The herald., 1896-03-22
A CHIC PINCUsHIoN.

vet, loaded with the fluffiiest most velvety.
ostrich plumes, with knot Of lace and some
copper colored blossoms set under the brim
at the side of the back. The hat iitself' waa
one Of the wide brimmed affairs that shade
the eyes.
One Of the most fetching of the younger
women was a Miss Somebody. whose nanNB'
can't remember, one of the coterie OF
fascir tors at the fish pond which Lady
Hermione Blackwood had In charge, This
petite body might have been an officers
daughter straight from Berlin to Judge by
the military motif Of her gown. 1t would
have been bizarre on bigger woman, but
she was quite too plquant for anything but
admiration in blue velvet gown 30 dark
as to De almost black, with heavy braided
effects Of silver bullion enclosing In the
arabesques Of the pattern metifs appl!queti
on of chnchilla. The skirt was plain. ~
you will note in the sketch am sending,
except for foot cord. which ran up on the
left seeming to outline lap Of cne gore
over upon the next one. The coat had quite
a deep basq1e, with huge bishop sleeves. the
middle top plait Of which ran fatty over
the cape epaulefte straight away up into the
neck band. The hat was of velvet with
soldierly up-trend to the brim all about.
overlaid on the edge of the brim with silver
lace, and trimmed upon the crown with
sone velvet mullen stalks and loops OF, the
silver cord and pierced silver buckle. -
Lady Blackwood wore gown that wda'
striking because of the art Of the TAILOR who
made It, 1t was q novelty cloth with a
coachman's drab ground overlaid In the
weaving with lc'e-like pattern OF shaded
black and red. il one light looking one
color and at the next turn showing the
other The dress Was made up with ab-
solute sey Gritty. and then trimmed with
cloth Of the pretty soft fawn shade and deep
reddish velvet, in reduced as shown In the
sketch in side panels on the skirt. in yoke
and side forms, forming deep scallops on the
bodice 'front.' No one but tailor could ever
have nut those overlapping cloth and velvet
trimmings on to look precisely as II mounted
in place by photographer without a sua-
picion of a stitch. The gown fitted lilse
wall paper, and was carried on Win I'M
menne distinction.
The mechanical skill Of the artisan u
shown at its best In such dress, but
the art Of the artist must be looked for
in gowns of another caliber, such gowns,
for example, as one sees at the sofrecs
given by Nine. Munkacsy She herself at
her last musicale wore a dream OF a
gown before which a tailor should have
prostrated himself. 1t was delicate apple
green. velvety plush. or plush-like velvet,
/ don't know which. wonderful fabric
that was half dozen different tints at once.
1t was princess gown. with fitted, trail
ing back and a softly dreped bodice front,
with Just folds enough to make the silver
corselet seem useful as we'll as ornamental.
The sleeves were mere draperies. and the
gown fell into the most enchanting lines
with every movement. How such dress
makes complicated Worth creation"
and the badness Of the tailor-made gown,
dwindle into insignihoance!
In spring millinery trimmings are looming
dangerously, and not only in one place but
all over the new hats and nearly all over
the new bonnets The result is that every
bit of headgear not designed by a master
hand is shapeless overturned thing, very
apt to be unbecoming. The towering head,
dress notion of ye olden days seems to have
entered in and taken possession Of the
millinery leaders. At any rate they are pill
ing upon every foundation all that particular
foundation can be coaxed into carrying.