The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-11-13
FOR FEMININE READERS
HATS ARE LARGE AND COSTLY AND
DRESS GOODS FULL OF POLKA DOTS.
Homes That Are Not Always Comfort
abIe-Luxury of secIusiOn-HOuse
Plants That Are Hard to Kill.

All fashions, talked or written, still lead
up eventually to hats, says a writer in the
New York Evening Sun. There are women
yet hacking about in their summer head
gear because they fear to put their fate
to the touch and win or lose thereby. They
might, however, as well settle down to
choice between a snare of velvet that is
called toque or nice, tidy felt, with lifted
brim, known as hunters shape A toque
is the wisest investment if you are going
to have one best hat, for woman's velvet
toque, like a mans frock coat is de rigueur
everywhere A picture hat or a shepherdess
shape, becoming as they may be- are an
achronisms this season. Some of the corner
stones of hat building are antique velvet
that has now become nearly ubiquitous and
tulle flowers that bloom in spite of a prom
Use of snow and sleet. Huge scarlet tule
poppies having every petal edged with small
black sequins, tulle roses with silver spangle
leaf edges and tulle chrysanthemums nod
delicately on toques and theater bonnets.
Antique ribbon is not overexpensive. it's
colors are unusually rich and it asserts it.
self everywhere, be the hat large or small.
On the altar of millinery every barnyard
fowl is laying its plumage, but, for all that,
feathers are more expensive than ever. This
is because, in order to secure the finest
feather effects. artful compositions must be
made by hand. Elaborate breasts and wings
are manufactured from the pickings Of cock
and hen breasts and put together again with
dye and shape to simulate the plumage of
pheasants, wild water fowl, South Amer
lean songsters, etc. Fanciful hats with wide
brims and stately crowns are made wholly
of the small guinea fowl feathers, arranged
wifi inf NIT
is handsome, and the price quite startling.
1t is desirable to recapitulate at intervals
the lists of dress goods that menace the
dress-loving woman with temptations on ev-
cry hand, chiefly because reinforcements of
novelties are arriving daily and Will con-
tinue to pour in until December. The first
item of fresh Importance concerns the
foulard serge that is beautiful beyond the
capacity of any ordinary vocabulary, and
then come the creped cloths, silks war
ranted and proved uncrushable, and finally
the spotted goods. You may object to or
openly war against spots, but you might
as well try to crush out the sunshine or
forbid the flower to bloom. Spots are reg
nant and have broken forth everywhere.
silks VelVets, satins. cloths. fiannels, chif-
ions, even bridal wells, are spotted. Not
all spots are round. however. TO alleviate
any danger of monotony we have bird S-eye
>,
raised from the surface sometimes in the
form of tiny cones. To say the last word as
to color is to enumerate royal blue, cress
green and tuchsia red as rivaling one an
other. perfectly daring and quite unmiS-
taxable brick-dust red. toned with black
5raidings, is triumphantly worn by blonde
women, but for women of all types blue
still calamity holds their hearts. About
four years ago, from the obscurity of navy
blue, arose whole flock of tender, becom-
ing aZure-tinged tones and to put off blue
seems to be impossible Corn flower, tur-
quoise, gentian, abbess. Russian violet and
royal are some of the blues that made up,
in cloth, Silk velvet and flowers, d most
attractive show window in this borough. and
the women all buzzed about the corner,
where a perfectly new and entirely lovely
shade, named Marie Louise blue, was ex-
hibited.
The middle-aged woman, who is not quite
ready to forego all her claims to beauty by
gowning herself permanently in black and
yet feels her dignity somewhat above most
OF the friVoites of such articles of dress
as have been enumerated above, is finding
a good deal of attention given to her needs
this season For example, gown advo-
Gated at the theater and calls for a mother
Of grown daughters, is Of gray green MORE
with a vest Of white satin and a green
cloth cape, relieved by touches of satin. The
bonnet that went with this suit was made
of forget-me-not blue velvet. in a modified
coronet shape, with q tuft of pink roses at
one side and little fan of tiny pure-white
wings in front. Three close-set strans of
lack velvet bebe ribbon formed the bonnet
strings, for such is the fashion of the mo-
ment, ana the WnOle toilet was SaIe KEY
note by which any woman just on the
shadowy side of forty could attune her
whole wardrobe. For house and morning
gowns the middle-aged woman can wear a
skirt of mauve silk having three tiny frills
at the HEM and with this a blouse of fine
white lawn over an underwaist of sky-blue
silk. The blouse has little gold studs down
the front, a lace stock at the neck and roll
ing cuffs of lace, to relieve any suspicious
of relationship to the younger womans shirt
waist. Such is the costume in which a
smart Partisan matron would receive her
morning callers hold committee meetings
at her house, etc. Black corded silk and
violet velvet, often in careful combination,
are the materials most frequently used in
the making of gowns for brides mothers,
and almost wholly to the use of the middle
aged woman is given the handsome applied
trimming of chenille and jet, of which so
much is seen. Good taste, after playing
truant so long, is driving women with FROST
ing hair from the use of the always inap-
propriate and very unbecoming hat to their
rightful monopoly of the small bonnet. The
little coronets made of velvet roses, or
Wreaths of let wings, or graduated roSettes
of ribbon a4e without exception lovely and
suitable for the matronS. who tie them on
with lace lappets, crossing under the chin,
groups of narrow ribbon or folds of velvet
scarcely a fourth of an inch wide and edged
with beads.