Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-12-07
FASHTONSFOR DECEMBER.
THE BEGINNING OF THE HOLI-
DAY SEASON.

Early Opera DressiDg-A Brilliant
Opening Night-A Bridal Outft-A
Trip to New Orleans and What is Re-
quired for It-New Styles in Furs and
the Coming Christmas.
NEW YORK, Dec. 5.-Little in the way
of full" dress is seen in New York pre-
vious to the Christmas holidays, even at
the opera. The beautiful and striking in
costume are derived mainly from we'd
dings and their accessories, and for the
rest from the new arrivals and Temporal
ry visitors at hotels, who, particularly, if
| they are brides on a tour, sometimes make
a singular display. A woman of genuine
| fashion does not wear her finest clothes
Ebetween seasons" or in a very public or
mixed assemblage any more than a man
would wear his dress coat before 6 O'Clock
| or in a street car without an oyercoat.
/ Therefore when you see lady in trail
/ ing white satin dress and diamonds in an
| hotel elevator or its restaurant previous
| to being taken to the theatre or opera, you
/ know that she is inexperienced to say the
| least, and will probably conclude
| that she wears her wedding
! that she considers quite equal to what
/ is to her an extraordinary occasion. A
woman with the habit and experience Of
society under such circumstances might
wear as rich dress, but it would be dark
and short, and not too open, though suffi-
! GENTLY so for the display of lace and jew
els to tighten and brighten it. Few
women, even of large fortune, have more
! than couple OF entirely new evening
! dresses for a single seasOn-perhaps not
more than one. This is reinforced by the
! handsome toilets they have on hand; by
one or more additional dinner dresses,
and by combinations of elegant skirts
| with jackets or bOdices of some other fab
ric. The grand toilets are made for some
important occasion or they are prepared
! beforehand and reserved for an event of
sufficient interest to bring them out. Wis
! its to the opera are too frequent, wedding
/ receptions too crowded and usually too
! informal, and occupations too many and
/ varied to permit of ceremOniOus dressing
] until after the autumn and holiday shop
/ ping and the business of Thanksgiving is
| over. And here it may be remarked that
| since the observance of Christmas has be-
| come so universal, it would be greatly
| mere convenient to have Thanksgiving
/ take place in October. The two festivals
come too near together, and Thanksgiv-
ing, which corresponds to the English
! Harvest Home, loses it's significance by
being postponed to the edge of the winter
months.
To return to opera dressing. If at this
early period it is somewhat mixed and
undecided in its general character it
usually affords an opportunity for the dis
play Of the latest and most stylish bon
nets. This year has been no exception to
the rule. Some of these show brims with
two points instead of one, and nearly ali
soft conicaI crowns, and trimming massed
high upon the front. One Of these was III
bronze velvet and Ottoman silk, with pink
feathers; another in red velvet, with gold
upon the edge of the brin, gold lace and
narrow gold Ottoman strings. A very
handsome dress af sapphire Ottoman
satin was trimmed with cream lace, en-
brOjdered with small delicate 1OWerets,
and the bonnet was made and trimmed TO
match, with the addition of a group of
ostrich feathers. A cOlOred bonnet does
not, however, look well with a different
! cOlOre0 dress, no matter how handsome
each may be separate, they do not look so
| well together as a costume complete even
if made of inferior material. This is I'M
| derstOod and is acted upon very generally
| by those who know how to dress. In fact,
| the uniformity in detail is sometimes
/ carried to absurd extremes; but it is
] based upon an essential principle and
| cannot be transgressed without creating
| confusion and disturbing or reducing
/ the value of the whole. Naturally, much
| of the finest dressing, not being
| strictly evening or opera attire, exhibits
| new and complete carriage and call
| ing costumes. Among these was one
in dark wine-cOlored velvet, with fiat
| kpife-pleated vest of pink silk, outlined
| with gold-embrOidered cream lace. A
| little plating of the silk was also intro
| duced into the sleeves, which were fin
| ished interiOrily with lace. The buttons
were beautiful. They were small shaded
/ pink shell-like PLAQUES, with pearl set
| in them. The bonnet had pink crown,
! yelled with the lace and lace brim, with
/ putting of velvet at the edge, and high
| cOnical group of wine-cOlOred feathers. A
| costume of Ottoman satin in an ecru tint
1 was greatly admired, the combination
| being entirely ecru and cream lace. The
latter trimmed the bonnet, which was
| without feathers or flowers, but very dis
tinguished in shape, and very becoming.
| The front of the dress formed full skirt
of cream lace, which descended upon the
skirt, and was tied at the throat and
across the waist line with ecru Ottoman
satin ribbon in long loops.
Ecru and cream lace are placed in
highly fashionable conjunction this sea-
son. The tints are soft, and produce
lovely effects, much more subtle and
delicate than the white and gold,
which has been tried more or less
in combination for the past 90
Golden Fleece; but has found greater
number of admirers among cultivated
! women since the shading in gold and the
! tints in white admitted of a toned ar
! rangement without crude or startling
contrast. Last year the difficulty of
| dressing to suit the cold and vacant
| spaces in the interior of the Metropolitan
| Opera House was commented upon. This
year a great improvement has taken
! place. The boxes have been draped, and
more warmth and color put into the deco
ration, and the opening night, having un-
usual significance to the admirers of
Wagner and those who have witnessed
the religious conservation which char
acterizes the rendering of his great works
abroad, presented scene of exceptional
brilliancy, tempered only by the serious
attention and earneStness of the audience,
which seemed disposed to assist in the
| work. This absence of flippance and friV-
oily extended to the tOIlettes, many of
which were beautiful, but had more
dignity than is often noticeable at the OPP
era. Among the noticeable dresses was
one of heliOtrOpe satin and gold brocade;
| another was gray brOcade in a large
shaded pattern with plated front of lace
over pink satin. One lady wore an ele-
| CANT, but perfectly plain gown of brown
velvet, with amber comb and neck lace,
| and one a dress of black, velvet with
transparent amber beads festooned in
double rows from the left shoulder.
There were many white dresses-some
embroidered by hand-the prettiest of
nuns cloth with embroidery in chenille.
But, perhaps, the most effective dress was
a ruby velvet, with open bodice, finished
with gold lace, and showing magnificent
ruby pendant, setin diamonds.
WEDDING BELLS.
Weddings, perhaps, have not been SO
numerous as usual this autumn--ac.
counted for, as has been the falling off in
| everything, on the ground of its being the
| Presidential year-but some Of those that
have taken place have been strikingly
| beautiful, and even presented original
! features. At one, church wedding, two
ministers were emplOyed--One marrying
the bride to the groom, the other TIE
! groom to the bride. AT lovely home
| wedding the mirrors were yelled in net
/ work of maiden-hair ferns and small
| starry white blossoms. At another the
ushers wore cream satin vests, the edge
! only visible, and ties of rich cream lace,
with square ends.
The large patterned brocades and COM
! binations of satins and brocades are not
| approved for brides by the highest au-
thOrities. They look too old. A bride is
! apt to look older than she is in any case,
the conventional dress being very trying
/ one, unless carefully selected and ar
ranged, and sometimes decidedly unbe-