Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-08-04

A CURIOUS CONTRAST
in the fashions of dress is afforded at Poland
Springs by a sunday morning visit to the
Shaker Society a few miles distant. The sum-
mer visitors gather from the entire surround
ing neighhorhQod and preaent the usual med
lev of red straw hats and yellow trimmings.
blue basques and white skirts, eheckered suits
trimmed with solid colOrs and solid coOrs
trimmed with stripes. There were bright red
parasols and others OF lowered satteen, and
ribbons of many c9lOrs Auttering from
bunched-up skirt andTstringent bodice The
visitors 0utnumberen the members OF the
Shaker Society, and, were massed together in
the seats fronting the entrance; the men on
the left, the women on the rIght-the Shakers
following the same order in the space beyond.
The majority of the Shaker women were
aged and their Hands and faces were scanned
with hard wOEk, but the uniform dress they
wore was SO Absolutely clean and simple, so
free from All incongruIty that it impaired an
appearance of absolute refinement which was
in strong contrast to the garish mixture of
color ~ the worldly side of the house A
decided change, however, has taken place in
the Shaker dress within the past twenty
wears. skirts were formerly quite plain; now
they are laid in lengthWlse folds an inch in
width-in other words, they are Killed, and in
the soft greys and stone colors. with the white
silk or muslin neckerchief crossed over
bodice. and the clear cap, shading not con
cealng the whitening locks Of hair, the effect
was that of "A gentleness and serenity suited to
the age of majority of the wearers, Upon
the children, who are waits picked up or sent
from homes where they are not welcome, the
sad colored mature dress seems perpetual
and unnecessary commentary upon their sad
lives: and the simple form being preserved,
might one would think, be varied by livelier
pinks. blues and lilacs. The little girls wear
white capes instead of handkerchiefs, eX-
actly like those worn by country girls in Eng
land half century or less ago.
SIMPLICITY AND HARMONY
IN the details of dress are never seen to better
advantage than at an average summer resort,
where the thrifty desire TO wear out old
clothes tends to the accumulation of patchy
contrivances to heighten effects or cover up
shortcomings. That nothing is more costly
than simplicity is well understood by those
who know anything of the art of dressing,
and the reason is because each separate arti
Gle must he adequate, must bear inspection,
must be in good condition, must hold exact
and harmonious relations to every other arti-
Gle and must be adapted not only to its pur-
nose but to the wearer. To succeed IN all tins
is the work of an artist, and requires the
nurse of a twenty millionaire, 1t Is aston
ishing. however, considering the perpetual
"changes' in fashion, how little real altera-
ton there Is in essentials. Twenty-Five years
ago a blending of tones and harmony of color
in costume marked distinction and the
possession of a cultivated taste-iust rs they
do to-day. The advance which has been made
Is a difference of degree only, the principle
now taking in every detail-hosery, parasol
and fan included, as wei as the dress and
bonnet. We also admit wider range OF col
or. have conquered even the prejudice against
the scarlet woman, which was undoubtedly
one of the reasons why red was the last of the
primaries to be admitted to the fOld-and now
we can wear red, green, yellow, on purpose,
provided the shade is well chosen and the
tones well blended. An Eastern resort has
this advantage over Newport and saratoga,
that the general average OF the temperature
is cooler, more braciug, better adapted for
the wearing OF handsome clothes. A Worth
dress or Pingat mantle is an iutolerable bur-
den with the thermometer in the nineties
All that science and art can teach you in
relation to bingham and linen lawn is what
NOT to do: The masters do not waste themselves
on these puerilities. They want rich mate
rails, and their contrasts to produce their
effects. and the body that displays them must
feel equal to the task. This it does in an at