Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1897-01-14
C0STLY AND URI0UE FANS.


Wings and Jewels.
New York Commercial Advertiser.
| Fans this season are divided into the
useful and the beautiful, or, in other
words, fans for bathrooms and theatres
and those for receptions, dinners, the
opera and weddings, The first are small,
strong, sparkling with characterization and
mostly made of close-woyen gauze, on
carved wood or white bone sticks.
| The second typo are grand featbered aft
fairs, the bigger the better, and mounted
on pink pearl. Some of the prettiest of
the little fellows are black muslin, and,
instead of the spangles, of which we are,
by the way, growing Il bit tired, wildly
colored beetles wings are used in decora-
ton. These are snowy and Respondent,
and the newest fans, of black gauze and
| treated after this fashion, are deeply
notched along the top.
Into the nOtches points of white lace are
set, and the result is II sturdily useful, but
very beautiful, little wind-raiser. Some
times, too, in place Of white lace, tufts Of
ostrich tips, or clusters of white feathers
are inserted in the notches, and, again,
loose-petaled white silk roses fill every one
of the open points in the black fan.
| Whatever else You do this season,
though, in selecting fan, make n choice
of something both startling and unique,
not so much in shape as in decoration.
Pick out II fan of which no one Is likely
to find u counterpart and that every wom-
m will crane her neck to examine when
you open ii in her neighborhood In the
theatre. EccGntricitcs are not, of course,
in good taste, and guard sticks, powdered
with jewels or set with little mirrors, have
passed into the limbo of articles unfash-
iOnablc, but you can have u fan with u
row Of tiny silver bells down the guard
stick.
They are not really bells, but wee tubes
of silver, no larger than the inside lead Of
u pencil and attached TO the guard stick
by silken threads. Naturally when the
fan is waved about these clash together.
with sweet metallic sound, like fairy
music. A fan of this kind will have per-
haps only line of smiling, grave or tear
full Mosques, slung in Il row, ON o. ribbon,
painted over its black muslin folds.
We have not yet done, as the little fans
for this season show, with the modes OF
Bourbon times, and the small gauze even
tail still has medallons on it, three nsll.
ally miniatures of court beauties, with
trails of tiny painted flowers wreathing ami
fcst0oning from the quaint pictures. Most
of the medallion fans are made of chicken
skin, or Il tough paper, treated to resemble
this fnyOrite fabric of fan painters. How
ever, the smartest small triiles of this sort
are now decorated on both sides with
equal care and elaboration.
Paper fans with marine scenes are very
pretty. These last show the outspread
wings Of some big white bird entirely GOV.
ering the top, and below on n blue ground
wander ont II troupe of fishing girls, u fleet
of white yachts or train of swallows. They
are painted, of course, on water color
paper, while the stately big fans are still
done on gauze. 1t is u close-woyen fab.
rio, and whatever the scene may be il
covers nearly all the space. Lace is now
only introduced along the edges, as u sort
of frost-like frame to the charming pict
urcs of love-making. One and all these
ganze fans that now often measure
twenty-six inches across when open, are
mounted on plain polished pink pear
sticks,
From the waist they are meant to hans
by sort of rosary of gayly cut beads, ant
one American maker of fans is mounting
them In sticks Of glass. They are not very
practical, though exceedingly lovely, es
pecinlly when u crescent of white lace il
stitched over the crystal mounting
Spangling and miniatures, etc, are right,
considered far too frivolous as ornamental
ton for big fans, and on an occasion, re
quiring stately cOstuming and bearing
huge ostrich feather ones are invariabl!
carried. Just cluster of feathers on
single stick is not in good taste.
1t must now be an open and shut fan o
exactly eighteen broad, plain, pink pear
sticks and eighteen selected snowy plumes
From tip of plume TO ieweled clasp o
stick, the fan ought to measure invent,
inches, and he carried suspended by TIVE
delicate gold chains, attached to n golt
band on the right arm. Whatever eXtr,
decoration is applied must be done witt
ostrich tips, permitting three full ones b,
overtop the rest, or an aigrette of then
to fasten on one of the guard sticks.