The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-09-24
THE HON E.
Autumn Dresses.

The first autumn dresses brought over
from Paris and London have fuller
skirts and even larger sleeves than those
now worn. The skirts are gored rather
closely about the hips, but are very full
in the back and wide at the foot. They
are lined and interlined, but fortuuat ely
are of lightweight woollens. and are
little trimmed. A bias satin fold an
inch wide headed with a narrow band of
jet is around the foot of a very handsome
cloth gown. Others have merely fold
of the wool, cancels hair or basket cloth
below the edge, between the outside and
lining, and held there by three or four
rows of stitching, which gives neat
finish. Three back cores, pointed at the
top and spreading out in fan pleats to
the foot, are on many skirts, some of
OF them completed by the little projecting
basque introduced in the spring with
silk gowns
Bias puffed sleeves are enormously
wide at the top, and are caught up or
draped by choux or bows. They taper
to the wrist, but are often left rather
large below the elbow and wrinkled
around the arm, which adds to the effect
of great size.
Round waists reappear in many ways
box pleated, slashed, with yoke. or
with guimpe of contrasting material,
the lower part carried up above the bust
in vandyke points and edged with jet
galloon. Pleated waists have two box
pleats down the back, starting from the
shoulders. where they are two inches and
half wide, and tapering an inch mar
rover at the waist line They are folded
in one piece, with the middle space be-
tween plain. A side form begins under
the pleats, so that the only seams shown
are those under the arm. The fronts
are much fuller than the back, having
two similar pleats and a full gathered
pllstro. The slashing of waists is con-
fined TO the front, like those described
in the summer.
Silk waists with wool skirts will re-
main in favor, and are of very rich
fabrics brocades, MORE, satin and velvet.
A novelty for waists is a silk and wool
MORE, similar fabric to bengaline, but
very soft and prettily watered. The
richest brocads for waists are also soft,
some having a basket woven ground, or
others armure of two colors and the bro
cade third color, as a blue and brown
ground with large green leaf design as
glossy as satin, yet sunk in the surface.
Soft collars with belt to match are of
satin ribbons, or of the new supple
MORE cut bias from the piece. Liberty
satin waists will be worn the color of
the skirt, or in contrast to it. Thus q
mother and daughter just returned from
Paris have waists of the simplest fashion
OF this pliable satin, the daughter wear
ing corn-fower blue crepon skirt with
a mauvee satin waist, and also with a
blue waist of satin. -Harper's Bazaar.
About Black Silk.
Thele are really very few women who
can distinguish between good black silk
and an inferior one, and few hints
given by an expert and reported in the
Delineator, will doubtless be acceptable
to many shoppers:
In the first place never be beguiled into
buying cheap silk. Very often pretext
of it's cheapness suggests genuine bar
gain. but the wise woman, unless she
knows of good reas ON for the reduc-
ton, will choose some other material If
she cannot afford to purchase silk at an
adequate price. Costumes is of course
no guarantee of real value SO the shopper
is advised to purchase an eighth of
yard of an admired fabric and test it at
leisure when she reaches home. This
may seem like waste to the over econ
omical mind, but it will prove a good
investment ii it prevents bad bargain
in the end. In testing a piece of silk
first try to tear it both lengthwise
and crosswise. If it gives way readily
in either direction you may be sure
either that the dye has destroyed the
fbres or that the thread is made up of
what is known as waste silk Pure
silk properly dyed is the strongest tex
tile known, but nearly all the cheaper
dyes, and particularly the dark colors
and slack, are made with such q basis
that they eat into and weaken the
fabric.
The firmness of the weave may be
proved by sccaping diagonally across the
silk with the thumb nail. II the mate
rial is strong and pure, any amount of
manipulation will not make the threads
slip, and ii the nail makes a space as
wide as it's own thickness between the
threads the silk is certainly of inferior
quality. The next test is applied by
ravelling a bit of the silk and carefully
examining both wrap and wool. Often a
pure silk wrap has heavily loaded wool.
and in the cases, especially in satin
weaves, the wool has an inferior back
ing, the surface being of good silk.
Pure silk has good lustre and is very
soft, but if the gloss is artificial the
fabric will be hard and brittle. When a
pure silk has been dyed improperly it
looks very much like cotton but it is
softer.
Another excellent test consists in pull
ing out the threads both ways and try
ing their strength. Catch them with
both hands an inch apart, give quick
jerk and note the force needed to break
them. IT they part easily the silk is not |
good Tear the silk along the lines from
which the threads have been taken, and |
if there are Fuckers along the tear they
may be regarded as indicating strong
texture. A method of testing that is |
considered conclusive is TO burn a frag-
ment of the silk, and also some of the |
ravellings. If the silk is pure and well |
dyed it will take fire slowly, even when |
held directly in the fame, and the fire
will go out almost as soon rs the silk |
is Withdrawn, leaving ashes that are
nearly jet black. Weighted and i'm |
dyed silk is highly inf1ammable. |
It quickly takes fire, and the fire is |
difficult to extinguish, smoldering after |
hon IL x.<,1f