Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-12-22
Ladies' and Lace.


women's work nowadays, and women's.rights
are being eloquently defended by the sisters in
slken attire who know only by heresay of the
wrongs that are goading many of the mere wo-
men to clamOr 80 loudly for their rights. One
of the most incontestable Of these rights is the
right to liye to labor for their bread, and to
have market where they may sell their wares.
Now there is no better way of helping women
to establish this right than by charging their
market and patrOniZing woman's work.
We have all of US been brought up to look
with respect on the lace that trimmed our
erandmothers caps. and to consider lace as
the loyeliest adOrnment OF our lovely persons
as the poetry of our dress, the touch of
refinement which stamps at once the dress
of the we-bred lady from the mere wo-
man. The d3,telles of her trouseau were
one of the French girls anticipated
bridal joys: the grdIt1e dame was recognized by
the rare antique fabrics with which she shroudeti
her vanishing beauty: the heroine of story was
yelled in lace Inherited from venerable ances-
treSs; lace was the distinctive mark of elegance
and refined taste in every country and at every
age. But of late years heresy has sprung up
amongst us, and vulgarity, under the name of
novelty and cheapness. has made a too success
ful effort to dethrone Queen Dentelle from her
time-honored sovereignty. Imitation lace began
to be tolerated first on petticoats. sneaking in
under cover OF the genuine article outside then
openly on small trimmings. till by degrees it
was promoted to more important offices. and at
last it Haunted its false. flippant web in LOUNGES
and collars and shawls. Ladies ceased to be
ashamed oft imposition and talked piausibly
about the folly OF sinking such sums in rea, lace
when the imitation looked just as well; it was
mere prejudice. after ALL and one got SO tired of
always wearing the same lace, etc.
Meantime thousands OF women. young and
old were watching the fight between Real and
False with anxious hearts. and when the victory
remained with the false lace. wall rose through
ont the land of lace that has not yet been 81
fenced.
l was passing through Bayeux last week, and
after visiting the glorious old cathedral, went
to see the great lace mandatory Of the place.
the NaisOn Lefebvre, which was opened to me
by favor. 1t is the most important house in
France. and was anxious to hear all about the
suffering lace makers from central witnesses. A
daughter of the establishment did US the hOnOrs.
her father being absent in Paris. where the great
depot of the mandatory is. on the Boulevard
P0ssOnnere-a bright young girl full of enthu-
siasm about the beautiful fabric. which she spok,
OF reVerently as the art of industry" She told
me that there existed sort of school in lace
work as in painting. that it was only in certain
districts they could find hands light enough to
work at the finest kinds of lace. ''We can tell
at once" she said. ''where an OurrieT.e comes
from when she gives us a specimen of her work"
Formerly all the lace was made Mt Chantilly
and Alencon. but gradually agriculture drew
away the hands from lace-making, and the trade
drifted on to Normandy. it was the great Col
bert who first brought the fabric into France.
He was vexed at seeing the cOurtiers and their
wives send such sums to Venice every year for the
rich point lace that adorned their SumptuOus
court dresses. and so he induced group of Vene-
tian denteleres to come over to France and set
up the school of point de VeniSe and point
d'AlencOn which in time became famous. The
peculiar stitch of these delicate laces is still
called point Colbert.
The women in and about Bayeux have the
hghtest hands tor lace that are now to be found
in Europe. NJ. Lefebvre hasa great house in Bel
gium but they can not get the same lace made
there as in Bayeux. Indeed, as examined the
exquisite gossamer web, with the cunning de-
vices raised on it like ivory, so clear and firm and
diaphanous in its elaborate and delicate detail,
l wondered how it could have been made any
where out Of fairy-land.
l saw young dentelere at work on de-
sign In point Colbert; 1t is all done with the
needle, and with a bit of cardboard with a hole
cut in it. which she moves along, so as never to
touch the lace except with the needle. l
watched for about ten minutes while her needle
ran to and fro amidst the innumerable threads,
sliding, darling. turning this way and that. and
with a rapidity that was bewildering to follow.
She told me it would take her an hour to finish
the little raised ring that she was just begin
ming. And we think we pay dear for lace!
The MaisOn Lefebvre employs about eight
hundred women and keeps them on all through
the year, whatever the fall In the lace market
may be. But they can not pay them as they
used to do. Formerly a frst-class dentelliere
gained from two to three francs day: now she
never gets more than from thirty to thirty-fve
sous and this only from the Maison Lefebvre.
All along the villages on the coast where you
see the women sitting at the cottage doors bent
over their cushions, they will tell you their days
earn ings varies from ten to fifteen sous!
1t is very pretty to watch them at work. They
use couple of hundred bobbins at a time; and
it is marvellous to see the rapidly with which
the little weapons fly in and out and round about
amongst the threads. fine as cObweb fbres, and
that seldom snap under the deft fingers. Ten
SOUS day for work like this. when we pay in
Paris three francs and a half common seams
tress who comes in to turn our old petticoats
upside down,
Spanish lace as the silk blonde is called, has
been in fashion the last couple Of years. and the
specimens j saw here were very beautiful. But
the black Chantilly surpasses all the laces to my
mind. Apart from its own beauty it's special
mission is to beautify its wearer. No other lace
is so becoming. 50 fiatterng to face and figure;
its transparent shadows soften the skin. making
a clear complexion brilliant. and dingy OF faded
one passable; it's folds lend grace to the figure
which you are cheated into attributing to the
lines they drape French ladies of olden times
(and indeed the elderly ones of these times) knew
this Well and with that keen instinct about dress
which taught them how to make the most of it
for their own beauty, they smOthered themselves
i'm Chantliy.
The shaded leaf which has added SO much to
the picturesqueness OF Chantilly was invented
by the grandfather of the present NJ. Lefebvre.
The leaves are like painted shadows. The black
Chantiy is made of pure silk the white, of
thread. The white is very pretty and less ex-
pensive than the black but its beautiful rivals.
point d'Alencon and point de Yenise, eclipse it
so completely that it falls into the shade near
them.
had heard the dentellieres scattered about
the sea-coast say that the marriage of the King
of Spain had given an impetus to the lace trade
because the bridal dress of Queen Mercedes was
made at Bayeux and all the lace frames in Nor
mandy had been employed on it. This was not
quite true, but partly. They told me at the Mai
son LefebrYe that a great lady of the Spanish
court had ordered parure of point dAlencon
for the royal wedding and it happened that one
on which the staff of the establishment had
been engaged for nearly ten years. with a view
to the exhibition Of 1875 was nearly finished.
and this was sent to her. l saw the engraved
patterns. There was deep founce, front
piece. and trimming for the corsage. 1t was
the most perfect piece of fairy-wOrk in thread
ever beheid. a mixture of points de Venise and
Alencon. chiefly the latter. The complete set
cost eighty thousand francs-nOt so much when