The San Francisco call., 1896-05-31
a.. Hl1aea Skttt.

The alpacas being made up for the coun-
try are innumerable, and a good model
has plain skirt and coat with a short
basque reaching the hips. A belt round
the waist is necessary, and the front por-
tion of the bodice turns back with large
| square collar. which extends to the waist
and reveals a waistcoat of white pique
made TO overhang the belt, and falling III
tucks from a round yoke. 1t turns over
at the neck with a collar of pique, which
rests on band OF gayly colored velvet or
| ribbon.
Very fetching is a frock of one Of the
new kinds OF canvas, which strongly re-
sembles crepe, and has a surface like
| grenadine. 1t is of new and delicate
shade of gray, with a waistcoat of chine
silk, having a white ground. The lapels
suggest the Directoire STYLE and this sug-
gestion is further carried out by large
cravat of tulle edged with lace. Speaking
of cravats reminds me of the fact that
they are to be quite an item this season,
as the most becoming are OF mousseline de
| sole or tulle, and these cannot be worn
more than three times at the most.
| The costume consisting of a skirt and
coat or skirt or cape is in high favor. AS a
result the delightful mantles which were
expected to enjoy SO great vogue are be-
ing passed by with scarcely a glance, so
! from Paris comes the news that a new de-
sign is offered for our criticism. 1t is said
to com bine the advantages of the coat with
those of the cape, as the bodice portion is
| tight back and front, while loose epaulettes
! do duty for sleeves and only reach the el.
| bow. l do not imagine this style will be a
| fayorite, although it is not bad when made
up in a soft black satin with an applique
of white lace richly jetted. Ruff1es of
black chiffon give it pretty finish. Now,
for a very slender woman this might look
| rather nicely. However, there is no need
to say that but few will be seen in this
| City.
| No style is so uniformly useful as our
skirt and coat combination. A good dress
is one made of light covert cloth. 1t
consists of skirt and cape, silk lined. 1t
is machine stitched and has velvet collar
When lined throughout with white satin it
is very dressy and if coat bodice of the
cloth is added it will be yet more useful /;
such bodice must be cut away to reveal
a tightftting waIstcoat in a silk or satin,
which will contrast well with the rest of the
| gown. Such garment will prove economi-
cal ifmade of the best material by good
tailor. An attractive tailor suit worn by a
| stunning matron here is OF very fine brown
cloth with waistcoat of an extremely be-
coming shade of green. This com bination
was repeated in iaunty little toque OF
rough brown straw, as its trimmings were
all in green.
English whip cloth is liked for severe
| xxyifh ofcfoa 4
! jacket, such a dress may be considered
| truly satisfactory. The success or failure
so frequently depends on the style of the
| waistcoat that too much care cannot be
exercised in its selection.
Women who are not blessed with large
incomes contemplating a European trip
should strive not to accumulate during
their travels trunks full of useless trumpery
articles. l heard not long ago of a spin
ster in straitened circumstances who hap
pened 10 visit the ''Bon Marche" when
| there were a number OF articles on special
sale. A beautiful display of silk petit
coats attracted her and she at once pur-
| chased three or four, then she encountered
| some equally fascinating dressing sacques
In which she invested largely, and so on
| through that irresistible shop, until
| the poor woman realized that instead
| OF spending two or three mon tbs
| in travel she must soon be thinking of
home, as she had spent far beyond her
means Now l do not presume most of us
| would be quite as foolish, but many OF us
would invest in totally unnecessary
| articles. / advocate on arriving at Nice
! purchasing good lace, black as well as
white, for, even. if costly at first, in the
| end it is one of the very best investments
that can be made, for see how many dol
lars are foolishly wasted on novelty trim
mings and embroideries which quickly go
out of fashion, a thing good lace
fro, nf 1F
| fine old black Chantilly is sim ply in
| valuable, for after it has been worn for
years it will come back from the members
and cleaners as good as new. But of all
| horrors deliver me from imitation black
| lace, ii always loudly declares that it is
sham and will never fall in graceful folds
| and always becomes rusty and rumpled
! quickly, but the real article has q wonder
! ful way of bestowing an air of distinction
to even the simplest of gowns. Really
| good fine lace is an excellent investment
| as it will increase instead OF decreasing in
1 should ever send lace to- even the
finest of French laundries, it must
| be sent to those who make specially of
mend1ng and cleaning lace only, and
there are several women in this City who
make comfortable living doing Just such
! WORK, and no piece of thread lace need
| ever be thrown aside as useless because
/ torn, as 1t can, even when in an apparent
| ly hopeless condition, be renovated by the
| experienced lace mender. Apropos of this
subject quote few lines from an undis-
/ puted authority: "Real lace. such a.
Honiton, guipure and duchess, are lavish.
| ly used for entire parasol coverings, or are
combined with silk-white or black most
notably. An applique of point d'Angle-
| terre on black silk or satin parasol is ex-
tremely effective, and, in fact, so great
| iavorite is this method of trimming nets.
frflln ,vaH
| silks and satins, that it may be considered
| the great fad OF the season."
| Some beautiful tea tables are so arranged
| that by touching spring the tea things