The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1893-03-01
AVOLUMINOUS SKIRT.
A GOWN WHICH CONTAINS A HUN
DRIED YARDS OF FINEST SILK.

on the Stage Has Her Performing Dress
Constructed--How She ManipuIates the
Wonderful Garment.
Scene-A large bare room containing
piano, its stool and two chairs. On the
stool sat the pianist. In one chair sat nm
elderly, ladylike woman. In the middle OF
the bare floor stood handsome girl, pant
ing. She seemed to be in the condition of
a person who has run half q mile as tight
as she could go. She was barcheaded and
wore the simplest looking sort Of dress of
china silk. Never was dress waist more
plainlymade or skirt with less ornament.
Few who could have seen that dress would
believe what was true about it, for it was
one of the most remarkable garments that
ever woman put on.
If that girl, dressed ~ she was, had been
standing in front Of The Sun office and two
men had taken hold Of her skirt, ON oppo-
site sides, to pull one way on the other, one
man could have gone to the Brooklyn bridge
and the other to The Times building before
either one would have begun to make the
girl feel that she was being pulled. If she
had stood in front of the city hall and two
persons had tried to stretch her skirt ms far
as it would go, they would have made it
form wall of silk in front of that noble
building. And yet when the girl reached
home she could take off the dress and crowd
IL into high silk hat.
| The girl was what is known as "serpen-
| tine dancer" and that was her serpentne
skirt. 1t was made of the lightest silk that
the Asiatic looms can produce. The dress
maker who fashioned it had to make it as
the cover of an umbrella is patterned. Many
| lengths of silk of the full width were cut at
the right length to fall from the girls waist
to the ground. Then each of these pieces
WAS cut into the shape of wedge, the bot
tom being of the full width and the top of
each wedge being only . inches wide where
it was to BIO sewed to the waistbaud All
these 2inch ends were then gathered"
or puckcred, as a man would say, upon the
waistband. so that they took up us little
space as possible and left room for a very
great many pieces.
The result was that the dressmaker hung
upon the waist of that girl Of ordinary
size no less than 100 yards Of silk, and the
| bottom of the dress was SO big that il n
gust of wind came and blew it up into what
/ the little girls call cheese" it would
make circle of so yards circumference.
Some Of these dresses have measured 81
yards and consequently could he pulled
s2j5 feet away from the wearer on either
side Of her before there would be any strain
on the silk.
These dresses worn by the few women
who arc doing the scrpentne dance just
now vary greatly in the quantity of silk
they use up. Some are %, some are IS and
some are so yards in length around the
hem. The serpentine dance scarcely needs
describing II should not be called as it Is
for there is more of smoke action or cloud
| tl.p,N .,r al.
The dress figures more than the dancer in
this pretty movement. The dancer.
action, IL she were in tights without skirts
would be awkward and even groteslue
for it is her business to run and stand ant
rise and sink without much heed to thu
music.
1t is with her hands and arms that sh,
Keeps concert with the time of the dance
music. The dance is dance of the arms
But over her arms and with her hands sh,
keeps throwing the voluminous loosenes
of her skirt this way and that until its full
ness piles up in soft cloudlike masses tina
rise and fall, reappear and disappear a
smoke rolls up from green wood fire. TIL
lmelight man in the gallery bathes TIL
dancer In constantly changing colore'
lights, and the people see her as il she wa
dancing among clouds. The great, sof
UCSOHtilkb Iuus III Sin lullpW Stl'tS
, one another necessarily They flee iron
! her rs if she were goddess Of the sky iron
! whose body the fieecy riders of the air wer
issuing At times sho churns the cloud
above her head and is lost to view anon
, them. Again she beats them down uhou
|, her feet. Suddenly the strong light is es
4 tingushed, and she disappears as ii sh
had turned herself into vapor and blow
away.
: Some tutors teach this dance of the arm
+ without the use of the dress. They CT
that into play only when the student ha
i mastered the graceful art of swaying he
arms in tfrie rhythm. Others-and this
, true Of the best theatrical dancing teaeht
q in town--allow n GID to do nothing unit
y she dons her queer dress, SO like a collapse
) balloon that Is to be blown up into TIL
semblance of thousand feeting bubble
of silk. The dapce was an instantaneou
success in New York, and at once seyert
talented girls and women began to learn
J, in order to introduce it in the countr,
d They went upon the road i'll fear and tren
bling They thought it was sure to go b.
: cause there Is nothing inmodest in it, an
it is pretty, but they were not certain
n The worst of it WAS that country audience
e applauded very little or not at all. How
! ever, the new dance WINS success, and ii
n demand for CHM silk by the bale no
q gladdens the hearts OF the importers.-Ne
4 York Sun.