Dodge City times., 1883-12-27
Fashionable FurS.

The most fash enable fur at the pres
ent time is undoE btedly sealskin, and
las won IFS place after very hard
and severe fight, by virtue of inherent
merit For many years it held place
n Englan which was not accorded to
! it here, ami few believed then that it
could ever rival or superseGe the then
popular mink Twenty years ago the
height of every woman's ambition in
the dress direction consisted in the
possess on OF dark pink cape and
muff, tie val ne eing measured by the
numter OF dark stripes which are found
on tie back Of the mink. Now ladies
in Eastern cities will hardly take mink
rs Gift, unless it is put n as lin.ng,
rs it is now occasionally in 5 Tx circulars
There are reasons, however, for tbs
revolu iOnary change more ere litable to
judgment than mere ca,,rice. In the
first place, mink never was dressy
fur; it was solid. suSs' antial and re-
spe table; but not refine or su table for
dress occasions. Itwa., tesides, very
difficult to discrim nate between quail les
that possessed real claims to considera-
tion and those trat were man 'pula ed for
the market. These drawbacks do not
exist in the case of sealskin. Its
depth, its color. its soGtness, its fine
shading, adapts it to fastidious tastes,
while its quality is so easily ascerta;ned,
its genuineness SO readily tested, that
no lady need buy in ignorance of what
she is purchasing. The Shetland seal
ranks the highest, and is really an eco
nomical purchase, fer it literally never
wears out. while its beauty and luxury
are oy forever i'm Paris Shetland
seal paletot coax will cost five hundred
francs (Sl0W; in England, twelve
I guineas (S65); here, from $3.50 to $3.50.
No wonder lad es take the opportunity
to make purchases abroad and perspire
in them. under the ewes of the officials of
the cuStom-house and the heats of Au-
gust or September. The shape of the
seal-skin jacket and paletot has greatk,
improved OF late years. 1t was former
ly shor,, square, bagoy and ill-fitting
Now it is cut to the figure. is longer,
higher upon the shoulder, and the sleeve
is shaped 70 the top of the arm.
! The paletot is succeeding the
jacket; and next season will be
the most sought for, as it is now
the newest of the seal-skin garments.
This lovely fur can not be so well util-
lied as some others for the smaller gar
ments, such as fur capes and. trim
mings; probably it is too precious to be
cut up and wasted. For these purposes
black fox, natural beaver, gray fox and
rat fur are largely used. The latter i:
not often sold under its true name, bu,
it is very largely empioyed and is real
ly one of the most desirable of common
furs. for it is soft, dark and durable.
Otter is one Of the prettiest and most
expensive furs used for. trimming pur-
poses; and its exquisite shade Of brown
AMI soft sickness have long made it
favorite with gentleman, for whose col.
lars. eapes. .muHiers and other cold-ex-
cluding accessories it was almost
monopolized. What is called "Labra-
dor fur in Paris is beautiful brown,
long-ha.red fur, for which we seem to
have no name or corresponding trim
ming in this country--not one at least
that is prepared in the same way-al-
thous h it has the appearance of belong
ing To the fox family. June, IN
Chicago Journal.