Omaha daily bee., 1897-01-17


gulpure over white satin running round
the skirt between the knee and the telt
and the bodice has q bolero of the lace over
white satin There Is a short sleeve OF
velvet with long close sleeve OF lace form
Ing transparency on the arm. These
long sleeves with low necked gowns are a
caprice of the moment. Trey are made
of transparent materials and cling to the
arm like the glove they replace.
Lace berthas and other full shoulder trim
mngs have fallen out of favor The great
chic is square decollcte with shoulder
straps and a very little sleeve. and the neck
across the front and back left untrmmcd.
This plain edge at the neck Is one of the
peculiarities of the season.
The latest elegance in evening cloaks
Is huge standing collar OF fur, to which
is attached loose drapery with sleeves.
The drapery may be long or short. This
sounds vague. but the garment is still
vdguer. Apparently form has been eX-
hausted and we have returned again to
chaos. Or is it a prehistoric revival?
II seems to be made a. follows: Sew to-
gether number Of breadths all of the
same length, and shrr them across one
end Make the shirring six or eight
inches deep and draw up the threads till
the piece fits around the neck, which will
give a sort of cape with the shirring for
yoke Now separate the breadths that
fall over the arms from those that fall
down the front and back, and join the
sidc-brsadths to firm a full sleeve, which
Is finished with cuff at the wrist. Then
join under the arm the edges left at back
and front, and you have a sort of jacket
in which the sleeve aud the body are con-
founded, and of which the aforesaid huge
collar is the only tangible part If this
reads like the first day of creation the
fault is not mine. But shall be greatly
to blame If | do not impress upon the
reader that the result is positively seraphic
Also we are certain to have some devel-
opments on this basis for spring.
DRESS IN THE SOCIETY PLAYS.
Stage dress in Paris is no crude travesty;
1t is the high school of fashion. and if it
differs from the private dress, differs only
In an access of novelty and elegance. II
is made by the great dressmakers. and they
seize on the society plays to launch new
modes. Here follow some notes made at the
play houses.
Blouses continue to be very much worn.
They fit down close behind, and are slightly
boufant in front. Yoke effects of trimming
have not been abandoned, but newer idea
| is to make the front double-breasted, with
| rufiie set down the edge. This ruffle E
| about four inches wide and is Crimped; Ii is
| made double and even triple, and falls out
| very full down tho left side. Thus a brown
| cloth gown with euch q blouse has rufle
| Of rcd taffeta with another ruffie over il of
| black chiffon. Blouse necks are fashiDnably
| finished with turned down collar set on at
the top of the neckband. Thus, on the same
| gown a collar of red taffeta turns down
| over the brown band
| Belts are full of caprice. Now thty are
low in front and rise up high in the back,
| carried higher by a long, slender bow
| whose donkey ears run almost to the neck
| now they are wide in front and drop 10 a
| knot behind; again they are the same all
| ba h, \ pl
cut a design or to cover otherwise unoc Gu
| pied space.
AS to sleeves the great point is to keep
| them simple in FORM The perfect sleeve
| Is or seems to be cut of a single piece
| The movement towarI decorated sleeves
continues to develop, the trimming being
always of bands stitched fiat so as not to
| interrupt the outline Some long sleeves
| have a rufIie at the elbow Exaggerated
length at the band has been for the most
part abandoned and the sleeve ends where
1t should-at the wrist The wrist has a
| rufIie or a cuff or both, or 1t may end with
| nothing at all but cord.
Skirts are trimmed at the top, though this
| is only one among other caprices, for Other
| skirts are trimmed at the bottom and still
others are trimmed round the middle. The
] idea seems to be a chase for surprises. A
certain well known dressmaker has tried
| for two years to impose upon fashion a
| skirt made with the lower half of one ma
| terial and the upper half of another, as, fol
| example, tho lower part of blue velvet and
| the upper part of raspberry red cloth
| Skirts made like this are occasionally seen
| but they are rare. The fact Is when all
| is said. 1t is the plain skirt that still has
| tho preference.
Nine. Rejane is an actress whose dress
| is much studied by fair Parisians. Her
garments at this moment cling and droop
| like sea moss on a mermaid They swathe
| her round as the grave-cloth mummy
| and as they are now OF elephant gray and
| later will be of a bitumen-colored burlap-
| the reader will see that these figures are
not far fetched, but that they lie directly
under the pen.
Leaving the stage for the boxes, one re-
marks the great use of cloth. Cloth is in
may be counted on to be the first choice of
fashion for spring. A gown worn one
evening to the Vaudeville by Queen Amelia
of Portugal on her recent visit to Paris, is
of cafe -au-lait cloth. 1t is made with a
bolero opening over a blouse of gray
mouseline de Sole and the front of the
skirt and the entire boero are covered with
an applique pattern Of cafe-au-lait silk. The
toque worn with this dress is of turquoise
blue velvet with an aigrette of cream lace.
great deal OF yelling Is being used, aa
think have mentioned before. 1t drapee
easily and is inexpensive. and it makee
very pretty gowns for the theater and
other simple evening wear The skirt
may be pleated, and the bodice pleated
and draped in surplice fashion, leaving the
neck TO be filled in with a guimpe of white
lace over white satin. gown OF gray
yelling thus made has a belt OF amethyst
velvet and the same velvet at the top OF