The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-11-17
for GMon1en.


Thanksgiving house parties are becom-
ing more and more popular among the
swell set. and as this means at least a
weeks amusement for people Of different
tastes the entertainment must vary as
much as possible
Nothing fills up so much time so
pleasantly as a costume party or mas
querade. The choosing and planning of
the costumes and the effort to keep
it all secret causes a great deal of
suppressed merriment, and the final dis
play, when the whole plot is revealed in
all its funny and brilliant details, is a
spectacle that is delightful to both the
onlookers and the participants.
The most difficult part of the entertain
ment in the case of d masquerade. is that
which preeedes 1t. To choose a costume
is a most p~erplexing problem, but a clever
choice gives rise to a great deal of fun,
and the wearer feels fully repaid for all
the trouble he may have taken to please
his hostess and her guests.
1t is quite customary. when a mas
querade is in prospect, for the guests to
seize upon all the illustrated histories
dIQ DU0kS Ct Tan II II Aotor>
Louis XVI. are very popular
and the Marie Antoinette fancies,s which
one has In ones modern wardrobe, are
often found useful. Napoleon, Sir WAL
ter Raleigh, Lord Byron, Mary Stuart,
Madame Pompadour. etc., are f~avorite
historical characters, all of whom are
pictured in the Illustrated histories of the
countries to which they belonged.
49,
Shakesperean characters. when well
done. are always attractive. It is very
nice to go in pairs, In case of a masquer-
ade party, where a young lady requires
an escort to the place; for instance, as
Hamlet and Ophelia. Bassanio and Per-l
tia, Romeo and Juliet, etc. Such cos
tunes as these can be copied from the
pictures in Illustrated editionsAof Shakes
peare's works. and may be done in as
elegant material as one can afford. In
deed. that is the great trouble with char
acters of this kind. In order to make
them appear as they ought it is neces-
sary to use very heavy and very costly
material, and they are not usually very
good dancing costumes. For this reason
the plain domino is not very popular.
Light, fantastic costumes for a dance
masquerade are always preferable to the
clfnging draperies that look pretty on the
stage. That Is the reason why the flower
girl. the popcorn girl, with representa-
tons of dawn, night, starlight, ETC., are
always 50 plentiful at costume parties.
It is very easy nowadays to find char
acters in popular songs and story books
of the present time, and they are produc-
tive of more amusement than the serious
characters of heavy drama or history.
The Heavenly Twins were very popu-
lar last year, when the book of that name
was being so generally read.
THE Wizard of the Mix" would make
a funny character. and by acting 1t out
one could get a great deal of amusement
IAN I q Wiz?, would come IN very apro-
pos just as the impersonator Of this char
acter had discovered the identity of his
partner.
Yvette Guilbert and the C-ostermonger
would be a good pair.
The American heiress in elaborate even
ing dress, carrying q conspicuous money
bag, should be escorted by the British
noble in appropriate costume and with
the Inevitable monocle.
h Bowery girl and Chimfnie Fadden
sire sufficiently we'll known Throughout
ne country to be easily recognized any
Where
carnlencita IN black and yellow dancing
dress is an extremely effective character
Tor a brilliant brunette
Madame Chysanthe asa Chinese lady. of
distinction varies the monofony OF ordin-
airy American and English characters.
Her escort could go as Ii Hung Chang
and embarrass the ladies of the company
comes
Japanese costumes are always pretty
put are not specially adapted to lively
dances like the two-step and polka.
One Of the most original costumes of
the season is one which has been planned
for a house party on Thanksgiving night.
It represents the bicycle "~scorcher," and
is al pretty as it is original. 1t Is entirely
In white and gold and of course has a.
short skirt. The material is white satin.
The skirt has bands of gold braid around
tha bottom and up the front seams. Gilt
buttons fasten the skirt on each side of
the front. An Eton Jacket has reyers
trimmed with gold braid and buttons and
thera are no sleeves. ITnderneath IA a