Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-04-01

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! Graduating Costumes-The Newest
Things in the Way of BOnnets.
! NEW YoRK, March 31.-No greater folly is
! ever committed by sensible and intelligent peo-
| pie than to suppose that the whole world can
/ be brought to their way of thinking or to act ac-
cording to their way of doing. Yet is the mis-.
take otherwise sensible people are always max
ing, and the especial blunder of all 'reformers .
| The world never is reformed. 1t grows after q
fashion, but people are not content with that,
or to assist in growth by natural methods
They always want to dig up bodily the thing
that exists and replace 1t by something else,
careless Of the fact that they may be digging
| up the germs of larger and better thing than
even the one which they offer as a substitute.
Thousands of good men and women have
wasted power that was valuable In the effort
| to make all the world travel in their direction
and have even believed it was doing so, be-
| cause their horizon was bounded by their lmi-
| tationS of sight, until some rude circumstance
| has awakened them with a shock to the truth
| that the world is the same old world that ex-
| listed centuries ago; that it is actuated by the
/ same desires. moved by the same feelings
stirred to excitement by the same passions
| foolish or wise or brave or nOble-under the
/ same impulses, and characterized by as wide a
| degree as ever before in its history, the shad-
/ ings only having been multiplied by the multi
1 plicity of individuals.
Has this philosophy little to do with fashion?
Yet it has something. Understood it would
| teach dress reformers and women who have
only one idea in regard to it, the futility of en-
| deavoring to make all other women creep
| through their knot-hole; and it would teach
| them to discriminate also in their charges
and condemnation. to make them less sweep
| ing, and possibly induce them to see that good
may be done by working In different way
| and from broader, more universal standpoint
Than they have been able to see for themselves
There was a time, and it is wi hin the memo
ry of some who are still living, and therefore
so recent as to exercise an appreci7ble effect
upon the dress morality of the present time
when the poverty of means and resources,
the absence of machinery, and the
necessity of putting away everything avail
able to its most direct and practical use, cur
tailed in every way the demands and require
ments not only in dress but in living of every
description. But that time is past and,
pleasantly as we recall 1t, we would not any Of
us wish it back; we are all thankful for the
additional light, color, warmth and beauty
which has been let in upon our lives, and if
disadvantages come with these actual benefits
they are to be accepted and dealt with wisely,
not used to destroy all there is of good. Our
growth for the next fifty years will not be
backward toward the tinder box AMI spinning
wheel, the bag shaped gown and the home
spun, but toward a higher degree of refine
ment, superfici i possibly, but the necessary
outgrowth of advancing civiization-and to-
wards a constantly increasing luxury which
the value of skilled labor will place within the
reach of large number.
This is inevitable. 1t is not a crime, and no
one is responsible for it-least of all, women
who are carried along by the stream and have
no power to change its current. What can be
done is to so moralize the influences and agen-
cies that work upon the minds of the public
at large, and women in particular, as to pre-
vent this growth in luxury from doing any
Yt1nF hoFT
and keep the qualification of self and taste
strictly subordinated to higher ideals nobler
Objects and more imperative duties. We may
still be glad, however, that some can enjoy the
beautiful things of this life, that some wish to
crafty taste in one way and some in another,
for the variety breaks up wearisome monotony
and multiplied demands furnish employment
to thousands of souls which must otherwise
perish, perhaps in needy bodies.
THREE ERAs OF DRESS.
There are three eras Of dress in the life of
the average woman which the majority pass
through. There is the era of youth, when all
that art can design or skill produce within the
Individual norizonl is spread out to view, and
the girl wants it all. She would like to wear
all the pretty CO ors, ell the gay stuffs all the
glitfering jewelry she sees at once, and is no
better satisfied by the purchase Of one thing
than she was before, for she wants the next
pretty thing she sees as badly as she wanted
the first This is the era of ribbons, dollar
jewelry and plated chains-ot yellew spotted
lace, of much cheap trimming, Of fantastic
designs and headgear, of beads and bangles,
and bells and pendants. 1t is the era of sur
prises, of new kinks - which originate no one
knows how, and disappear no one knows
when, but which, while they last distinguish
the happy poSseSsor IS one of the initiated, as
one who has crossed the threshold and become
more or less acquainted with the exclusive
mysteries
has arrived at the era Of middle age her tastes
have changed; her illusions have, many of
them, disappeared. Things that she once
sighed for have now become rubbish, /" which
litter up tables, shelves and bureau drawers,
and cost more for breakage than they are
worth. She wants fewer things than formerly
but of more permanent character She likes
handsome fabrics dark rich colors and real
lace for she has learned that ca ances for ac-
QUESTION may not last always. and that 1t is
better to have one thing of permanent and
acknowledged value than dozen representing
only the caprice OF the moment. She has also
discovered the cost and care and burden, and
misery, WITHOUT any compensation, of many
small possessions, and the luxury of doing
without what is superfiuouS, and what one has
really no taste for, but which we may have the
habit of getting because other women get the
same.
The third era succeeds naturally upon the
other two, and is the era Of peacefulness and
rest from all the worries and anxieties on the
subject of dress. There is nothing more piti.
full than to see an elderly woman still carrying
about with her the whims the oddities the
changes the fantasies of what we call fashion
On the other hand there is nothing sweeter or
more restful than to find woman who has
passed through her seasons of sayety and
pleasure, settled down to calm enjoyment of
what she has found best iii her lie and most
suitable in her dress, her habits and her he
longingS to the last serene years of her exist
ence. Sol1dlty, honesty, plainDesS purity:
these are the essentials of her dress and how
lovingly we look back upon the simple can
the spotlesS kerchief, the smooth grey or black
silk the thr fly apron, the well saved shawl
the hOn00t which ia = w hor nv,Ixy 4
anxiety, for millinery seems nothing but fine
and much too Haunting to her eyes, which have
grown inward. and now demand for herself
only the meat" and that which will give the
least trouble.
These eras succeed each other through all
the changes in fashion, and will continue to do
so, for the eternal laws are always Ia force it
is only their manifestations which are modified
by time and circuIaStanees and we should save
good deal OF wear and tear, of pulling down
and building up, If we had more faith in them
INDIVIDUAL IDEAS IN DRESS.
Not long ago an entertainment was given in
New York, at which some dozen or more
young ladies, the daughters OF some Of the
ladies present. and tha came number of Young
gentlemen, supplied the attendance, in order
to get rid of the presence of servants and add
a pi turesque element to the occasion or
course, 1t WAS not desirable to wear conven-
tional costumes, partly because these would be
out of character, partly because regulation
party dress is delicate and expensive, and
ulSub possibly SuHef IN In6 Iunilm6nG OF an
unusual Office, which as to be no sinecure.
Consultation was held upon the subject. Uni |
formity so far as the young ladies were con |
cerned was desirable, but there was dress !
which could be decided upon of which all were |
In possession. and few wished to incur the outlay
of q new and fanciful costume, which might |
have little opportunity of being worn after |
ward
A bright idea was struck, however. on the |
Charity costume CT a favorite burlesque |
opera 1t consisted of short, perfectly plain |
and straieh ht grey gown, white cotton apron |
pleated upon the sides, and made with a bib I
and white cotton cap. The whols cost Of ma |
terial for this outfit was eighty-seyen and a |
half (S71k) cents and the additional articles re-
uuired were grey hose and black stocking rnitts. |
Some OF the young ladies were very much dis |
gusted. and only the respect they entertained |
FOR their elders prevented some expression of
it, However, the Charity" dresses were cut
and made with little trouble and no additional
expense, and the charming picture the girs
made was something to be remembered Pret- .
tier individually and collectively they never
looked in their lives, and the FRESH, charming
contrast they offered to the highly colored and
much beAounc6d conventional young woman
was remarked by every one. The well known
editor OF a high class literary magazine re.
marked days afterward: What text those
girls furnished in favor of more inc ividuality
30 pretty before
Now, the point OF this "Reminiscences is not
the special beauty of the Charity dress,
which in itself has no beauty at all; nor Us he.
,omingness. for it is not becoming; but the j.
dependence of youth aud good lotka = =
Eentitious aid which comes f-S- - all ad- |
asSartige charm Wh~r I'm dress, and its /
rassed by drN~- not hindered or embar- |
Nifh os. Dresses which are gotten up |
- great elaboration, which make picture /