Omaha daily bee., 1895-10-13
DRESSES OF A DUCHESS
Bridal Finery Of an American Heiress
About to Wed a Duke.
MISS vANDtRBlLT'S TRoUSSEAU A MARVEL
A Dozen Nations Contributing to
IA MAGNIFICENT CoiIcction-Rurc
Furs ana Exquisite Lnccs-
Carte blanche ORDERS.

Carte blanche Orders.
NEW YORK. Oct. 10.-Only one week be-
fore the public announcement Of Miss Con-
suelo Vanderbilt's betrothal to the duke of
Marlborough was announced, plans were on
foot at Marble house for the collection of
what undoubtedly will be the most magnih-
cent trosseau any woman. duchess not ex-
copied. ever received from her mother. At
least 1t is Mrs. Vanderbllt's ambition to pro-
vide her daughter with a wardrobe so superb
that every article will become an heirloom.
Just as war ship builders keep on file the
power and dimensions of all the record
breakers owned by other nations, so Mrs.
Vanderbilt possesses exact lists and descrip-
lions of all the famous modern bridal outfits.
She knows just what the respective daughters
of Mrs. Astor, the duchess of Coburg. Mrs.
Mackey, Mrs. Bradley-Martin Mrs. Jay Gould
and even the Lady Grosvenor, daughter of
the duke of Westminster. received in the way
Of clothes at their weddings, and her effort
will be to surpass all these, and instructions
accordingly have been sent out.
From Siberia, Venezuela and Alaska the
furs will BE- supplied. Paris and Vienna con-
tribute the gowns and hats, while Brussels,
New York. London, Venice, Dublin and even
Yokohama are all going to be the richer for
this new Anglo-American alliance.
QUICK WORK IN PARIS.
AS there would be no time for a shopping
expedition to Paris, Mrs. Vanderbilt has
given the majority of orders by cable,
and a week after the engagement was public
property a skillful, trusty French woman
came over, bearing a big box full of samples
and drawings. These were sent by the Paris
houses of the Rue de la Paix, Rue. Castilogns
and Boulevards Malesherbs and des Capucines,
where Mrs. Vanderbilt is a valued and reg
| tla - fro Thn=A nA al 1ttt1n nhnpa zach
dealing in a speciality. At one only corsets
and silk patticoats are made; another supplies
silk and linen shirt waists, and there are
sanctums where bridal underwear alone is
made by order, or where gloves, wedding
shoes or neck decorations are treated in per-
lection of detail.
At all these places Miss Consuelo Van
derbilt has shopped. and in wax are kept
exact reproductions Of her head, figure, feet
and hands, as well as a description of her
coloring, height, carriage, etc, so that every
article Of dress can be prepared without n
single try on, yet guaranteed to fit.
Miss Vanderbilt is a joy to the French
artistic. Size is a tall, typical American girl.
with a greyhound waist, supple, rounded and
long-throated as a Leley portrait. Her head
is small and weighted with masses of wavy
dark hair, her shoulders slope graciousiy, her
face is a delicate oval. and her taste and
sweet temper so compelling that even Rouff,
that Independently autocratic, sharp
tongued genius Of head gear. before whom
even princesses tremble, but obey, is %unquali-
fed in her admiration and civility to the
American heiress.
MAGIC CABLES.
For a week Mrs. Vanderbilt. her daughter
and that agent, with the samples, were clos
eted in profound conc,ave, and every day by
cable an order reached some one of those
Paris shops, bearing that magic word carte
blanche.
Tho fret nr1n~ wont IN n dpa1pr in hand
kerchiefs. Two dozen perfectly plain white
ones were sent ut once to a famous convent
far out on the Rue st. Honore, OF cloistered
nuns, noted for their incompatible embroid-
cry. In this convent the nandkerchiefs for
the young empress of Russia's trosseau were
decorated. Every handkerchief has a special
design for its ornamentation. Some of them
will have rich. old bits of Valenciennes lace
worked into the linen, amid wreaths of lilies
of-the-valley, Miss Vanderbilt's fayorite
flower. In some instances the borders and in
itials will be done in drawn work, and en-
broidered over. Occasionally will appear a
great c.. lily twined, Consuelo, written out in
Miss Vanderbi!t's own graceful chirography,
but over name and initial always is en-
broidered the duchess coronet, large or
small, and frequently the Marlborough coat
Of arms.
AN HEIRLOOM.
The wedding handkerchief is a gift of the
duke, a wonderful historical piece of Venice
pOlUt, gwen SdTdU, the famous DUCHESS, by
no less person than Queen Anne herself, and
used by the bride of every Marlborough duke
ever since. The precious piece Is to be
mounted anew on a tiny heart-shaped center
Of the finest linen lawn.
Some of the lesser mouchoirs are white,
broched over with wee rose buds, or bits
Of pink linen, with big medallions of black
lace let into them. A few are diamond
shaped. white, sprinkled with infnitesimal
blue stars, or round with a white lace C
embroidered down in the center, and a
wide frill of lace on the edge. In all,
there are ten dozen, not one over nine and
a half inches square,
OF the seyenty-ive gowns included in the
t~rosseau, not one will be sent out with two
pairs of it's own particular stockings The
majority of this foot gear are Of silk. running
through every known variation of tint and
shade. One pair is powdered with silver and
iridescent p%aiettes, sewed on in crescent
forms, or figured over with finely cut steel
beads. There are lovely ones in flesh tinted
silk, so embroidered in gold threads and imi-
tation jewels as to represent the gorgeous
anklets of eastern women. Black ones in
spun silk are open worked nearly TO the knee,
with lacings Of gold and colored silk threads.
Sometimes in black and white the open work
Is nothing less than finest lace. Such are the
white wedding stockings, having Brussels
lace let in over the instep, the lace showing
a coronet In its meshes. Nothing could be
more charming than a set Of stockings in
rlCU Diuelte Dlus SILK, SHOWING tidDOTdle ueIlt
blue clocks, and another pair in blue, with a
flight of gray and white swallows over the
instep, are for wear with an elaborate blue
dressing gown Of thick creped silk, lined with
gray satin and dear little heelless, pointed
buskin slippers made Of blue silk and blue
leather, laced and tied with silk cords.
TOILING NUNS.
Tho orders for under linen, corsets and silk
petticoats are sufficient to almost enrich the
makers for life. Nearly every piece of linen
goes, on its completion, to the aforemen-
toned convent to receive the coronet and in
itials, keeping twenty nuns laboring far into
the nights. Everywhere full Fittings Of
Valenclennes are used on the lawn and MAIN
sock, as soft as chiffon.
For years and years Mrs. Vanderbilt has
been collecting this lace for her daughters
trousseau, buying none but the Oldest and
richest products of the town Of Valenciennes.
For much Of it a guinea a square inch was
paid at London lace auctions, and 1t even
overAows into the beautiful corsets OF bro
caded silk, every pair OF which is made
to harmonize with the pstticoats, sixty In
number and fairly stif with damasked splen-