The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-10

be worn by the mature siren, the ac-
knowledged dOwager of the pretty young
woman who finds 1t convenient"
mis- dress may be rich in texture, alb
solutely correct in fashion and beyond all
caVll In its quiet elegance and unosten-
tattous assumption of modest dignity and
renned independence. 1t neither confesses
age nor claims youth.
1t is the highest expression of obeisance
10 that custom which DOTH" like con-
science, make towards of us ALL"
The woman who wears this dress may in
every tingling nerve violently protest
against the restraints Of conventionality.
the confessions of time, and every other
exasperating yet wholly inexorable OBJ
did"
There is no hint of it in the black silk
dress.
She may be 25 She may be 40. She may,
Indeed, be one of those inherently con-
slant natures who have been 35 years old
Tor the past twenty years"
The black silk dress is discreet and tells
nothing.
The face Of the wearer also sometimes
has puzzling expression of cosmetics
ana determination that leave the unprej-
udiced beholder in doubt whether she Of
old looking for % or 80, or whether she
is youthful woman exceedingly well
hfties.
T..
II 1t is young, Enthusiastically young,
with a gayety Of coloring and sprightli-
ness of finish what seems to say, BLACK
silk be hanged! I feel as young as l ever
did," the woman approaches the sere and
yellow leaf when lifes October shivers
at the thought of winter time and old
age. She has no sustaining theories about
a better life or more excited state
of existence. She would tell you that
she is not yet tired of this world, and
though in her secret soul she does pre-
fer a dinner to dance, she is by no
means ready to relinquish either dinner
or dance for the uncertain rewards of a
future state, concerning which she posi-
lively declines to entertain any very Sc
rious convictions.
The black silk dress is an offering to the
troublesome people who are fond Of say
ing: There is reason in all things, and
woman can't expect to be young for
ever"
1t disarms criticism, and is peace Of
fering to the insatiate envy of those who
decide that a woman cant possibly be
as young as she looks" but though a
| peace Offering, it is not complete sur
render.
The gay little girlish hat, with its low,
tender, smuggling sort of crown and it's
pretty, coquettish brim, and its Haunting.
riotous, sun-dipped flowers of yellow, gol-
den glory, tells different story. The dress
is concession to that terrible front of
stupidity, against which the gods them
selves contend in vain, but the woman's
hat Is herself. 1t is the soul of sweet l6, the
poetry of Is, the tact and sweetness of 30,
perhaps, but never, no never, an expression
of pr0Saic 40 or hopeless so.
1t is curious to observe how consistent
is the language of clothes. The woman
with chaotic hat has nearly always a
discrepancy between her dress waist and
skirt. They have somehow missed con-
nection" and are side-tracked, so to speak.
In her entire makeup there is confession
of an utter lack of respect for appearances
or faintest comprehension of their power
or significance.
She win wear rhinestone earrings, pin,
or rings, and fondly imagine their resem-
blance to costly jewels calculated to de-
ceive the most skepticaI beholder.
Somewhere about her clothing there is
usually a rent mended with pin, or some
other indication of mental chaos and ha-
bitual untidiness. If you want to spell ont
the reason for her general inefficiency and
hopeless shiftlessncss, look at her hands.
She lifts them and moves them as if she
had little or no use of them She has LET
the halucination that the appearance in
her hands Of never having done any
thing will establish her claim to being "a
lady born
Her hands suggest 'butter fingers You
cannot imagine their taking hold of any
thing with any honest purpose Of help or
service. They pat her back hair with light.
inconsequent touches, as il encouraging It
to stay OUT and not shed any hairpins
and now and then they feebly adjust her
necktie under the back of her collar, but
the long nails and the soft, helpless-iook-
ing fingers tell a story of daughter
whose mother looks after everything .
or wife whose husband honestly believes
women hopelessly inferior, and knows one
who is exasperatingly helpless.
There are few persons who do not be-
lteve in the power of clothes to attract Or
repel, yet the number is equally small of
those who understand the secrets thereof
There are women whose clothing is all
most insolent in Its utterly unapproacn-
able and wholly inimitable elegance, n IL
so artistic in Its expression of the wear.
er's loftiest moods and most exalted pos-
sibilities that, while it challenges admira.
ton, II repels imitation
1t expresses a daring originality that