Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-03-01
THE WORLD OF FASHION.
STYLES TO BE WORN DURING
THE SPRING.


Make Women Beautiful-COstumesi il
siIk-Costumss I'm Wool-Lingerie a
Home and AbrOad-Getting Rid of Su
perfluities.
NEW YoRK, Feb. 9s.-This has been what il
called very gay season. Ministers have
preached against the sin OF dressing in the
vain and costly manner which marks sfull,
and fashionable attire at balls and evening
entertainments, and newspapers have itera.
ted descriptions OF brilliant toilets adj nan.
seam. Limited as the ''soeiety" area is, and
confined to few persons, who are of no sort OF
consequence out of their little circle. vel
through the powerful medium of the press il
represents the world they pine for to nine
tenths OF the young and foolish who are out
side OF it, and whose chief ambition is the de
sire to initiate that which is made to appear
so much more desirable than it really is.
There Is nothing more tedious under the sun
than the repetition of mere society entertain
ments among the same class of people-eyen
the sight of their clothes becomes exasperat-
ing, and simple gown a sweet refreshment
among the quantities of snowy rubbish for
beads and tinseled gauze are not elegance or
refinement. They are circus splendor at the
best, and need the gaslight and pageantry OF
the ring to make them pass muster. They are
unworthy objects of emulation; for our bright
and true hearted American girls and their
sweetness should not be wasted upon them.
LINGERIE AT HOME AND ABROAD,
There Is no better evidence of the difference
which exists between the French and Ameri-
can mode OF dressing among women than the
utter failure in this country TO naturalize the
exquisite silk lingerie which is so essential a
part of the wardrobe of the French eIe0rnfe
We use initiation lace on common cotton un-
derWear here to an extent that would be in
credible abroad. We make upmachine stitch
ed undergarments at from 40 to 75 cents each,
with yards of coarse embroidery and sell
them by the gross. But the sale Of the hand
made french articles, simple in cut, neat,
durable, and possessed OF a certain refinement
even in the lowest grades, is limited to few
American women Of cultivated intelligence
Whlle the purchase and sale of the costly styles
OF American underclOthing, in the most of
which finer imitation lace and finer machine
embroidery again play an important part are
limited TO trousseauX, to special outfits which
few women after marriage ever find the
means to duplicate. The fault is not their
own. All our methods here are costly and
Wasteful, distinguished by poverty of
materials and Workmanship, and there
fore not cheap at any price, while the superior
manufactures, the products of skilled and
trained labor from abroad, are kept at such
rates that they are put out of the reach of the
ordinary purchaser. The first thing that the
American woman abroad does is to revel in
the enjoyment of q newly acquired stock of
lovely lingerie, bought at such prices that she
can afford to wear it. Hayward's, in London,
is known III London as dear shop, every
thing being of the first quality, but fchus and
collars, chemsettes and dress sets, articles that
cost from 81 so to IS in New York, seem to be
all purchasable at uniform rate of about
three and siXpence in London and few
francs more or less in Paris. The underwear
of the English woman is more substantial but
II is not finer than that of the American, and
is much less burdened with cheap ornamental
underwear French ia
finer than either, and when she is dressed for
occasions it Is exquisite, The satin corsets
which with us are so rare, are with her an in
ulspensaDle part OF her wardrobe, and are
black or cream color, heliotrope or pink, ac-
cording to the color or tone of her costume
Her dress - uniformly much less snowy, and
exhibits less variety than that of the fashiOna-
BILE American, but her underwear is infinitely
finer and more specialized-that is, ADAPTED
to particular colOrs and styles of dress, and to
the purposes for which they are selected.
SUMMER SILKS.
There are certain varieties of silk of light
weight that always appear with the hyacinth
bulbs in the florists windows, the straWber-
ries at 81 dozen, and the vOets grown in
hot beds and yet sold fer 10 cents a bunch.
These are the fOulards, with solid brown dark
blue, and wine colOred grounds, sprinkled
over with little polka dots, leaflets, tiny star
like daisies, or shell-shaped designs. They
are cool and pleasant summer wear, and they
look pretty in contrast with dull, heavy cloths
and the thick winter fabrics of which the eve
has become wearaeels=But the fashion of them
does not change from year to year, and they
are now principally relegated to quiet elderly
ladies who have no more use for fashion, but
prefer that which is gentle, and familiar to
the eye and to the touch.
In very nearly the same category come what
are known distinctively as Summer silks
the small checks and hair stripes in gravs
and browns and whites and lilacs and black.
Quiet and unObtrusive are these also and
famous for wearing qualities, but like the
10 fpn,,
for some years past have been principally en-
ployed for children, little girls and their sis
ters OF fourteen and fifteen who have not yet
emerged from the school room. This season
the check Is preserved, but in some it is very
much enlarged, and in others more moder-
ate square is diversified with lines of color
garnet and bronze and gald-which gives
in solid grounds, checked with lines of green
and gold or shrimp pink and brown uDOn
brown or ecru grounds.
But the novelties are more startling. The
finest summer silks are the China silks and
the Indian corahs and surahs. These have
both light and dark grounds, but the tinted
worries and creams are the most effective for
showing up the marvellous designs. These
are very large, and consist of tropical fruit
h0Wers and foliage thrown upon the surface
in bold, original and striking manner, vet
with consummate art in the combining of
forms and blending of colors and shades of
color. The three most successful designs are
the mango, with Teticulated and lanceolated
leaves; the orchid and the passion flower. The
exquisite coloring which is put into these re-
productions of curious natural objects, the
strength and freedom in drawing and tinting.
and the faithfulness make them a most inter-
esting study, and one that can he taken UP
again and again and still find something new
to admire. There is q musical motive too,
running through the whole, charm of tone
as distinct as If expressed in sound, and which
reappears In different degrees and gives
depth and meaning and expression which is
dlmcult to convey in words.
Perhaps this sounds hyperbolical in regard
TO mere dress fabrics, but is not intended to be
so. II is from the purely artistic point OF view
that TO me they are admirable; AMI one might
suppose that the weaHer of them would have
an artists pride in this work, in the wrinkled
and naturally curling edges of the fleshlv mink
the darkly Veined and shaded leaves.
in which death and life struggle for mastery,
and the bulbOus roots, from which the feblIns
tendrils shoot out like aatenn9, There are
other designs, one of which is called the 'srose
garden" and another "autumn leaves" Both
are extraordinarily bold and effective; but
who could wear them or where, excepting at
fancy dress ball, il would be hard to sav. Imag-
inc the ground thickly covered with the yellow
Of the maple, the reds of the sumach, the brown
Of the dead leaves, and scattered here and
there wonderful pale yellow roses, each large
the autumn leaf pattern. The rose garden
does not cover up the ground entirely The
roses are OF immense size-that is, the yellow
ones are-but softly shaded. Living near them
fresh-looking that one can almost inhale their
perfume. The fault of the autumn leaf design ia
that 1t looks too much like eret0nne, and in
deed some of it has been sold for furniture
covering, but it is a marvel of natural effects
in bright, dead, falling, frost struck and iust-
turning leaves, and is as much work OF ge
MUS as II 1t had been put with the brush upon
canvas. a =
1t is easy to see that the favorite colors of
the season Will be bronze and shrimp-pink
l.1eepenlng TO softer shades of terra Gotta, for
,nese appear everywhere and in everything.
Inc tones are dark hut soft: there is nothing
marsh or crude about them, and they are |
therefore universally becoming. One adyan. !
:age OF the large patterns in these delicate |
fabrics is that they will make up in the sim |
Dlest forms. Plain skirts with omen bodices |
-or square chemisettes have reappeared and |
are taking the place largely of fichus and the |
open bodice or surplice waist may therefore /
De considered fore0rdained for the coming |
and, fortunately, they will be as |
reasonable as they are graceful and attrac- |
i've. Small detached figures on solid grounds /
ire apt to be stiff, but this is I0odihed BY the
II the light foliage surrounding the small /
lower designs IN all the new silken fabrics.
BLACK SILKS.
Plain black silks are in better demand this
pring than for some time past, and are a
pleasant relief to the eye after the era of bro
ades and figured designs. Perhaps il Is that
n order to prove attractive the manufacture
las been improved; Certainly they have
lners JSt ILChcI unlsn tnan mas been the case |
or years before the plain black silk was laid
n the shelf-a fate due largely to the adulte-
ations Of the silk with materials, which. while
living increased weight, soon iInraTted \
reased and streaked appearance which de-
troyed all beauty. But figures still large
redomlnate, and some of the best of the
arlf spring costumes are made by combining
aRdsome figured velvet with rich plain siik
I high quality, or with satin-de-lyon. or
ttoman silk. The last is undoubtedly the
most effective combination, but ii is less suita-
lie for the young than either OF the other.
lttOman silk, however is very beautifui IN |