Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-06-01
THE SAVANNAH MORNING NEWS: SUNDAY, JUNE /, 1884,

Used, make it of straw, not gilt, or of
twigs, real twigs, and trail vines over it.
The beading and tinsel, the gliding and
enameling, the metallic ornaments, and
the last winter aigrettes are all empha-
sized by the dark color and the extent to
which velvet is used, and makes the mil
linery look like the cleft over'' of the pre-
viOus season.
The mantle presents the same difficulties
as the bonnet. 1t is beaded, it is enriched,
as it is called, with hanging things of
every description. 1t is costly, but it is
fantastic and not useful-certainly not
permanent. Most women recognize this
and they do not wear any mantle at all.
They wear their plain tight-fitting street
dresses without any covering, and show
figures as we'll defined as if dressed in
tights upon the stage.
A revolt is imminent against the high
shoulders which have been carried up to
a reforming extent. The high cut upon
tie shoulder which admits of much more
Derfectfit for the bodice and gives freedom
to the arms is a good thing; but In the
dress Of women, designers or makers of
garments are never satisfied to do a good
thing. They keep changing it until they
make something worse OF 1t than that
which preceded it, and which, therefore,
finds an opportunity for reinstatement.
The shoulders now are carried up to with
in couple OF inches of the throat, and are
now stuffed into regular Jumps. The
graceful slope is not wholly lost, and a
lath-like length impaired to their
upper arms, but an actual defOrmity is
cultivated. This style is particularly OBJ
noxious on the square capes and collars,
the little Yisites and scarf mantelets,
which, small as they are, are so costly
that women with small incomes would
not think of throwing them away after
n
well the excuses Into which some young |
girls run, with their high collars, jockey |
caps, studs, gauntlets and the rest of it; |
but these girls do not wear mantles in the |
street. They are as straight and free
from all eXtraneOus articles of attire as if
they had followed the fashions of one of
their own grOoms. 1t is the middle aged
women who want mantles and whose
tastes should therefore be consulted.
WESTERN GIRLS
who have heard it said that Western fash
ions were peculiar and too pronounced,
may take heart OF grace. The most styl-
II - rue u The season is a Western bride
W l, ClU,.hes, sold to have peculiarly
Partisan flavor" were an made in and
brought from a Western city uop orav
dress and hat. the latter faced
with darker shade of velvet, and the
former Ornamented with a bunch of
roses upon it's faultless bod
ice, were declared perfection. At dim
ner in her honor she wore lovely toilet
of pink and gray pTnked out ruches and
lace, and upon a coaching trip a long
mantle of gray and brown br0cade with
brown feather trimming and cream satin
lining, the bonnet Of cream satin shaded
with pearls forming a trellis over lace
and showing a front Of pulled brown
gauze shaded with small golden butter
flies. The principal ornament was an
aigrette Of brown and white feathers.
Another dress in her wardrobe was dark
green tailOr-made costume braided with
very newest style in gold to look like en-
broideTy, in detached figures upon the
front Of the skirt and the revers Of the
jacket. A morning dress of strawberry SUI
rah with jabOt of cream tinted lace down
its entire length was voted ''tOo DID," but
that is the only criticism passed upon her
wardrobe.
FROCK- DRESs-GOWN.
AprOpOs of a discussion at lunch table
in a Western city III regard to the proper
use of the words frOck, dress and gown,
their relative value and meaning, a cor
asks for an opinion. The con-
trOyeTsy arose out Of a London letter in
the New York Tribune, the points Of
which it is not necessary to recapitulate,
as they were partly right and partly
wrong.
Dress, it must be remarked first, is a
more comprehensive term than frOck or
gown, and may be used as inclusive. 1t
was generally so used until within the past
thirty years, or the lifetime Of the basque.
Fifty years ago a WOman's dress was in
one piece and was called gown; the girls
dress frOck. The loose jacket and skirt
worn by the poorer class Of women about
their work was known as short-goWn and
petticOat. The jacket was cut straight,
not shaped to the figure, and tied or belted
on about the waist. An Independent
bodice, known and worn about that time
and subsequently, was called a spencer"
The earliest attempt at basque consisted
in adding short tabled skirt to this in
dependent waist.
A gown is properly d dress made III one
piece, and the term ''tea-goWn" is cor
rectly applied to the afternoon toilets
which are all of piece, not negtige enough
for wrappers, nor conventional enough for
dinner or evening dress.
Frock is obsolete. 1t was always better
applied to children than to the dress Of a
lady; but the gathered blouse worn by
lab0rers and cartmen in English agri-
cultural districts, and known in their
vernacular as the "smock frOck," has
been revised for girls and boys of late as
an apron for in or out of doors, and classed
as a ''Kate Greenaway" garment. a
long Princesse dress open in front, show
ing a stitched or ornamented breadth
to be the petticOat, was ''robe"
dress. Afterward manufacturers called
"pattern" dresses dresses in boxes with
rOunces and trimmings) robe" dresses,
and the distinctive appellation was lost.
Now terms are applied at the will OF those
who happen to make their acquaintance,
and the less they know about them the
more at liberty they seem to be to use
them freely. JENNY JUNE.