Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-11-30

oioSHt STUN Ill luufcU caS0HeTe cOiOFS OF WltU
art embroidery. heavy cord forms the girdle.
Fine cream, sapphire blue, primrose pink
and heliotrope cashmere is used very largely
abroad for the evening dresses of young girls
trimmed with cream lace. But here girls want
silk. They seem to think that only silk is
suitable for dressy wear yet in reality soft fine
WOODS. which have depth, are much more becom-
ing than silk with glace surface.
AMERICAN SILKS.
The excellence of American silks is beyond
question. and the leading manufacturers now
produce satin rhadames, satin merveilleux. satin
de lyon armures. quadrilles and brOcaded silks
equal to any imported. This advance in manu-
facture will stimulate the cultivation of the raw
material which has now been made the subject
OF successful experiments in twenty-five differ
ent states. 1t is to the ladies of Philadelphia
we owe the revival Of this interest, which. if
once established. will afford an opportunity for
the lucrative employment of thousands of
women and children in their own homes-for
manufacturers will take the raw silk as fast as
1t is produced and with failures for reeing
within attanabe distance the work can be
managed as easily as taking care of plants
and much easier than managing bees. The en-
couragement which the parent association
has received has induced the ladies inter-
ested in it to propose silk fair. which will be
held the last week in January in st. Georges
Hall, Philadelphia. where the silk of America
from the smallest worm to the finished pro-
duct,-wi1 be abundantly exhibited. To this
fair American manufacturers will contribute
their sllken articles and fabrics OF every descrp
ton. Silk growers from many different states
will send their coco0ns; established tatures
will send the silk ready for use by the manufac-
turer. and factories their varied specimens of
embroidery silks. sewing silks, ribbons, ties.
handkerchiefs and the like Ladies art decora-
tive and other societies are preparing orna-
mental work, executed in American silk
upon American fabrics and stufs for upholstery,
sllken hangings and many kinds of goods
usually supposed to be imported will attest the
degree Of skill and excellence which silk culture
in this country has reached. Prosperous and
progressive silk growing in this country means
source of wealth greater than that of the Cali
fornia gold and silver mines. and infinitely bet
ter from the moral and industrial point of view
1T means the keeping at home the millions Of
dollars now sent abroad for raw materials and
the manufactured fabrics. and il means also a
new industry adapted to farming and agricul-
tural communities, which will fill the place of
those that have been absorbed by great assOca-
tive companies and establishments. Everybody
IN this country, rich and poor. buys silk, and
there are few women without at least one silk
dress in their wardrobe. Here. therefore,
where the great market exists should there be
sources OF supply.
ENGLISH WOOL.
The movement of the Countess of Beehive in
favor of the English wooden trade is having some
good results in stimulating English wooden man
ufacturers to the production of softer and more
yielding class of materials. Some samples re-
Gently sent to this country show handsome cam
els-hair cloths, some of which are as fine as
chuddah; a - homespun" suiting in tiny check
ana heather mixtures, and serge. the stiffness
OF which has been greatly modified by the intro
ductiOn of a mixture of Vienna wool. 1t seems
strange, however, that a crusade should be
in inf vofx,-
dresses for it is these that find the most cOnsid
Grafton from the best class in the community.
If the effort is to be simply in favor of alpaca,
and OF compelling ladies to wear that extremely
unbending and disagreeable fabric. it ought not
to succeed; but if it results in winning the
British artisan to the acceptance of the newt
able, and teaches him to adapt himself to Cir
cumstanceS and improve his productions in ac-
cordance with advancing tastes, then it will.
doubtless. help to reinstate him in his own good
opinion and that of the world
1t is difficult to see the wisdom of the philan-
thropy of wearing an alpaca Overskirt trimmed
with AlencOn lace over white satin. as the
Countess Of Beehive is said to have done. So
intelligent a woman should have more sense of
the fitness of things. Alpaca is one of the most
serylccahie OF materials, the one. perhaps, best
adapted for hard wear and rough usage. but it
is not adapted for the uses to which white satin
is put, nor would It be likely to be selected i'm
preference by those who could afford richer
ldUiCs. lie CHiiIce oi SUCCESSFUL revival the
British wooden trade lies in the production of
the class OF manufacture which have clearly
supplanted the stiff mOhair and wOrSted stutfs.
England and Germany are alike in their devO-
ton to wooden dresses pure and simple. The
tailor made dress is a product of London and
is not to be seen in its integrity out of that city,
Elsewhere there are always compromises
patches of contrasting c0lOf. Of trimming eff
forts at fanciful looping and decorating. In
London alone is the wooden dress perfectly true
and simple. made absolutely without trimming
except stitching. and finished only with buttons
and facing, like all tailor-made garments. An
American lady in London wished to have vel
vet collar and cuffs added to a taor-nade dress
which she had signitied her intention of taking.
The attendant expressed entire willingness to
have anything that she desired. but assured her
it would spoil it as specimen Of a genuine
tailor-made English walking suit. So the col
lar and cuffs were relinQuished. Only in Eng
land do young ladies. the daughters and sisters
OF the highest aristocracy, wear complete cloth
suits-heather caps upon their heads heather
tops to their boots and not scrap of feather or
ribbon or trimming to be seen about them any
more than upon the clothing worn by their
fathers and brothers
American women do not take kindly to ''aIl
wool dresses as suits, or even for indoor wear.
They like the graceful drapery of pure wool
pOlonaise, but it must be over a silk or velvet
skirt, and it must be enriched by revers ard
mounting of silk or velvet. The professional
NcIleli quickly learn tile ART OF reducing dress
to it's lowest TERMS this being a necessity of
active outside work. as it is with men. But the
American woman who shops and calls and
drops into afternoon teas and attends matinees
and day receptions is not professional and de-
tests wooden dresses.
THE CLOAK PROBLEM.
The multiplication of designs and materials
for clOaks has added another to the many prob
lens which afflict women in connection with the
dress question. Or cloaks and materials for
cloaks there are no end. There are cloaks too,
that are moderate in price, as well as cloaks that
are expensive. but fashion now demands the
appropriate garment for every occasion, and
this discredits the one that was formerly deemed
suitable for many occasions; besides which it is
not easy to find the ladylike cut in inexpensive
since the range has become so large
and wide and the standard of prices risen to a
higher level. If money is no object, the
most fastidiOus taste can find satisfaction in
embroidered plush, superb brocade plush lined or
a Shetland seal with beaver collar and
cuffs, but in addition to this a secondary cloak
will be needed. not common and not so expan-
sive an ulster for travelling, water proof for
rain, a dOnan or mantle for between seasons.
one or more shawls, and couple Of mantles or
silk and lace outside garments for summer wear
in addition to a summer ulster OF silk or linen
80 49,