The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-05-03
THE NEW SKIRTS.
Coming Styles in Garments For Street
Wear and Dress Occasions.

The NEW SKIR ! y.
Coming Styles in Garments For Street
Wear and Dress Occasions.
Very few French dresses have as yet
been imported for spring. The fash
wealthiest customers, do not return to
New York until late in March, when
most of the shops have received their
seasons goods. They do this in order
to obtain the very last fashions from
Paris and to avoid the duplication OF
their designs by the shops. There IS
already tendency 10 reduce the width
of the dress rather to add to it, and
four and half yards is the conserva-
tive limit in width, which is likely to
be adopted for our spring and summer
skirts. The skirts of siX-yard width,
which may be considered the extreme
limit of width which the dress skirt has
reached this winter, have been worn by
a few women, but there is no danger
that this extreme width will be the rule.
All dress skirts for the street now clear
the sidewalk by quarter OF an inch,
which leaves them long enough in front
to conceal the feet, and is altogether
the most graceful length of skirt which
we can have. There is very little full
ness at the waist in any of the new
skirts which have been recently made.
The umbrella skirt sometimes has a 1T
tie fullness at the top, which is gath
cred or turned under in plaits at the
back to allow sufficient fullness for the
skirt to fit we'll This skirt,as made by
French couturieres, has nine breadths,
which measure about twenty-three
inches across the bottom, and are
gored evenly on both edges
to form a breadth about eight inches
wide at the top of the front breadth
and about three inches at the top of
the other cores This leaves fullness
at the top of the shirt of thirty-two
inches. Americans use only six
breadths. If managed by a skillful
dressmaker, the fullness at the top can
be graduated and massed chiefly at the
back.
The skirt should be lined throughout
with silk and interlined with crino-
line muslin to the knees. At
uISIdECc IRON JIC UClO III cIC VIII u
the length of the skirt an elastic band
is attached by French dressmakers to
allow the skirt to hang in slight folds
in all the breadths except the front
one This prevents the skirt from
standing out in set pyramidal form as
it otherwise would, while it has the
graceful flare which is the distinguish
ing feature of the picturesque skirt of
the day. As all the seams of this skirt
are bias on both edges, they must be
stayed by binding of thin cotton tape
on the inside of the lining, or by silk
ribbon. unless the skirt is trimmed up
every breadth, which is one of the best
methods of finishing it off. In this
latter case one edge of the
seam is laid over the other and
stitched down to fat ribbon
on the inside, and a band of narrow
passementerie on braid covers the seam.
The skirt is intended especially for
rich, firm materials. 1t would be en-
tirely unsuita BILE for cottons Or even for
cheap wooden goods.
A better model for inexpensive wool
and cloth dresses is the military
skirt" This is cut in semi-circular
form, the width of the cloth being
folded to form the center of the front
breadth. Exceptionally wide cloth or
slight gore added to the back seam on
each side is necessary to give a suffic-
lent fullness to this skirt. There is
scarcely any fullness around the skirt at
the waist-only enough to make it fit
well at the back The back breadth is
not perfectly straight as it would be if
the skirt were a perfect semi-circle, but
it is gorcd off at the top SO as to make
the back seam partial bias and reduce
the fullness still further at the top.
This skirt is also interlined to the knee
with crinoline muslin and lined with
silk.
Full ruff1es of black satin ribbon trim
some Of the shaggy camers hair wool
ems, which are sleazily woven, to give
them the loose, rough effect now con-
sidered stylish. These black satin
ruffles will take the place of rows of
fur, which have been worn during the
winter On some of the new dresses
single ruff1e of narrow satin ribbon
trims the bottom, and two ruff1es are
placed around the skirt at the knee,
while there is fourth row of gathered
ribbon placed midway between the
waist and the knee.-N. Y. Tribune.