The herald., 1897-10-31
ALL ABOUT THE
WOMAN Of FASHION
On Her Wheel She Revives the
Romance of the Chest
nut Season.
GIRDLE AND SASH.
Novel Effects Secured by Their
Use-Brilliant Hues in Gloves
for Day and Evening.

yearned to go chestnutting had to look
up their country cousins and beg an
invitation to spend a week or so with
some of them in order to enjoy the
sport. But the bicycle has changed
all that, and now it is a very ordinary
occurrence for a party of two, four or
six to take a spin of fifty miles to the
nearest chestnut woods and come back
laden with-well, at least as much as
they could eat While there. Thus all
the romance attendant upon the open
ing of the chestnut burr with the beau
ty of brilliant foliage and haZy skies
thrown in may be crowded into one day
in the country for those who wheel.
Nor need the romance end here, if the
pair are SO fortunate as to have access
to an open fire. Away with all the
new-fangled gas and electric contriv-
ances for heating which have taken
from us the social and sentimental
possibilities of the cracking log or the
glowing coals Bicycle camping parties
build their own open fires away out in
the Wild wood as far from civilization
as spossible, and there in the ashes at the
edge of the glowing embers they lay
the fateful autumn fruit so fraught
with the power of divination. And por-
tents of this kind gain more sisnif-
cance when manifested in natures own
bower with the moon casting a mys-
tic spell from above.
For these and other reasons, cyclists
will continue to cycle as long as the
snow consents to De absent-a period
which might bring us up to Christmas
In any case, there is sure to be five
nf in,
bicycle suit purchased now and worn
TIL the end of the season. Not that
one can buy suit ready made for that
price, but the materials can be bought
for less, and with the help of a pattern
it is easy to make it oneself. The new
est skirts, instead of being hemmed
are turned up about eight inches on the
right side and stitched in ten or a dozen
rows. This, if the dress is made of
heavy cloth, makes it sufficiently stiff
around the bottom without inserting
canvas, but the latter may be used. if
desired, being laid on the right side
between the skirt proper and the eight
inch strip, and all three stitched to-
gether. Nearly all skirts of this kind
are made to fasten at the top of the
seams on each side of the front. and
In the matter of waists, the cycling
girl has followed the lead of every
thing else in dress and has taken to
the Russian blouse. 1t is a style which
is we'll adapted to the cyclists needs,
both because it admits of the free
movement of the body and because
there is room for woollen or chamois
waist underneath, thus insuring
warmth without the added stiffness of
an outside Jacket. Most of the blouses
are provided with four pockets-two
breast pockets, and two on the basque
below the belt. With four of them it
ought to be possible to distribute the
belongings necessary to a trip without
weighing any one pocket down and
stretching the blouse out of shape.
Notwithstanding the warnings which
the over-cautious think it necessary to
give with reference to the Russian
blouse, to the effect that it may be out
of style before spring, the folks who
need winter dresses now are recxlessly
buying blouse suits for knoek-about
wear, on the very sensible supposition
that the dress will be worn out by the
time spring comes, anyway.
Even for dressy wear. the blouse is
utilized to the utmost. Velvet made in
this fashion is extremely elegant. Vel
veteen limitations have also begun to
appear, and though they are unmis-
takably cheap, they serve very we'll for
folks who cannot afford better Velours
jackets will doubtless take the place of
the velours capes which We're so long
lived. They are sold in a number of
different styles, trimmed mostly with
gimp braid and fur edges.
Fur has already been introduced into
the trimming of indoor costumes in
Guiding evening dresses and tea gowns
In general, this appears to me to be
incongruous, but there are a few furs
that harmonic so well in color with
the pale evening tints that they do not
seem wholly out of place. Chinchilla.
for instance, makes a pretty combina-
ton with light blue. One of the girls
who poured tea at a literary club re-
ception the other afternoon wore a tea
gown of pale blue taffeta which fitted
tight in the back and crossed to the
left side of the waist in front, where
it was fastened with turquoise buckle
and from these fell to the bottom of
the skirt. The neck was rounded ont
over the shoulders and filed in with
a yoke of thin material which is q
new fancy of this season. 1t was silk
net-grey in this case-with chinchtlIa
fur dots scattered over It. The Same
material formed the sleeves which wera
mousquetaire in style
The very prettiest tea-gown 7 have
ever seen is a design of this season
There is a soft front of deep blue em.
broidered silk net, which is gathered
at the neck and waist, and then hanps
loose to the bottom of the skirt. Over
this is hung cloak-like garment. mada
OF pale yellow brocade, which has no
sleeves. but only large openings for the
arms and the fiounces of pleated blue
net which reach to the elbows. The
touch which is really artistic, though.
Is the flchu of white null and rufies
with the long stoles Of the same filmy
stuff reaching to the bottom of the
skirt with rUflies at the ends The edges
of the yellow brocade are trimmed with
sable. The back is draped Vatican
fashion from the bottom of a plastron
of blue net reaching from the neck to
a point just below the shoulder blades.
A tea-gown which had somewhat the
effect Of q dress was made of yellow
silk, with white lace insertion running
riot over the skirt and the full vest
front. A Jacket something after the
manner of an Eton was tucked round
and round. prison fashion, and at the
waist was a fiounce of lace suggesting
the basque of a Russian blouse.