how carefully they may be made.
| They are "dowdyish and fussy" without know
| ing the reason why and ofien positively unhappy
over their personal appearance, without the know-
| edge of any remedy. To such few words Of adj
vice and suggestion may not be out of place or I'M
acceptable.
| The underwear of most ladies Is simply "weari-
to the flesh" Gathers. shirrings, puffs rufes
plaits, and Fittings disfgure and distort the
natural form andmake the dress thing ofwrinkles
and deformity. To dress well, attention must be
| given to every garment underneath the dress, as
well as to the dress ITSELF With the present style
of closely fitting draperies, gathered skirts and
undergarments are utterly incompatible. A fine
figure is ruined by them, and bad one made
worse. The new-fashiOned underwear, all in one
piece from shoulder to ankle is boon to ladies of
fine form or those inclined to be stout, and while
they will not atone for the unkindnesS Of nature in
Withholding her graces from her ill-shapen daugh
ters yet they prevent further distortion and permit
grace of outline in place of bunchineSS and the Of
Tense of ''pudginess which is the worst of results
under the dSpensatiOn of the gospel of good taste.
See that not wrinkle appears III the underwear,
and ifthe dress is at all the effect will be
greatly improved. Ladies are in the habit of buy
are usually uncouth and illdesgned then they
encase themselves in cheap corSets from some I'M
known manufacturer, and wonder that their
dresses don't fit abuse the dreSSmakers and look
like CarcatureS of fashions eccentricities. Employ
frst-ciass dresSmaker if necessary, to fit COM
plee outfit of underwear: then take out the seams
from one-half of the garment and cut pattern
carefully and with the greatest accuracy, for mis-
takes will never do if you wish for good effects.
Use soft goods not too fine, they are less likely
to get out of shape. Trim with soft, fine TorchOn
lace, avoiding putting and ruffles as much as pos
sible.
The skirts should be gOred at the top and per-
fectly plain about the waist except at the back,
where width or two of straight cambria may be
gathered into the band. The skirt should be nearly
the same length all around. and with many ladies
precisely the same, figures differ, and all of these
items should receive consideration. Don't expect
a wellftting dress until these details attended
to. Dressmakers should insist upon ease in these
matters, for their own credit and the comfort of
their customers.
Some mOdisteS insist upon supervising the under
wear to be worn with each dress, and this course
is highly commendable especially where dress
is designed for some special occasion and is par
ticularly elegant.
4 great deal of blame is attached to dreSsmakers
where they are by no means responsible. nOta-
BILE case in point is that of lady who has habit
of stoopng and ordinarily would be called every
round shouldered." She had Il very elegant dress
made by a first-class dress maker. 1t was pro-
nounced :" a good fit" and for time all went we'll
But after two or three wearings she grew greatly
dissatisfied 1t pulled up on the shoulders and
wrinkled in the front and bagged across the chest
and did divers and sundry other things extremely
unbecoming in dress designed and made at a
firs-class establishment She pulled the dress to
pieces and tried TO fix it; but with very unsatis
factory results. The trouble was she had with
great effort stood strait up to be fitted, and dropped
over like willow to wear the dress, and as q mat
ter of course the garment was all out of shape for
her in her ordinary position of round Shouldered-
ness.
The general effect of dress is made or marred
by the thousand and one little accessories belong
ing to the toilet misplaced pin may destroy
the harmony of dress, or a single stitch give an
awry effect to an otherwise symmetrical drapery.
Only the closest attention to the minor details can
secure perfectly agreeable results
The day of good sense has at last dawned upon
the draggled and burdened women of our race. A
long dress is a marvel on the streets, and lady
with dragging skirts is quite likely to be stared at.
The close warm coy looking ulster is the favorite
article for street wear and the nice, trim, short
skirts are a blessing for which We cannot be too
thankful.
Wedding wear has grown more elaborate than
ever and some startling innovations are promised
The eye weares of so much white and while the
dress of the bride will doubtless retain its snowy
characteristics, the bridesmaids will blossom cut
into all sorts of extrayagances in cOlOring. One
of the novelties lately sent out by French dress
maker was bridal outfit of white satin 0nd bro
cade for the bride, who was ablOnde and cardinal
satin and gold lace for the bridesmaids who are
all brunettes. Another prospective wedding will
be unique in the selection of creme velvet and
point lace, with white roses, for the bride and
dark blue velvet, with silver trimmings for the
bridesmaids.
White plush with garniture of white Jet and
pearls was worn by one of our cousins across the
water at a recent bridal The dresses of the brides
maids were very attractive one being of crimson
satin and creme lace. These contrasts give more
delcacy to the brides toilet and make the group
ing much more effective Plain and elegant
dresses preferred the palmer the better where
the material is rich.
The old-flshioned Quaker color, a sort of pinkish
drab, is coming into favor. The various shades of
ashes of roses for years the delight of our grand
mothers hearts, is to be of the fnvorite colors
for spring wear. 1t is very pretty, very becoming,
and utterly unreliable, as the sun will ruin suit
in one afternoon.
With the snow in small mountains before our
doors and blocking up our way, talk about spring
goods seems like rushing the season but the win
tiers here short that we begin to prepare for
them and before We are fully equipped they are
over and the sun is doing his work. Just now flrs
are the all-absorbing topic and the material much
to be desired, as no amount of woven goods seems
sufficient to keep out the cold.
SealSkin isstill the most fashionable fur Much
disappointment is felt by the ladies who purchase
sealskin at what they consider its unrelinbility.
They imagine that it is like the mink, sable,
martin, so familiar to them for years, and almost
impossible to wear out. They do not reflect that
the durability of the article depends largely upon
the long, firm hairs that protect the downy coating
underneath. In the sealskin. as we see 1t in
sacques and made up garments, the long hairs are
all removed and only the close, downy fur remain J.
This is not intended by nature for contact with the
world, but for keeping the original owner warm.
and is in reality only the seals underclothing
Two or three seasons, even with careful wear, will
put garment of sealskin in a very doubtful state
They are Internationally the most elegant, expen-
siYe and unreliable of ali fur wraps The very
high pkces at which they are held has provoked
mitatiOnsSn several different directions Plush is
made very closely resembling it at little dis
lance. FuTriers are bringing into market an imita-
ton not easily detected, except by the most ex-
perienced eyes. The native mink has the long
hairs plucked out in the same manner the seal.
the fur dyed the same color. and when made up it
is very difficult to detect the difference unless one
has experience in such matters. Why it is not
equally valuable ii is not easy to say. I should
think it quite as durable. 1t has, however, a
slightly wavy crinkled effect not found in the seal
Whether this peculiarly would develop I'M
pleasantly remains to be seen, as these goods are
too lately introduced to show any signs yet of
what they will be or do. Mink is really hand
some and elegant fur and Will doubtless revive
again shortly, all excellent materials are sure to
do.
The wide bands of rch-looking black fur are
hand with a needle Otter is one of the most ele-
CANT and effective materials in the market 1t is
richer than seal, and heavier-too heavy indeed,
IN IF Iaru nf