Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-12-09
THE VEIL OF FASHION.
Net to Hide, but to Set OF Q Pretty
Face.
Too Much Care Cannot BE Spent UD0A
the Solution of This Part Of .
Woman's Costume
Written for The Evening Star.

Some clever body has remarked mat IN
these days no woman is pretty except by
special permission of her milliner. There Is
a great deal more in the remark than ap-
pears on the surface and inasmuch not
one woman in Eve thousand really under
stands just how to dress her head. and as
milliners are of a race in whom the truth
is not, rare indeed is the woman who is az
pretty nature gave her a chance to be-.
One great trouble is with the hair, for
the average woman-your next door neigh
Dor. of course, is totally unable TO see that
the couture 50 charmingly worn by the Ma
donna-faced Mrs. Jones in the next street
is distinctly dreadful on her own Ratchet
faced self, and that the girlish curls which
are so charming on a debutante are quite
out Of place on a matron who had a sweet
heart liz the last war.
The second obstacle in the way OF beauty
is the hat a stumbling block which wiz
exist till women realize that ready trimmed
hats are absurd and that not a bow or loop
or buckle should be put on the hat without
direct reference, not TO the hat a whole.
but TO the woman who is TO wear IL one
sees picture hats above faces which are
anything but pictures. school girl toQues on
women of forty and soubrette chapeaux on
tragedy queen heads.
The third obstacle, however, is one that
might be much more easily removed than
either Of the other two. 1t is that SEEM
ingly insignificant but really stupsnoousIy
important article OF female dress, the VeiL
OLD Homer treats the various articles OF
head dress ana especially the veil as the
most important points OF feminine apparel
and Well he might, when one considers
what work of art the veil of those days
was. Virgil, in classic measure, sings of the
gold acamthus embroidered vel naughty
Mrs. Menelaus took with her when she ran
away with young Mr.. Paris and which
afterward became the property of the fair
but quite too fiorid widow DidL The vel OF
those heroic times was veil indeed us
use was to conceal the face from the too
rude gaze Of men. Such indeed is its use In
oriental lands today. The oriental beautys
face is swathed in soft white folds, above
which stare out dangerously two eyes black
as despair and deep as a summer night
The drapery is decidedly an Improvement
for travellers In the orient and the Midway
Plaisance are well aware that the hours
of those far away lands are not always all
ones fancy paints. and those languishine
eyes all too frequently accompany cavern
Gus mouths and fiat noses.
The Veil I'm Romance.
We have no such voiuminous wells IN Shis
country, except perhaps the unheAlthfut
Grape of the mourner, and the desolate ioooE-
ing folds Of black that drape the pale fAceS
and bowed heads of holy nuns. There used
always TO be a heavily veiled woman" i1
the wierd tales that robbed our youthfm
pillows of Sleep but even she is out OF fashh
ion. She used to frequent lawyerS and doc
tors offices, and after Q few preltmfnasies
would throw back her veil, revealing =
loneliness" But she does 10 no more, for
she fs out of date. and the vel Of today -
distinctly and entirely frivolous
To begin with. there's the ven which z
kissed and laid away with mingled hope and
misgivings among the violet-scented gar
ments Of the layette. ready for bahy's frst
| outing. The proper-or as the smart slang
adjective imported from Piccadilly is-the
ha
| silk, melted In an irregular pattern. 30 heavy
| that 1t must be deadly to the luckless In
fants eyes. However, there's no help for II,
since fashion DEGREES It
The poor baby can't choose his veil and
one wishes that half the women one meets
| couldn't either, for not one In ten has a veil
| that does not detract from her appearance.
] watched the women during the shopping
hour on + street the other afternoon, TILL
my head whirled- There was a rather sim
breeze blowing. and the first woman who
passed wore one OF those partially trans
lucent gray blanket affairs we used TO wear
years and years ago-when crinolines and
| prure CATERS were in vogue-in our zeal
Gus devotion TO our compilations. She might
have been a mummy or a chimpanzee for
all her veil revealed TO the contrary. IL
made one think OF the man in the iron
mask. Next came a girl with Psyche
knot and a cooked hat Her veil was OF
blac bobinette, and its apparent object was
to hold her nose on. for IL was strained
acrosS that member in a medical student
4
textures and of all degrees of beauty and
ugliness. the latter decidedly in the major
| ity-
Worth declares that no woman can wear
| an ecru veil The shades OF tan and the
| browns which everybody is wearing this
| season are extremely trying TO anyone but
| the extremely horid woman who is seldom
seen. They give the pale or sallow woman
"a Jaundiced look that sets ones teeth on
edge. Last year a few reckless women APP
peared in heliotrope and pale green wells
which gave them the appearance of SO
many corpses In rather an advanced stage
Of decomposition. These, however. are quite
out Of date, and, indeed, were never very
much worn.
Even Blacks Not Always Good.
Black is not universally becoming, popu-
lar belief to the contrary Notwithstanding.
1t has a tendency to age the face. with
large dots It has the peculiar property OF
making the eyes appear much more bril-
| liant. Gray gives a distressing pallor 20
| the face. and blue makes every touch OF
| rice powder or rouge distinctly visible,
| though IL is very hattering to a vivid COM
plexion. The small pieces OF thin white
| tulle which are 50 much affected by south
| ern women, are perhaps the most becoming
wells worn. for they soften the complexion
like coating OF rice powder and brighten
| the eyes like a spoonful Of cologne.
| Wedding wells are now generally made OF
J the same white tulle. The prettiest ones OF
/ this season are quite long enough TO cover
4 the TRAIN, ana are nulSned at the EDGES
| with a wide hem The wedding veil should
| always be worn over the face until the GER
1 emony is concluded. The custom is more
| than a passing within of fashion and has q
pretty significance OF its own. Some brides
| of the type that yearn for novelty in af-
! fairs where novelty is bad taste have pus
| wells on their bridesmaids, betrayfng their
utter lack OF appreciation OF the real mean
ing Of the veil. The bridal veil is for the
bride alone, and the woman who is pre-
| ceded up the aisle by a nock OF girls with
wells is the sort OF woman who would elect
| to be married on the Ferris wheel or at
some unearthly hour OF the night for now
/ elty's sake.
Whatever sort of veil you wear let IL be
put on well. Boston women are said 20
dress their heads better than women OF any
3 other town in the country, and the veil OF
! the real Boston woman is always big ana
! taut. She knows that the tiniest imperfec-
] ton in the veil wrecks a fetching costume
far more than shabby gloves or untidy
: shoes. The veil must be absolutely fresh
or must be discarded. 1t must not be ac-
Gordon pleated, as some are shown in the
7 shops. 1t must be plain strip Of gauze
of the color and texture best suited 10 the
, Yearer's complexion. Then IL the hat TO be
Worn with il has brim, the veil must be
slightly gathered for an inch or two across
the front, so that it will not draw across
the nose. In fact. IL must touch the nose
very lightly, IL at all. Then il must be
brought up to the back OF the hat and fast
ened neatly and carefully in such a way