Evening star., 1898-12-31

as the best dressed
| of PariSians In 1897
wien ne mad his portrait painted by Lee
ieNIe' 1t was IN an overcoat lined through
WIN RUSSIAN sable, costing $1,000. He al
ready had one with cuffs and collar of sea
| o''er, worth s2,ooo, not to speak of several
| astrakhans worth 5000 each This year it is
| an overcoat lined with silver fox. extremely
rare, made up of the best parts of skins
| that cost $4,000 to collect in Leipsic. Yet II
shows ncne of this expensive fur outside
| Its collar is as plain as yours or mine
| This Is the height of chic, to have a thing
| magnificent and wonderful and not to
| show 1t. 1t is oftenest attained by women.
Yet the Comte de CasteIiane does not &c
| dragging his furs through the avenue OF
| the Champs Elysees when there is no real
| need of them. Last winter which was
| mIid ne scarcely ever wore them. y Well
| dressed man, according to his views, is
| one the details OF whose dress can never he
| 1denlined. The thing is to produce a gen.
! eral impression. " nen h orders oVercoats
| 1t is by dozens. One morning you will see
hlm III loOSe-hangIng Chesterfield. with
| NelNet cuffs and cOnar. Another day the
| coat VIII seem almost to be the same, yet
| it is not. 1t IS a slightly different shade.
| Or he viii show that other fashIcua bic
form, ctoSe-uttIug to the waist, with a
| skirt slightly sprung. His intimaies them
remember seeing ii before. He has coats
| identical in cut and shade. of different
Wcghts. In light Overcoats he will have a
| whole range of shades. Only che thing may
| be predicted Of him. He wIll never be seen
| in a dcubie-breasted overcoat except when
! travelling. These horsey garments are his
! deteStalion. The Comte de CasUeHane is of
taste that is refined and delicate.
His Suits OF SILK.
1t is pity that the whole world cannot
see the best-dressed man in Paris when he
gets up in the morning. The eyes of his
young wife are gladdened by the sight of
rosy silks, of pearly grays, of tints of baby
blue. The mofnHg suit is not Il sloriied
paJama, as outsiders Ignorantly imagine. II
is real suit of SILK, OF trousers, vest and
sack coat. In winter they use the heaviest
brocaoes, and interilne them with soft ian-
mel. To go IN for fancy vests of these ma
terIals is already an extravaganza. Chosen
SUITS OF these ilOWered silks run from $50 to
500 each. But when the Comte de Cas-
tellane designs the patterns himself a spe-
cial loom must be built in each case. The
loom is built. The piece of lowered silk is
produced. And then the loom is broken up.
Words cannot describe the light and sweet
ness that irradiate from these fair morn
ing house suits. Not being an Englishman
or an American, the bath of the Count Boni
Will have been perfumed one. Then as he
takes his coffee and his cigarette, the
morning light, the perfume and his cos
tune VIII MAINTAIN a unity. On a dark,
dull morning he may choose a warm GRIM
SON IN soft, warm weather he would rath-
er put on pink with orange facings while
cold, snappy mornings are best matched
with bright blue or pearl with grass-green
laclngS. Green and cream go Splendidly to-
gether also. In a word, these morning
SUITS, which are, unhappily, for the house
only. impart to their wearer such serenity
OF soul ana such aesthetic eXalta ton that
the temptation is to stay in them tin lunch
time. Often, coming in from riding of an
afternoon, all wet and chilly the Count
Bohi VIII slip into one of them again till
dlnher tlme The sweet scented fire of olive
wood flames in the CRATE The lamps are
Ut. The ladies chatter over tea and hon
bons. In a black silk brocade with golden
threads, ti or In purple shot with crimson
Ine Ine young patricfan of the century's end
iulled by the pretty voices, can admire the
play OF light and shadow on his person.
His Morning Habit.
Ordinarily the Comte de Castellaue goes
out IN the morning in what we would call
business suit, singe-breasted sack with
trousers of the same material. There IS
but one exception to the rule that fancy
trousers may not be worn with a sack suit
Snepherds checks go well with black
ihese he permits himself. but with discre-
tlon. Just now, with all the world he goes
IN Tor the stripe, but there are stripes and
STRIPES Last year when these striped busi-
ness suits became so fashionable they were
black and white and blue and white and
even of a green ground with red stripes.
Ialicrs of the middle class obtained nos
session of them. 1t was Castellane himself
VINO had the idea that the stripe shouId
be not only of the same color but the same
shade as the ground. A single Thread iS
dropped to make the stripe appear.
1t is with these sack suits of the morning
promenade that the cult of the gaudy fancy
vest has more than half its vogue The
Comte de Castelane with most Parisians
ShrtnkS from the ola
ultra-English patterns designed to be worn
with the frock coat of the afternoon They
are of heavy cloths, that flame deffantiy in
every shade of red, of muddy greens all
spotted with elephants breath, of out
rageous plaids wherein blue green and red
Shrek out together They tell of a brilliant
EnSlishman in Paris who found a certain
crimson splashed with blue not narrowing
enough. Make it up inside OUT he said.
1t was admired extremely. These sack
suits cost only from $40 to $50 each while
the vests TO go with them, costing any
where from $40 to $50, are the Jewels for
which they form the setting They are
cloth, not silk. Silk vests are only for
the evening. The London tafors who dress
Cas5eHahe nave never yet been able to per-
suade him to put on, even with sack suit
or racing frock coat, those knit vests
and Tattersalls that come so close to being
vulgar everywhere outside the little sport
ing island. He likes the fashionable buffs
and grays. The browns he reserves TO wear
with blue sack coats and trousers An
other thing in morning vests is leather.
Reindeer and antelope In gray and brown
and with gilt buttons may be seen upon
him frequently. There are silver buttons
also The Comte de Castellane has de-
signed, out of his own head, eight patterns
for gilt and silver buttons.
Teaching the Legislators.
1t may seem strange in Amsrica that the
best-dressed nm in Paris should seldom
wear a cutaway coat. The explanation is
that it is either excessively morning or
excessively afternoon with the Partisan life
Besides, this winter the Comte de CasteI-
lane is taken up with his new duties in the
chamber of deputies. Elected a deputy
for the first time in May of the present
year, from his own town of Castellane in
the Basses-Alpes, he was shocked from the
first at the bad dressing of his fellow con-
gressmen. 1t is true that they wear frock
coats one and ALL and as their sittings are
held in the afternoons, this is correct. But
they are frock coats of Partisan ignorance
unguided by the judgment of the London
tailor. Even worse than ignorance is exag-
geration. For example, few years ago the
cut of the shoulder of a frock coat followed