Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1898-06-23

LEU U0E undergraduates U6 JOlu6u anu
all skirts, etc., set upon thin linen
yokes and arranged to button to the
corset cover. This leaves all the super
fuous flesh to fall to natural position.
Then comes the dress. The princess back
with loose front falling from the neck
and belted loosely with fancy chain
belt or bow and ends of ribbon is really
the most graceful, and, if one may use
the word in this connection, belittling
of all gowns, But this is only suitable
for home, for tea gown or negligee, and
there must be something for the street
and something for dressy requirements
Black goods have the faculty of ap-
parently diminishing the size and light
ones of adding to it. A stout lady in
light gray looks positively elephantine
Black satin probably has a better effect
than any other material. There are
enough black goods this season and
planned for next season to fit out all
the stout ladies and leave some for the
thin ones too.
They begin with calico at 5 to 10
cents a yard and end with splendid Irish
poplins at So to 81 yard. Satin and all
the smooth surfaced goods in black are
better than figured or rough stuffs. Bro
cades bayaderes and plaids should be
avoided, but lengthwise stripes are well,
as they give apparent height Long, un-
broken lines give slenderness.
The skirt, when trimmed at all, is
better with the pointed folds or tucks
or line of narrow braid. The point
should come directly in front, and the
bodice should have sharp point in the
middle, toward which any trimming
ought to tend. All waists where folds
or gathers are brought down to the
point in front and back are becoming to
the stout figure, as they hide that tell
tale curve between the bust and the
high stomach.
Napoleon, we are told, had his coat
cut away shapely in front in an invert-
ed V with vest coming to point be-
tween. The double point has something
In it's favor for stout ladies, too, but the
pointed bodice is the easiest to make
and manage and is quite as becoming,
The collar of a stout lady's gown
should be high and flaring in the back
and sides SO as to afford the appearance
of length. One modiste showed me a
waist just finished for very stout lady.
This collar was cut down on to the very
shoulder and then draped and trimmed
in up and down shirrs SO that it made
the wearers neck look quite as long as
the law governing such things requires.
The eye was so deceived by the clever
ness of the trimming that one never
thought to note how much wider it was
around the bottom than at the top.
Shirrings in narrowing lines starting
at the top of waist or blouse apparent
" reduce the size, but the stout lady
does not look pretty in blouse OF a
Spanish founce
To get the Spanish founce skirt just
right the upper part ct the skirt must
fit the figure like a glove. This throws
the hips into undue prominence and is
not desirable thing SO the stout lady
would do we'll to have her skirts loose
enough around the body to fall i'll folds
rather than to be stretched tightly. A
three-quarter basque with rather
straight vest effect is desirable for street
costumes. One of the best devices in
skirts for the overstout woman is the
skirt with q wrinkled front drapery.
These few wrinkles. starting from each
side and thrown forward, break the
smoothly drawn front into lines of easy
grace.
In some cases surplice waists look
well on stout ladies, and a full princess
with the front draped across diagonally
is really charming thing. The narrow
sleeve must not be too tight fitting. If
it is, it reveals the exact proportion of
the arm, while a looser sleeve would
really hide its size, and one would think
of the sleeve and not the arm. Sharp,
high caps are good in that they give
broadness to the shoulders and i'll COM
parison make the waist seem smaller
The stout woman should not wear
belts or wide buckles, and she should
avoid the Spanish hounce and all round
about trimming like the measles. But
flounces of narrow, light stuff put on in
a festoon low in front and high in the
back, and all upright and pointed trim
mings are suitable and make the stout
look slender.
HENRIETTE ROUSSEAU.