Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-06-01
SUMNER FASHIONS
For Wslktng. Travelling Staying az
Home. Playing Lawn Tennis and
VIsitIng-A Disappointing Spring.

New YORK, May 31--The truth in regard to
fashions worn during May is very easily told.
Wooden dresses, shabby silks, waterproofs,
Newmarket coats, cloth ulsters-a gay spring
bonnet here and there, looking very much out
Of place-here and there also a light or thin
costume with small straight cape, and girl
shivering under it. Fashions must give way to
temperature, and this has been unfavorable to
anything but prolongation Of the winters
warm dressing, and the constant use of com
Portable out door coverings. 1t has been sea
son peculiarly favorable also to English tailor
made suits and garment, but not at all propi-
tious to dainty French costumes, which are
chilly" even in appearance. Flannel has
been in vogue for house dresses, and the finer
cloth finished suits for the street. The dress
Of navy blue flannel is a modern invention.
1t is for cool days, rainy days. and
from twelve to FIFTEEN dollars lat the great
furnishing houses) and it is very serviceabIe.
1t is no wonder therefore that it is popular and
holds its place undisturbed year after year.
But these low priced suits are made of rather
coarse flannel, and are rather roughly made,
so that a lady hardly wants to wear one. Thus
there is demand for a better class of mat
rails and workmanship. and this is supplied at
about twenty-five dollars. These suits may be
of fine French finished flannel or American
wooden suting. The range of shades and
colors is wider and comprises not the mere
standard colors, but the newer and more artis-
tic as well as fashionable coloTings. The fashion
of them is less steIeotVped, the basques are
deeper and better cut, and there is a ch dice of
double and single breasted bOdices. These
are in reality excellent dresses for sea voyage,
as they well made and not liable to ore
unfortunate contretemps-t ripping of
seams. the coming apart Of threads tnat hold
the peaungs ANA various other mishaps that
are likely to befall cheaply made quits,
There is a higher altitude, however, reached
by the wooden suit. and that is in the simon
pure English tailor made and tailor finished
costume of fine cloth, cut and made with all
the precision of a dress coat. These are an
English invention and the product of the best
English makers-Dore, Redeem, CObbe and 9th
ers. They are not novelty, as my readers are
well aware, for have many times alluded to
and described them; but they have never been
popular in this country, as they are in England,
and they have been practically but very little
known until very lately. The English tenden-
cieS to what lis known as our best" society
have done at least one good thing in bringing
out these handsome and practical walking and
riding dresses, which are models of good taste
and neatness, but quite destitute of the rubbish
Americans must want. and which American
copyists of these spurious French" fash
ions religiOusY reproduce and exaggel-
ate. The true tailor made suits are not
cheap. They are manufactured of fine English
cloth in the best shades OF olive, bronze dark
myrtle, greea pure blue irOn-grey, and brown,
Only the best workmen are employed on them,
and when they succeed by some special knack
in pleasing, they are paid good wages. The cut
is never fantastic but always simple and marx
ed by good taste; the facings are of silk or
satin; and the small buttons, little gems. At
ter the comfort and pleasure or wearing
walking dress which is always in fashion, which
never gets out of order, and which is unmis-
takably the dress of a lady, lady will not will
ingly be without one, even if it does cost fifty
dollars. But it would be rather curious and
not Improbable subject of inquiry to endeavor
to fiud out how much culture it takes to make
woman willing to ray fifty and even sixty dol
lars for cloth suit in which the only silk that
is used is not Seenl American women Of old
time did not like "all wooden" dresses, and
many do not now. London tradespeop al
ways recognize an American in lady who
wants a wooden dress trimmed with 81 or vel
vet. which, according to strict ideas, mixes,
vulgarzes and in word "spoils," it.
THE NOVELTY OF WARDROBE.
There is hardly person, probably, who has
not at some time in their live pictured to them
selves what they would do if suddenly endow-
ed with fortune, and it must indeed be a very
interesting and curious experience, one that
all would like to have a chance of trying,
though it is doubtful if many would find them
selves permanently benefited. One such case,
however, has occurred this spring, and it was
to a young married woman who had hereto
fore been obliged to use the stricteSt ecOnomv,
who bad been Obliged, as the saying goes to
count every cent" and had scarcely ever
thought of the qualification of taste, all her
resources being required for neces aries. Natu-
rally she was dRZed by This sudden and appa-
renJly unlimited accession of fortune; out
strove hard, as did her husband, to act with
good sense and judgment. A necessity, how
ever, OF the new position was complete re-
construction of the lady wardrobe-or rather
the acquisition of one, for ike many another
woman, like the majority OF women in fac,
she had never been dressed except in
fragments, and was quite ignorant of thou
sand things which are said TO be necessary
tothe wardrobe of any and every woman.
Under these circumstances a friend, supposed
to be we'll informed on all such matters was
con, ulted. The latter, after obtaining a list of
the available stock in position, advised its
conditional abandonment, and the acquire
ment Of a complete and handsome, not ex-
travagant, wardrobe, lust as if, she remark
ed, you were going to be married over again,
and could afford it," This advice, strange to
say, suited the husband better than the wife.
She had an affection for the satteen polonaise
she had puzzled over and waited for, even if it
did fit badly in the back. She thought fondly
of her boarded silk, bought before her mar
riage and kept for occasions of importance
since, though its fashion was neither old nor
new. She pleaded hard for a gathered and
Duu6Q COTTON, WHICH SQ6 SbOuGly maintained
was artistic" and Guild hardly conceive that
any thing could be finer than grey bunting
with striped trimmings which had been the
glory of her last summer season. But friend
ard husband carried their point, and the fol-
lowing as TIE result:
Ore fine flannel suit in dark green.
One English cloth suit in brown, with New
market coat of lighter shade.
One all black costume OF satin surah, and
Spanish lace trimmed with masses of fine 1T
and lace, and accompanied by an all jet very
smalD bonnet
One all cream costume of nuns yelling and
MORE antique, with rich Spanish lace trimming
and little cream satin mingled with the bows
One costume of chene silk made as a
"Camargo" (pointed and paniered) bodice
over short skirt of plain MORE of the ground
color, and trimmed with rufiles and jabot of
creamy lace.
A richer dress of peacock's blue satin, with
overdress of lace, tied with peacock and lemon
colored ribbons
Two morning dresses; one of white lawn.
trimmed with white embroidery, very fine and
pretty one OF robins egg blue, trimmed with
white lace.
There was also a very handsome embroider-
ed dress of pongee with parasol to match.
Two parasolS one cream color and one all
black, very handsome, trimmed with Spanish
lace.
A smaller parasol Of tinted satin covered
with lace.
There was also variety of fans, gloves.
hosiery and underwear; lovely small boonet
of ivory chip satin and marabout feathers; a
mixed straw trimmed with a striped scarf and
redcurrants; large all black chip hat, and a
large white garden or seaside hat trimmed
with null and cherry blossoms.
Beside these there ives one olive costume
of surah and wooden lace, lined with thin silk
and trimmed with embroidery on the surah,
the dress accompanied by an olive straw hat,
pulled with surah and further ornamented
with a very big and very heavy ostrich feather.
NOTHING TO WEAR.
Without r,,oLirr ha cataIO011a Iopoav l,vy
enumerating the pretty maHtellettes aud visites
of silk and lace the f1chus and collars. the long
mtts and gloves of every shade, which formed
part of the purchases, it will be enough to show
that little was forgotten and that, taking it for
granted that every srticle was well chosen a
wardrobe has been selected that would be sup
posed to send an inexperienced woman of some
natural taste into ecstacies. And separately
and from an abstract point of view, the owner
did admire her new possessions-that is she
would Lave admired them if they had been
for some one else. But her own
ideas and feelings were not yet ad-
justed to them, and she could not feel that
they we're for her, or what she ought to wear
every day. She would have preferred to have
taken part of the money and gone round. as
she had been accustomed to- looking for bar
gains, and pleased herself by buying them
something she had never been able to do be-
FORE In fact, her friend met her not long after
wards at a cheap store, buying unlimited neck
ties, neckerchiefs. artificial flowers, and cotton
house-dresses. "You see" she remarked apollo
geCicaiy, my clothes are very nice, and all
that, but feel as il had nothing to wear
SUMMER sPECIALTIEs.
AnApg the summer fabrics which time can
not wfther nor custom stale, notwithstanding
there is no great variety in design or color, are
externally good and lovely materials is their
refinement and inexpensiveness. They are not
in high vogue now, for they are anything but
SNOWY; but they are delicate, refined. cool,
4 l. So, It'd