Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-04-30
FASHIONS FOR MAY.
THE PRINCESSE DRESS IN THE
ASCENDANT.
A Moulded WaIst-A Dainty TrOus-
seau-Lace as a GaraIture-StudY in
White and BIue-NO VeIties.

to be decided, if any decision could be arrived
at in regard to matter governed by no laws
and subject to every breath Of change from
over the land or across the sea, so that winds
and waves cannot be more uncertain; nor, for
that matter. more certain to WORK within allot-
ted limits. There is no revolution to chronicle
this season, and little of novelty, except in de-
| tails. On the whole, in the absence of the
brick red and bright yellow, the Madras
colors, as they were called, Whlch proved so
startling last season, the general effect is less
| snowy, and more quaint and refined than
| twelve months ago. Nor have we returned to
the hustle and hooped skirt denominations
with semi annual regularity, announcements
are made as feelers stating authorita-
| lively that punched up drapery has
| been reinstated, and that bustles and
hooped skirts are imminent. Such para
graphs are of course written in the interest
of the hooped skirt and hustle trade, which has
| never been quite defunct, but at present there
| Is no truth in them. The skirts are straight as
| ever, and the one principle which Mr.. Charles
| Blanc enunciated the French dressmakers seem
determined to adhere to, and that is not to ad-
| NIT design that does not mould the waist
| perfectly. all dresses and costumes, whether
| simple or elaborate, carry out this idea,
! whether expressed in the pure pFinceSSe form,
| the basque and skirt. or the princesse back
with belted front In all these designs smooth
| outline is preserved over the hips, and If there
/ Is any drapery it is arranged below this line.
| The boom" in bustles is very much like the
| boom in some other thiDgs-lt has not taken
| PAdCc IL HOulcu ~ UO CTOuttcu VIII any
/ thing in the way of common sense or pro
| greSSive ideas IL never will.
The short dress is almost universal for sum
mer wear, quite excepting among a class of
dignif1ed married and unmarried ladies of a
| certain age who consider train necessary to
| their position, and a few others who insult
summer by trailing over it the relics of their
| last winters gaS-tainted hnery. The fresh
| new dresses are nearly all short, and much
| prettier and more summery looking in conse-
quence 1t has always been asserted, and the
declaration has been accepted as fact by many
/ people, that tournures, and trimming and
| drapeIy were an essential part of the short
dress, that the long dress could be made plain
and graceful, but the short dress must be trim
| med and draped and punched and extended
But famous American said the way to do a
| thing was to do it; and tits so with the short
plain skirt, 1t is done; it is worn, and instead
| of common looks quaint and picturesque. In
these days in fact plainness of itself is very apt
| to look distinguished Cultivated tas more
| and more seeks to express itself in that which
| is rich, solid, and true, in material, and plain
| In design Elaboration and display are be-
| coming more and mode the badge of the cheap
and tawdry.
FINE TRoUssEAU.
| glimpse was obtained the other day of
| part of an elegant trouSSeau, during the pro-
| cess of making. The feature OF it was its
| excessive, what was called its baby" fine
ness and neatneSS. All the articles were hand
m de, and the embroidery the lace, the stitch
| ing and the tucklng we're marvel Of dainti-
| HESS, y Cb uOb tb ulLHSJ VI WdllbluR III
| bi.ity. Two dressing room wrappers were OF
| fine cashmere, what is called baby cash
| mere; one was cream white, the other prim-
| rose pink. Both were hand embroidered en-
| tirely down both sides of the front, round the
| bottom and upon the edge of the Selves The
| front was tied together with satin ribbons,
| placed at intervals. Breakfast wrappers or
''matineeS" of pink and white foulard and
rosebud foulard were very different in appear
| ance They were almost shapeless, with "man-
DARN" sleeves, and three rows deep Of white
| lace ruffiing down the 'front.' round the bot
| tom. uDon the sleeves, and forming deep
round collar.
a Quaint short dress was of black satin and
| black Surah silk. The skirt was of satin, and
perfectly plain, with the exception of three rows
| Of black and white Spanish lace ruffiing. The
! overdress was of the Surah. AID was shirred
/ upon the back upon the shoulders and in front,
where it was brought down to point. The
| lace upon this put on in double ruffie,
! with ruched heading, and in cascades down
the front.
The fronts of the night dresses consisted of
| alternate rows of tucsing and beautiful en-
| broidery, or of tucked linen cambria and real
| valenciennes in leaf pattern. Round the
| neck and down the front of these latter the lace
| was gathered into full Shells which formed a
| soft cascade. The flannel skirts were embroi-
| dered in sprays filed in with dots, and there
! were six sets of Surah silk underwear in differ
| ent tints-lemon, pale blue. pink, heliotrope,
| ivory and cream-all of which were trimmed
/ with real valeucienneS in new and charming
/ leaf and feather patterns.
| The amount of lace used in the trousseau
l was extraordinary and il was all real There
| were no limitations. OF course all the trim
| ming laces used upon dresses and garments
| were not round point or even "duchesse" but
they were real Breton, or Languedoc, or fine
| torchon, but no cotton limitations of Mechlin,
| or point or Breton, or others. There were
| several lovely f1chus. hoods, capes and mantles
| Of white or black Spanish lace, which is not in
| reality Spanish but made in Normandy, Some
were gathered up full on the shoulder, in the
| Mother Hubbard style. Others were tied in
| front and gathered at the back, the neck being
finished with full ruffies, and falling loops OF
lace or satin ribbon. Hoods aud capes were
| tied at the throat with satin ribbon, and one of
white Spanish lace was lined with a delicate
| shade OF heliotrope satin
| The hosiery was all in solid colors or tintS in
| silk or Isle thread-some very finely open
worked and embroidered, but none with lace
| insertions or mixed colors. The handkerchief
too for day wear were Of the finest, but they
| had solid borders of garnet, ecru. old blue,
| olive, beige and old gold. The more expensive
were of silky linen cambria exquisitely en-
broidered. There, were no lace and indeed
| these are very seldom bought so many usually
| come in the gifts made to bride.
ORDINARY OUTFITS.
| A trousseau of this description made with
| care and showing in every detail such refine
| ment of taste, is more rare nowadays than
| formerly. Thirty years ago all fine underwear
was hand made and mothers superintended
| the preparation of their daughters bridal out
| fits If they did not assist in doing the sewing
| Every article in those days, and still more
| strictly in the years Of the half century that
| preceded these, was arranged and laid away
| with loving care until all were completed; and
| the tenderness and motherhood thus inwrought
| were talisman safe guard and benedic-
| ton for the years to come. That was worthy
| outcome of abundant MEANS of delicate tastes.
| of refined habits; but what does wealth and
| what we call luxury do now? Ittakes twice.
thrice, five times the amount Of money
and goes to one Of the mann
moth ladies' furnishing establishments and
| buys a quantity of Ieady-made garments.
| showily trimmed with plenty of cheap lace and
embroidery. The bride-to-be is delighted She
/ has wanted just such things for years. Some
/ of her friends have them, and there's so much
/ lace and rutfiing everywhere, and they are so
''cheap" that she wonders, and so does her idle
/ and foolish mother, how any woman can be so
! silly as to take the trouble to make or have
| underwear made nowadays But it is not too
| much to say that the hundred dollars worth of
| cheap, trashy cotton and cotton lace lay at the
| foundation OF many wrecked lives. They are
| worthless for wear, especially when subjected
| to the average household and laundry wash
| ing, and have to be replaced out of a small
| salary or the income Of man perhaps strug-
| Cling to establish himself in business. The
glamour has all been taken away
| in her complaints of the wretched,
ness of the stuff. which had seemed shortly be-
| fore so indispensable to her happiness, but she
does not know, or has not the habit of
doing any better. for she goes on committing
| to the extent of the means she can control the
| same folly over and over again.
Brides formerly had few personal demands
| to make during the first year, at least of mar
ried life, nor for many years in those direc-
tions peculiarly under the supervision of the
mother In fact there are old ladies still living
whose linen outfits, hand made, served them
for the first quarter of a century of married
life, and remain in the family as relics to this
day, sources of pride and pleasure. This in
terim OF rest from that responsibility afforded
chance to work unto comfort in many other
ways and was of additional value in holding
a perpetual lesson of neatness, thrift con
scientIousnesS and care ia details; first is the
lack of these that eats the heart out of our
homes.
THE DRESS RIDDLE
There was a time when Sanguine women be-
lieved in millennium of dress as We'll as one
from the point of view Of the political econo-
mist, but those of them who bestow any
thought on the matter have long ago given up
this idea and hope for nothing except that
which is represented by the growth of the
individual and the industrial progress Of
the race, which bears with it changes which
confront US as necessities and create revolu-
tions in clothing as in other things in quiet
but thoroughly effective way In the mean
time individuals have their destinies in this re-
spect in their own hands. Out of the disorder
tnat reigns it is perfectly possible TO create
quiet graceful, refined style of dress, that
does not outrage or even disturb any existing
mode, yet is independent of it and more in ac-
cordance with general requirements and
womanly instincts
The cultivated classes among women are
working this out for themselves very success
may be a moneyed class who array themselves
in eaded costumes and theatrical looking bon
nets for the street, who wear half-long sleeves
and half-bare arms covered with bangles upon
the sidewalks, who make short skirts a mere
pretence for exhibiting scarlet stockings and
red-edged ruffieS upon their skirts and make