Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1882-04-10
Alisftllantons.
IN. Cesr OF CLOTHES.
WHAT IT DEMANDS TO DRESS FOR THE
STAGE. SOME s.STARr EXAMPLES.

STAGE. SOME STAR EXAMPLES.
Annie Louise Cary, modest in expendi-
fure, says that her wardrobe for last year,
although she is not BY any means the
gorgeous creature whom Worth dresses,
cost $40, 900.
From that we may get a starting point
American actresses dress more extrava-
gantly than any women in the world. The
foreigners who appear before the Amerl-
can public. usually come plainly dressed,
but they are made to understand that cos
tuning il part of their art. Madame
Gerster has been wearing the same clothes
ever since her first appearance here; not
that she is accused Of never having had
new dress, but that she has not had a new
wardrobe The cantatrice and her hus-
band are said to be prudent pair, and
Madame Etelka puts her money in the
bank instead Of wearing it on her back.
At the Cincinnati Opera Festival, Mad
anne Patti wore Nile green satin. en-
broidered in red and gold. and trimmed
with Marechal Neil roses. She wore all
of her diamonds. and if she had been sold
in lump, counting the treasury Of her
voice, she would have been worth in the
neighborhood OF 81 900 900. Satin and
diamonds were not always the attire Of
Salvatore PATHS daughter. In days gone
BY, when her voice. ii not technique, was
as glorious as now, when she and Vieux-
temps, who afterward reaped golden har
vests also and reigned in Paris as the
greatest living violinist, with Amalia
Patti Strakosch, formed the little concert
troupe that travelled through provincial
towns, poor Adelina had but few gowns.
and had 10 make them herself. The green
satin gown she wore at her last appear
ance n Cincinnati could not have cost less
than $1,000, and stage wear is trying on
clothes.
There is no more pathetic chapter in
Emma Abbott's early struggling career,
than her efforts to make good stage APP
pearance with poor muslins and cheap
laces. There has been silly attempt to
cry down the strong endeavors of this ar
tiste whose work is near her conscience,
but woman must have voice as well
as q will to face a concert room. as she
has done, in shabby clothes Honor the
brave little singer
Mrs Florence is said to give carte
blanche to the French dressmakers. and
the results are beautiful. The most
stage. was probably the Polish actress,
Madame Modjeska She had a real genius
for clothes She had indeed the delicate
and striking beauty Of Polish women, and
there were no defective points to conceal.
Her arms were long but very beautiful.
She dressed exquisitely in public and in
private. Even during the disagreeables
of rough ocean voyage, she was always
,aryatnnSlx xxyalt nosfnrna1 Iay nc
she walked the deck when the wind was
blowing great guns-tor she is VIGOROUSLY
the best on every ship on which she trav-
els-a gentleman remarked upon the SER
viceable simplicity of the dress she wore.
''Mon Deu," she said, this serviceable
simplicity cost me ZOO francs" What
the ornamental elegance cost her may be
left TO the Imagination and Worth.
Sarah Bernhardt. likei Rachel. is ex-
tremely difficult to dress. and no art in
the world can make her look well in full
dress. The long, rumpled Bernhardt
gloves were invented to conceal her atten-
uated arms; strings of pearls and dia-
monds cover her angular neck, but her
physical defects cannot be CLOSED over
when she is in grand toilet.
As Sarah Bernhard is too thin for full
dress, so Mile. Croizette, her rival, is too
fat. Fanny Davenport, once the glory of
the stage dressmakers. has reached that
point where art has to be called in to make
stout woman look slim. She no longer
wears the pretty, pale blue, boys costume
in "As You Like IT. that was so capti-
waiting ten years ago. Now she is as So
Der as Jenny Wren herself but sombre
browns and blacks do not altogether con-
ceal her middle-aged embonpoint. The
inability to make over stage dresses is one
explanation of the excessive cost of C
wardrobe for the boards. They are made
with double rows of sewing and strong
seams. The various Paintings. fallings.
and embracings, get the waists out of
shape. the trains become soiled and raw
eled, and at the end of season thou
sand dollar costume is only fit for the rag
bag Washington Post.