The Republican., 1893-06-01

cts made to simulate candles or dummy
lamps, with gas pipes creeping up in
side, and the jet concealed by shades,
or tulip-formed globes of colored or
veined glass.
| Mrs - has brought out the love-
| liest set of shades from Paris!" is an
exclamation often heard, and the
| greatest interest is taken in the last
| new fashion in this direction. These
articles de luze are very expensive.
Over on the other side a moderate
sized shade of good materials costs from
SIG to $40; for cheap finery on shade
IS just as Objectionable as on n gown.
Common lace and ribbons will spoil
the effect of any shades, while cheap
silk that is half cotton never looks
well when lighted. Many ladies have
become quite expert shademakers; but
while it is quite possible for an
amateur to copy successfully the best
examples, it is by no means as easy as
it looks, as 1T requires the greatest
neatness and finish, any bungling or
slipshod work becoming dreadfully
apparent when subjected to the search
ing light of the lamp within. 1t is
very important that each phase OF the
work should be thoroughly finished
before the next is begun. Before be-
ginning, therefore, with the shade,
| the frame should be first covered with
thin silk of the same color, stitched
neatly over the wire, and all flutings,
! plaitings or ruchings should be made
| quite separate from the frame, and
| tackled beforehand to just the size re-
| quired. In sewing on, the stitches
should be very small, but as few as
| possible. Edges too, should be turned
in as little as possible, as otherwise
they look rough when the lamp is
| lighted. If bows or rosettes are used,
the requisite number should all be
made before sewing in any one, so
that they may be compared and found
! to be exactly alike. Although all this
| minutiae may seem unimportant, it is
in details such as these that the great
! difference lies between amateur and
professional work.
We give in the accompanying sketch
several of the newest and most popu-
lar patterns for shades The favorite
shape just now is the pagoda, which
has quite superseded the umbrella
form, which used to be so popular Its
picturesque contortions are much
easier to cover than the fat circle or
| dome. Pink is color frequently used,
on account of its clear, becoming light;
but the warm shades of amber and
maize are also very popular, and where
81 l1al s ,rrl e
is delightful color for shade. Pale
! greer. is very harmonious with deli
cate hangings, but has the great dis
advantage of being distinctly unbe-
coming. The fashion of keeping q
lamp in the room in the daytime,
which, by the way, is quite an Amefi-
can custom, complicates the question
of shades not a little, for it involves
not only the consideration of the har-
mony of the surroundings, but q
bedizened lace and silk affair, which
looks very well and gives soft, pretty
light at night, but which has gaudy,
meretricious appearance when sub
jected to the searching light of day.
Certainly nothing is more ugly or in
worse taste than a number of light.
fiimsy connections composed of gauze
and lace filling up eveSy corner, and
making themselves obviously felt in
the room, and when it is possible both
lamp and shade should be banished
until the time comes for lighting. OF
late years, however, lamps have be-
come component parts of the orna-
mentation of the house beautiful, and
are frequently not only too heavy, but
too intrinsically valuable to be moved
hither and thither. In such cases,
therefore, the shade must necessarily
be adapted to the general coloring and
scheme of decoration. Indeed, it would
be quite possible to have day shades as
well as night shades, which might
solve the difficulty satisfactorily.-N
Y. Tribune.