St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-11-11
The Gorgeous Drawing Room
Party Given by Mrs. 2
Frank Leslie. i
Novel Sights Observed, Ina
GLIDING Black Silk Sheets )
on Her Bed.
A Dining Saloon of Pearl and
Gold---Music at All
Hours. {
New York Letter.

a. "A A BELLE Paris has
Az ~ h,passed on black un-
.,2(%E = k9laEG;'derwear fashion here,
Nyo ,Skn<s $500. there and everywhere
= 'HhNHI' etl> WV nhas signed the edict,
3 lhM VAILnLIIIl, and the dimity of our
a W KM,XN Iprehistoric gran d.
kaIEH', N1 mammas has got to go.
They say that to Mrs.
70. Mackay belongs the
credit OF the innovation. At fancy
dress ball given in Paris two years ago
come next Whitsuntide, as the old lady
in the story book reckons. the wife of
the American Cresus appeared as
midnight, her costume consisting en-
tirely of fluffy tulle made over
lusterless silk, and jeweled with
RhineStones in imitation of twinkling
stars. Jet black gloves were drawn
over elbows: her bodice was cut low
back and front, and on her head she
wore butterfly cap made of ebony silk,
and the planet Venus represented by a
large and very magnificent solitaire.
Worth had the order, in the execution
of which he provided an entire trous-
Seau of inky hue. from handkerchief to
hosiery. When news of the novel toll
cite reached the public. the stage seized
its opportunity to make a hit, and in
the shortest possible time it takes to fill
an order, the stars of the opera bouffe
were pirouetting in skirts as fluffy and
light and shadOwy as the down in
ravens breast. Bernhardt and Mod
jeska donned the gloomy web in the
ballroom scene, where poor Camille
falls beneath shower OF gold, and fol-
lowing Erminie came Nadjy in a mini
mum OF clothes as black as the ace Of
spades and as fleecy as. thistledown;
and now social celebrities have sub
Scribed to the fad, first and foremost
among whom is Mrs. Frank Leslie, who,
on her return from Paris short time
ago, brought trunks filed to the tray
with jet-black petticoats, melancholy
petticoats, dismal hosiery and vests.
corsets, night-robes, handkerchiefs and
corset covers Of the most exquisite loom
and Superlative gloom imaginable.
IN HER BEDROOM.
The first Thursday in October Mrs.
rooms, being at home to ladies only, so
many of whom had importuned for a
glimpse of her famous ebony .dimity,
as the fair journalist calls it. Her
apartment was ablaZe with light that
streamed through robes of amber.
opal. garnet and etched glass. carved
pedesta!s. quaint candelabra and Jew.
eled lanterns adding to the beauty of
the scene. A little colored boy IN
buttons and white broadcloth an
nounced the ladies, parting the
beads and reeds that draped the
narrow archway to the salon for
-theirentree. Mingling with tho fan
tastic strains from mandolin and guitar
came the perfume of the tuberese and
nlignonette and the gentle rustic of
palm and banana that filled the window
seats and glimmeripg through the
mesileS Of the delicate lace hanginEs.
Off the reception roOmsare Mrs. Lesiie's
toilet and bed rooms, and here the
guests gathered and remained, sitting
OH the posts and rods of the pretty
brass bedstead and all over the. floor
for closer inspection of the
lovely black silk garments. Ii
might interest the fair reader to
know that Mrs. Leslie refuses to aban--
don the chemise, arguing that it is the
most womanfy article in a woman's
trousseau. Those in her steamer trunk
were trimmed with black Spanish lace
and finished with coral .lirawstrings,
armlets of coral shell ornamenting the
shoulder sleeves. The skirts were all
lace-t:immed, the vests were woven
from pure silk, tue corsets of black satin
had tiny dragon-fiies embroidered all
over them in red floss. and besides a
monks hood the night robes had
narrow silk ruffles down the front and
about the hem. There were pretty. lit
tie g!ove-itting waists cut for heart
shaped, pompadour and square cor
sages; there were stockings by the
dozen in street. house and opera
lengths, and scores of silk handker-
chiefs edged with narrow lace or scol-
loped in flower tints, all as black as the
realm of a PlutOnian shore.
BLACK SILK SHEETS.
With this dreamy finery there were