Evening star., 1898-12-24

young matron. bustling in at the moment,
all smiles and feather boa. I've been Or
dering evening dresses. They cost like
the mischief. How ever win pay my bills?
Such extravaganza to wear evening gowns!'
"Wellr' proclaimed the hostess, settling
herself comfortably in front of the tea
tray. Here are Contradictions
How do you live" demanded the re-
turned exile Americans are all rich, else
i can't account for 1t. a street dress must
fit; must be fresh. perfect; it's bottom
less pit of expense. yet you sit in theater
chair all the evening, stretching and strain
ing it, and you drag it through dusty pas
sages and get 1t kicked by crowds. You
destroy the finest costumes In your ward
yobe, when you might put on any old rag
OF q white thing and be comfortable. In
London evening dresses saved my life.
Here, L tell you, I'll be driven to a rest
cure
Cheap cabs!'' cried the young matron.
make all the difference If we had 'em,
there'd be twenty evening dresses where
now there's one! How'd we look, though,
dragging any old rag of a white thing
through street cars? And 'twould swallow
the Klondike to hire carriage every time
one goes to the theater. OF course, 'twould
be lovely to get ones moneys worth out
of an evening dress; 1 don't have one of
mine on six times before it's out of style"
A Frequent Complaint.
That's the worst of 'em!" groaned the
exile; you have to have 'em, yet you never
get the good of 'em. And it's the same with
all your other clothes. Because imported
dresses made in style suitable for Paris
or London, which have cheap cab service,
or for such Americans as own carriages
because these dresses have trains, there
fore every woman in the city must stumble
over her clothes and befoul them with slOp
and snow. There's money enough wasted
hale
the city. We've got to have cheap cabs or
common sense. l shall be driven to sani-
tarum.''
Try Constantinople" suggested the host
ess. That's where l ate my last Christ
mas dinner. Three women, ten man, who
spoke between them thirty languages: tur-
key for the Yankees. boars head for the
BrItishers and the dirty-looking brown
stuff the oriantals think is ice cream. But
I meant to tell you'll was on the wing.
had no evening dress. got one made for
about slS-a beauty And my husband got
an evening suit for s13 Think I'll go back
when New York's too much for me-.
Fancy said the returned exile.
Ths other day 1 asked pretty good
dressmaker. What does an evening dress
COST Naturally, she answered: That de-
pends.''
"Of course 1 said, "but 1 don't mean
white rabbits appliqued on black velvet
or embroidery patterns of feather busters.
Count out freaks. For what price one
get a good evening dreSs?
Cheapest is About $50.
IAN extra bodice. low-cut or filled in with
lace, to go with the skirt of an afternoon
dress. costs-anywhere from SO to $50. But
a dress, from a good dressmaker-the
cheapest would be $50. That doesn't mean
much. of course. A silk. say: good, but not
eXtravagant: good enough for careful wear.
Deep fiounce to the skirt, foot rufies of silk
and lace. low bodice. little decoration of
net or chiffon or spangled mousseline de
sole. Oh, yes: a dressmaker who knows
how can get up quite a dress for $50. A
handsome dress must cost double that
What can you get for s120?'
"Brocaded silk; pretty good brocade. and