The Washington critic., 1888-01-21

| S[~H5szssyl< = ~ nave seen dresses
| sfS/Ibtfs' ~s4&f{ adorned with
Ss5zfT NY flowers, decorated
| -sS..S1Ills% irsjA,, with embroidery
>aASeeeNA R.zz,FN and ribbons, em-
| ~''e-[AV blazoned with
beads Of all hues and degrees of bril-
liancy, tucked, rufiled, puifed and tor
tured into every conceivable shape,
garnished with numbers Of birds and
feathers, but it has remained for this
season TO metaphorically take the rag
Off the BUSH with the exhibition of
stuffed animals, which are used to en-
hance the beauties of the wearer or
attract attention from the crowd
AT one grand ball lady, who poses
as leader in society, wore dress Of
surah of a rich plum color, trimmed
with q lavish quantity of beautiful
black lace, with velvet corsage of
the color of the surah.
On the right side Of the dress, as il
crawling up, sprawled half-grown
white kitten, and on the right side of
the low corsage was fastened another
very small white kitten, both per-
fectly natural, with glass eyes, and
made to resemble live animal as far
as possible. And it was not for
fancy dress ball either.
Another young lady, more noted for
her daring than her good taste, wore
white wool costume trimmed with
fur, and perched exactly on the left
shoulder, where sleeve should be,
sat little brown squirrel, looking so
lifelike that it required second
glance to convince oneself that it was
not alive. Another squirrel was in
the act of running around the waist,
and still another sat up on his hind
feet, with hickory nut in his paws,
among the gathers of the drapery at
the right side. The young lady did
not have one in her hair, for the rea-
son, probably, that she could not
fasten one there, as her hair is short
The time has come when our young
ladies are not satisfied with the usual
amount of admiration, for they are
torturing themselves to invent some-
thing fetching" in the way of ball
dresses and evening toilets. The
"buds'' are Obliged by the stern
dietum of fashion now to wear pure
white for the first season. After
that, however, they spend enough
mental energy over the selection Of
each toilet to think q hole through
an inch plank, as an electrician in
Miss Adele Grant, the stately Young
beauty, wore few nights since to the
Metropolitan Opera House, the cos
tune illustrated here, and which is
almost an exact copy of the Directoire
costume which Nine. Bernhardt wore
in Tosca. The dress was made of
rose colored China Grape embroidered
in moss and rosebuds The skirt was
slightly raised over n striped satin
u underskirt. Around the waist she
4 wore moss green velvet sash
a with long ends, tied in a
( double bow ut the front. Around
:, her she had an old style cashmere
$ scarf, and long satin ribbon held a
!. reticule of pale blue satin. With this
d she wore an enormous moss-green felt
:. hat with pink and green plumes. The
whole costume was both effective and
v becoming.
g Miss Grant is not the only young
lady now aspiring to lead in society,
/. who drew her inspirations for becom.
n ing and striking dresses from those
Q made famous by Dona Sol, for another
y young lady, whose modesty equals heI
taste, and which, therefore, is so great
n shat she prays her name will not be
d given, had dress made which first
n saw light at grand wedding reception
:: last week, where she sang an original
e; song of her own composition, cele-
g brating the occasion.
=. This gown was made of water green
70 satin, embroidered in gold thread.
j; The demi-train was lined with white
= satin. The right side of the waist was
made of white China Grape, dotted
with gold embroidery. There were
II high puffs to the sleeves, and the
u gloves reached the shoulder. A gold
Al belt, with jeweled clasp, encircled the
=, waist. This toilet was very much ad.
ls mired, and was copied from thatworn
:. by Bernhardt in the second act Of
Il '"Tosca."
The third one of these costumes
: which were so swiftly transferred tc
:, American soil, was worn by a mem.
mourning by the death Of Mrs. Astor
~ and it will be laid away and perhaps
r, brought out generation from now.
This is of the sheerest and finest
linen lawn, cream color and embroi.
: dered exquisitely all around the bot
tom and up the front with cashmere.
: colored threads interviewer with
gold. The skirt and waist and
> sleeves also are laid in fine
!. plaits. Thereyare IN
T. tight sleevesYwith A.
turn down cuts, ~
:, emb oidered to Es)
u match the skirt, as la
- does the belt, while ~ %!SAnN
@ frill of priceless kESS S1t
;, old point lace falls &NNEMlAN
, over the corsage. MN SSSN%Y
- The skirt opens on XII 14SN%J
the left side to EAMeL SN
J. show cascade of NMlNI iL$I
puffs Of crepe lisse EW\%SYS,
held in places by AkWNN3' N
n n gold and cash IST, MtN T. VI