The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-03-25

World, the dancing gown does penance
for the past frivolity. Church gowns and
theater costumes, with an occasional
dinner dress, receive all the honors, and
even they have the touch of Lenten sim
pliclty in their fashioning. But to the
modiste, the penitential season is filed
with new designs and airy fancies for the
after-Easter evening gown. Here are
some of the results of her meditation.
For dancing, dinner and evening gowns,
satin is the IOst popular material,
though delicate shades of moire are steal
ing half the honors. Trains have passed
into oblivion. Not even demitrain is
permissible. From once fashion is in ac
cord with comfort and grace. Skirts are
off the ground, and there is slight de-
crease in their width -Four yards is the
popular measure for the ripple" skirts,
which last winter measured from five to
six yards. The draped skirts, which are
particularly the vogue, measure but three
and a half Yards The oVerskirt for
evening gowns is graciously received. 1t
is generally of chiffon, or the effect of an
overskirt is given by flounces of lace. A
new idea is TO have the lace which
Grapes the skirt at the side caught in
knot at the bottom.
The secretary of the New York Chap
ter of the Daughters of the American
RcvoluGion-Mrs Donald MacI .ean--is a
charming woman with graceful way of
doing very pleasant things 1t is doubt
full, however, if all the members of her
chapter know of graceful little sacrifice
she made for them at the Washington
convention of the general organization.
Mrs. MacLean was unanimously offered
the second highest oftice-that of vice
president general-but she declined with
out moments hesitation out of devotion
to the work of her own chapter The
laws of the society forbid one person to
hold two Offices at the same time.
That persistent divided dress, says the
New York Sun, has bobbed up again,
and this time it is in the city of Tacoma,
where few courageous women living in
the suburbs are trying to introduce it
into the favor of their more retiring sis
tiers in town The dress they have
adopted is known as the Syrian, and is
not unlike that worn by the women of
Turkey. 1t is copy of the gymnasium
suits at Mount Holyoke. When standing
or sitting it does not seem to differ very
much from the regulation costume. The
bottom of each division is so extremely
full that they hang together and appear
to be all one until the wearer moves.
These trousers are gathered around each
leg just below the knee and the folds
hang almost to the ankles.
The mushroom growth of this unpopu-
lar dress reform as it takes root in the
various places where it can find bit of
congenial soil, and its subsequent sudden
death must be intensely amusing TO the
women who never dream of even trying
to see how they viii look in any
thing so unbecoming However, the three
women of Tacoma who have brayed the
unkind remarks Of the passers-by are
women of culture and wives of conspicu-
Gus business men there, and their exper-
ence has led them to the conclusion that
1.-THE new dress has many advantages
over the old. They find it very light and
comfortable, and also have more freedom
than in the conventional heavy
skirts which Impede their graceful
movements by entangling the lower
extremities" One woman claims that
there is nineteen pounds difference in
weight between the two modes of dress.
of course the necessary change in under
clothing accounts for some of the weight.
According TO newspaper reports. all the
ladies of Tacoma take kindly to this dress
but they have not yet gained confidence
sufficient to appear on the street One
cruel husband said, in reply 10 his wife
statement that She intended to adopt the
dress. that he would not 20 out with her
If she insisted on it and she kindly au-
swered that he never did 90 out with her
any way, so she could lose nothing by the