Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-02-02
FASHION AND SOCIETY.
RECENT WEDDINGS AND BALL
TOILETS.
A New Departure and Signs of Conn
Ing Spring.

talnmenCS OF one kind or another take place at
the rate of twenty or thirty every day, from two
to six OF which some ladies feel bound to at.
tend, almost any one will be able to conclude
that even the most fashionable women do not
have new dress for every occasion, and that
the majority in fact are obliged to resort to
many ingenious devices to preserve the dis
tinction ana dignity of their general appear
ance.
Still the whirl goes on. however. and still the
bright fair faces appear above the waving lines
of satin and lace the glitter of gems and fra
GRANGE of exquisite flowers 1t is wonder
ful art this of dressing, and there are women
who seem TO be mistress as OF it. but it il safe
to say they could not write about it or teach it,
and this proficiency is the result of their ge-
MUS in contriving ways and me lns-not of
knowledge of the art of doing without.
About this time that is a few weeks before
Lent. private interests. even those of society,
give way to considerations for the public good
There are dozens of charities in New York.
each one of which depends largely upon
its annual bell, or some other form
of entertainment, for its support The
most of these are crowded into the few weeks
of February, and as they all enlist the services
of a number of society ladies in engineering
the affair, diSposing OF tickets and the like a
large number are more or less interested
and occupied to the detriment of private busi-
ness. These balls are the only public balls
it is pardonable to attend, and they require a
vast number OF committee meetings, of meet
ings of "directresses," p" of consultation, and
lively discussion before the points are settled
to everybody's satisfaction, The patronesses
do not DRESS" they wear their old clothes on
these occasions, but the announcement of their
names brings in an outside public that does
dress, that has perhaps no other opportunity
of airing its new costumes and that likes to
consider itself interested in the same object as
Mrs. Vanderbilt or Mrs. A. T. Stewart. Cir
cumspect daughters who have had some exps-
rience and who know their own value in the
matrimonial market, are sometimes permitted
to go to these balls, but the younger element
does not come from high" society, but from
a lower element, from the well-to-do trading
and professional class, who have not the entree
OF houses where private balls are given, who
would not allow their girls to be seen at an
ordinary public ball, but who yield to the
mixed halo of fashion and charity which sur
rounds balls Of this class.
1t is always remarkable what a vast number
Of black coated young men there are at these
balls who form a dense semi-circle about the
dancers, but who are not entitled to the privi-
lege of claiming any young lady as partner.
These young men are known as the Light brig
ade." They do not buy their tickets to balls
or any place Of amusement, though they are
usually represented in force. They do not in
vite young women to accompany them to these
places, for carriage hire and bouquets would
absorb their weeks salary; but they hang on
to the fellows who do take the pretty girls, and
they are tolerated by mamaS because they
are always pleasant and accommodating, ire
proachable in the matter of neckties and
rying" men, however, and if girls do
not know it they soon become aware
of the fact. 1t is amusing to hear
them talk of impossbility of fellow" m arTy-
ing nowadays, and providing a wife with the
requisite luxuries in the matter of living and
dressing, because their meagre incomes are
often eked out and their own personal wants
supplied by some mother or sister who teaches
Hi,
marry late in life it is some woman who can
contribute her full share to the joint resources.
The young man of the period is not an ideal
being. He is fully aware Of his own value and
has no idea OF giving away the smallest atom
of himself without full compensation. He
does not love bindy. 1t is a question whether
he is capable of love at all-even with himself
He would marry if he could find some one
only him, and who possessed money enough,
position enough, and beauty (of kind that
suited his taste) sufficient to pay him for the
sacrifice
BALL ROOM sPLENDoR.
In describing ball room dress it is usual to
pile on the adjectives without reference to
truth, and it is customary to speak of toilets
as constantly increasing the aggregate of mag
nif1cence. OF the dressing of a recent ball
which was much OF it so plain and ordinary
that it became a subject of remark with many
of the guests, an imaginative reporter re-
capital on necks, mines on fingers, diamonds
by the bushel, precious stones by the peck.
gold and silver by the ton, scattered over miles
of silk, acres of satin, and deserts of velvet"
Descriptions of actual toilets do not pretend to
be exact nor do ladies wish that they should
be. They have no objection to having their
imitation Mirecourt and Aurillac their Breton
and French blonde. turned into AIencon or
DucheSSe point, Vallenciennes and Spanish
silk lace by a stroke of pencil Il am going
to give that woman a new dress, says good
natured reporter (woman), "She has worn that
old Nile green to my certain knowledge for
three years. and have trimmed and retrim-
med it myself lin print half dozen times. l
am going to put her in lavender satin
and see how she will look" And the next day
Mrs. -, who probably wanted a new dress,
but had not been able to get one, is astonished
to find herself recorded in an elegant new cos
tune of lavender satin, with point lace trim
ming and lovely garnture Of pink roses.
But this is an exceptional case. Good ma
sion does not usually lead to more than
the willingness to paint the objects,
whatever they are, in the brightest colors.
1t is expected Of them and they do it. Nor
could they very well do otherwise. They can
not say that this lady's dress was made of cot
ton-backed satin, and that of another was
trimmed with imitation lace They cannot say
that one was dazzling in beads that cost dol
lar pound and another in diamonds only
coated with the precious dust. 1t is the vile
system which Is at fault, which does not admit
of discrimination, but stimulates and encour-
ages the wholesale and generalzing descrip-
tfons, assertions and statements which it is i'm
possible should be true. Doubtless to mex
perienced eyes the developments of the last
few years in the line Of color, in the appIjca-
tion of color and design to crystal bead trim
mingS, in the manufacture of fine vet cheap
limitations of rich fabrics, especially satins.
velvets and laces, and the chemical discoveries
which have given US almost perfect limitations
of real gems, the dressing of the day mayseem
fSNI lUr-rUu Ntnw.
this is certainly not the case to the extent that
is supposed. On the contrary, much of the
dress of women is now very plain, even on
what are considered full dress" occasions A
few years ago women, old and young. wore
long trains, with an immense quantity of bur
densome drapery and often one fabric over
laying another. Now the long trains are in
the minority, are not essential, overskirts have
almost disappeared, and the newest and pret-
test dresses are made with skirts that hang
plain and straight, at least at the back Bnt
for all this women receive no credit. 1t mat
ters not whether it is reaction or movement
tell the truth instead of keeping up the same
eternal howl which has so little foundation IN
the real facts of the case.
The period Of even a fashionable woman's
triumph and Indulgence of gratiied vanity is
very brief Twice in her life she is crowned
with roses-when she makes her debut into
her small world and when she is mar
rled: The rest OF her life Is one of
sacrifice. mainly mainly OF caring for and
GROWING oGnerS. and often she has
TO deprive herself of needed or coveted objects
10 90 IL. Yet these lives are the ones of which
tne newspapers are full, 10 regard to which
tne peeanS are sung-the lives few in number
compared with the ma Jority that other women
envy. Many woman has had costly bouquet
bestowed upon her who would have been
thankful for the money it represented to put
in her empty pocket
There is hideoUs fashion which obtains this
season Of opening sleeves lengthwise so as to
disclose the bare arm. This is ungraceful and
even to the most beautiful arm:
to one that is less so 1t is positive deformity.
lovely rounded arm is a rare beauty and short
sleeves with long gloves, that is gloves that
cover the wrists and come we'll up over the
plump lower half of the arms above the
wrlst, may pc worn without any improperly
by those who possess this attraction but if the
owner Is advancing toward middle age, or is
developing tendency to undue stout1sss and
[ulness. she should wear elbow sleeves or close
nttlng sleeves OF lace, for nothing vulgarises a
woman appearance more than the display of
bare red pr bony arms, which look as il they
had graduated from the useful but unsesthetic
sewing machine or wash tub.
THE FEATURES OF RECENT WEDDINGS AND BALI,
TOILETS.
1t has been remarked IN previous letters that
white flowers are in high vogue for certain oc-
as weddings. Introductory balls,
receptions and the like. This idea seems to
grow In favor, and has become so universal as
TO seriously embarrass the fashionable florist,
who, upon certain days or at certain seasons
for there are favorita days and favorite sea-
sons for getting married, finds himself over
with orders and demands for par
Licular flowers for which perhaps for days to
come there will be no demand at all. Roses,
azaleas the narcissus, carnations and lilies,
callas, and lilies Of. the valley. are the princi-
pal flowers used and the different tints Of roses,
with smilax and natural leaves, quite give the
effect of color.
A novelty for brides consists of a fan of
flowers carried instead of bouquet. and at a