Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-02-01
NEW YORK FASHIONS.
THE SEASON OF BALLS AND
BALL DRESSING.

Nfew-Ful Dress-Feathers and Fur
weight and Warmth Fancy Dres.
Costumes-COurt Dresses in Prepar.
alton.
NEW YORK, Jan. 3l.-Fashion and folly il
the limited circle where they reign were never
carried to greater extremes since men wore
doublets and carried swords. They did moi
use them in the beginning of this year of grace
1888. But the ensemble as far as light color
taste, exquisite loveliness and haunting grace
can make it So "The women Of this genera.
ton are lovely enough to live and do nothing
else" remarked gentleman at one of the en-
tertainments given by New York million
alre-and indeed il seemed so, even to q
woman. The shimmering draperies, revealing
all of the wonderfully white, rounded arms
the contour of the neck and delicate curve OF
the throat, were light almost as angel wings,
and touched by jewels here and there as If by
stars. Matrons made a heavier background
to this bright picture, but even they were re-
splendent in beaded embroideries and jewels,
ana so did not mar il, the black coated men
alone casting the shadows.
Let us eat and drink and dance for tO-mor-
row we die, Is as true now as it was ages ago
when 1t was first written, and there does not
seem 10 be much to be done about it; for one
Is the JOY OF the old men, and the other of the
young women, and the two control the world.
BALL TOILETS FROM A MASCULINE POINT OF
VIEW.
''Now that is what call an exquisite dress. -
sad young gentleman at a ball recently.
worth would admire yOur taste " reDlied the
lady to whom the remark was addressed, ''for
1t is one of his choicest productions" The
panlered bodice, cut very low square, was
or topaz pink Grape, embroidered with shaded
carnations and trimmed with Mechlin lace
probably an initiation, but very fine and beau
tiful. The train of the soft shades of pink satin
was dalntlly arranged and thickly ruched /:
While on the neck and in the ears were Orna-
ments OF palest pink coral set in diamonds.
Diamonds never look so well as when used as
mrrm frames for other stones, and these were
set artistically.
''What do you think of this dress?" asked
the lady, indicating young lady who was ap-
preaching.
''Ohn' answered the male individual dis
dalnfully, ut is not worth thinking about; it
Is ridiculous for an occasion like this"
But the wearer is worth thinking about"
replied the lady. 81 happen to know her, and
she Is very superior girl, indeed. She is a
reader OF very clever books, not only literary,
Aid Association; she has taken the Harvard
course, and she spends so much of her liberal
allowance on her hobbies that she has but a
moderate sum left for her dress"
"What you would call a girl of ideas?" said
the gentleman, indifferently, and looking
slightly bored. ut is a great mistake" he
continued, ''for girls TO have ideas. 1t makes
them dress badly and separates them from the
rest OF the world. No, l did not intend a
joke, he inteTjected, seeing a look of amuse-
ment on the lady's face. SIT is the simple
truth. You see how isolated she looks. No
crowd of adorers; no bouquets hanging at her
belt. why the number of lady's bouquets
nowadays is as significant as the number of
scalps worn by an Indian in war times.
but the young married women carry as
many as the unmarried"
GsCartainlxr xr,I,,,
simply a tribute of admiration and the num-
ton is"
81 think it very foolish custom" observed
the lady, "and if it is not wicked it leads to
wlckedness. know worthy and most esti-
mable young men, well connected and well
educated, who will not go into society because
they cannot stand the fifteen and twenty dol
lar bouquet business. Its influence Is deeper
and more insldlOuS than one would imagine
At dinner the other evening, where daugh-
ter, Of the family was expecting to go to a
DelmOnico ball, an old bachelor who had been
groaning over ball bouquets and the inroads
they made upon the pockets of young men,
actually sent out surreptitiously by his valet
ana had magnificent bouquet sent anony-
mously to the young lady because she looked
"down in the mouth" as he expressed it, and
he, suspeCting the cause and not wishing her
to feel humiliateu OT at a disadvantage with
others, took this method cf restoring her
amour prO1re. And, indeed, il sent her away
radiant, and full of surmises as ia who, lOho
the delightful man was that had been So kind ="
That Is Difficulty, ! admit" returned the
young man, thoughtfully. sit gives money
all the advantage; but then where i'm this
country has it not the advantage? The man
who has not got it and cannot get it must 90
under. The woman who has not got it or can
not get what it represents, through some man.
must go under"
''Then this beautiful world of yours is a very
hard and vulgar world after ALL" smiled the
lady?
eyes, if you choose to look at it in that
light. My point is this, that there is no use
kicking against the world we live in 1t docs
not hurt the world, but it does hurt us. find
the world pleasant so long as | accept what it
has to offer me and do not trouble myself to
alter what cannot be altered, do not think
about my clothes, do not want to think about
them; but know am well dressed. because
/ employ good tailor, and my male friends
often ask me who 1t is. | find as q general
rule that everything has been thought out for
me far better than / could think it out for my
self; and this talk about independence and.
adapting every man and every wOman's
clothes to their individual pecuiarities, Is all
rot. Men look pretty well in their dress, al
though it is hideous, because it is neat and
uniform. Women look well when they are
dressed according to the latest fashion by
thing original and what mess they make of
it,"
'You are severe. Every one cannot afford
French dressmaking."
'That is every ones misfortune, and the
best way in such a case is to make the best
copy they can, or restrict themselves to simple
methods, to something they can do very well.
know lady who is here this evening with
her daughter. She has clever maid. She buys
no dresses at from three to six hundred dol
lars each from the Celonakiltys, but she has
one dress made in Paris every year, which her
maid copies; and her pretty fresh looking
daughter, who is always so daintily attired in
satin an d tulle, has satin bodices in two or
three different shades of delicate color, in
Guiding white, and tulle skirts made over silk.
She never wears the tulle more than once; but
all her ball dresses cost her is about a We dol
lars for the tulle. Her mothers maid trims
on the original silken skirt and this bodice of
course is always ready"
"You seem to be very well acquainted with
the different methods practiced by ladies of
obtaining substitute for French dressmak-
ing"
is my cousin, so am privileged person. But
all ladies are not so wise or SO economical as
she. have been told that one dressmaking
house i'll New I ork furnished siXty-five Of the
dresses we see here tonight at prices varying
from $3.50 to 5000 each.
"That is vast sum, in the aggregate, to
spend on what has so little intrinsic value"
"Yes; but that is the difficulty in this
more and get so much less for it than
elseWhere-not alone in intrinsic value, but on
the quality of the work. That is the reason
why so many Americans live abroad because
other side for much less money. Imagine a
man paying $500 for decorating his house
with plants, which will all be taken away to-
morrow by the florist. That is what our host
understand, pays for these palms and ferns
and orange trees. The reason why they cost
so much is because of the price of labor in
bringing them and taking them away again,
and also because of the almost universal crime
of carelessness which doubles and trebles the
risk, and so the owner charges a price that
viii cover all his possible losses, and many of
the plants are rare and valuable" At this
point the conversation ceased to be Of interest
to the reader, so ii may be supplemented bv
some Of the most recent aspects of what is
as
FULL DRESS.
A conspicuous feature of this season is the
absence Of sleeves and the triumph Of the how
bodice. A puritan prejudice" ALWAYS has
existed and still continues in many minds
against the culling away of the neck of the
dress and the exposure Of the arms To the fnlI
marrow and illiberal way of looking at the
question is evidence of Travelled cultivation
and cosmopolitan acquaintance with the
customs OF society abroad" and within the
radius of this charmed circle 'fulle, dress
now means train and corselet above which
may or may not appear nllIny strip of lace
Ladies who retain the square cut" usually
add to- it the high standing collar, Elizabethan
in style. and composed of pleated satin wired
lace, or embroidery mounted on stiff founda-
ton, according to the style and trimming of
the dreSs. many rlcn dresses have fronts
massed with pearls or beaded embroidery.
For example, train OF ruby velvet has a
front of ruby satin, embroidered thickly with
ruby beads, in ivy lear pattern. The collar is
Of embroidered velvet, lined with satin and
faced interiorlY with Spanish tbEad lace,
WHICH hlIs the square and is laid full over the
edge Of the corsage.
Very effective dresses arc composed of pale
yellow satin and tulle, with trimmings of
plush In the form of small pompons groun.d
and exquisitely shaded. A charming 5,eesa 80
quiet as to suggest the title Of '1ittIe monse,i
given the wearer, consisted of a mouse -coIars,
satin bodice, overskirt Of mouse -colored mile
draped scarfwlse and in an intricate manner