The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1896-12-17

A tailor.made gown Of dark blue serge Is OK
ceedingly neat. The lapels may be faced back
with the serge or with black silk, and the close.
fitting waistcoat may be Of red or tan-coior
broadclotb, of black silk or satin. or Of pretty
plaid or checked silk. The dress is made so
plainly that everything depends on its 1T and
hang.
A black lace gown is pictured with narrow.
pointed yoke and vest piece of black lace over
orange. colored satin. The belt is Of nasturtium
yellow, or orange velvet, and nasturtiums
brighten the shoulder bows. Long black gloves
complete the costume pictured, or one may have
elbow sleeves with ruffle Of the lace and
knot of the velvet.
x*x
Gray is fashionable this Winter. and for
girl who can wear it we'll it is very fetching
because OF its Occurrences. The coat pictured
is of gray smooth cloth with ravers and collar OF
OF the gray Persian lamb fur, which shades SO
prettily into pale and darker grays. The coat
is worn with gray frock and gray hat. faced
and trimmed with black velvet, and cocks
feathers complete the costume.
So
Although the old.fashioned hair tonics-
qninine and sage tea-are excellent for
rengthening the hair. yet they undoubtedly
darken it as well, and any maid or matron who
Is proud Of her bright locks cannot use either
safely.
~
Along with poppy-red petticoats and poppy
red silken dress Innings, poppy-rcd pocket
books and card cases are all the style.
Velvet is the most fashionable Of al ma
terials-and velvet hats. velvet coats and velvet
frocks are the Joy of femininity.
-
Helen Kellar, the blind GIRL who is also deaf,
has taken up bicycling. She rides tandem
and does her share of the pedalling. though of
course she can have no part in the guiding of
the machine. The stories of her life tell Of Q
girl SO bright, industrious. and sunny-tempered
that they ought shame every girl who is able
bodied and blest with good eyesight into doing
her very best in life, and being thankful for
every blessing.
=
For embroidering the flannel skirts and
| shawls. the needlewomen who work for the
big firms receive about 10a or Is cents for each
skirt or shawl. The smallest of the shawls are
three-quarters Of q yard square, have seal
Hoped edge that must be closely button-holed,
and flower pattern to be solidly embroidered
in two corners. Few needlewomen not in the
work would undertake to finish one of the
shawls in day, and for so pitiful wage; but
| tho work 10 eagerly sought.
sss
Two women in England died from the effects
of tight lacing.
| We have come to think that the spread OF
common sense is greater than it is. Our col
| leges have done so much to educate women,
snd with bicycling to help the good cause
of sensible dressing along, one might hope
tight lacing to be folly Of the past, but it is
not entirely so. There are still women who
think it is pretty to distort and disHgure them
selves. Copies Of the Venus de Milo photo.
graphs, engravings, and even the plaster casts oil
the magnificent womanly figure are now so in.
expensive and so easily procured that one finds
them all over the country. and any woman who
has an interest in the beautiful has had q
chance to see what this statue is like, and any
woman who has seen the beauty of the mag
nifcent lines of that figure, and who laces, has
no truth in her. A little waist, awk ward hips
and a red nose! It is for this that some women
will wrap their corset laces around bedposl
and pull away. hoping day by day to ap
proach the 19-inch wsst-a waist that wa:
fashionable some Is years ago, but thank for
tune is no more so! 1t is true that the fashion.
able women do not lace, that the majority Of
women do not, and that it is confined tc
cheap women, that is, women whose every
effort is vanity, or to women who live in the
backwoods of fashion aud cling to an ides
that they acquired in early years, or to girl:
too young to know better, and probably in
another 10 years not one woman in a thousand
will lace-but it is pity for even one to do it
ELSIE PoMERoY McELRoY.