Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-24
THE HEIGHT OF FASHION.
Things that Are Regarded ms Esscn
tInl 10 EcmIninc Mnnniness.

Things that Are Regarded ns Essen
tin1 to Feminine Happiness
NEW YORK. July 21.-Fashion is like the
wind-lt cometh when and whence 1t listeth,
and no woman knows what morning she may
wake up to find her best and most becoming
gown a hopeless back number. or her Paris
hat a pitiful antique. So much philosopniz-
ing is apropos' of1the frou-frou girl Her
doom has been sounded. Now the French
women cherish a pretty %proverb, which in
translation says, "In order to be we'll dressed
one must wear a bit OF lace The frou-frou
girl acting ,on this suggestion slowly evolved
the bit OF lace into elaborate blouses, huge
neck scarfs, dangling wrist r%ufies, climbing
gold chains, as intricate as a shops rigging,
and behold! as wide neck bows and rear bob
, eurls have Just been brought to a point of
exquisite perfection, Fashion flouts her. She
Is as hopelessly bad style as a corn field
,scarecrow, and to the modish eye, IL she
were run through a moving machine her
appearance would be greatly improved.
Though the sad exit OF the too bedizined
beauty has teen enfor led. by no means has
a tailor made girl come to: take her place.
Extreme sickness Of dress Is no more mod
ish than the piling on Of homogeneous brio
a-brac of the toilet. An absolutely un-
starched woman gets into the front rank
now. The whole instinct of fashion steadily
is toward drapery that cllngs as close as a
Greek peplus, with nothing out or upstand-
ing, and whatever is used in ornamenting
the dress must be an integral part of the
garment itself. That is, all the SNOWY col
lars. cuffs, belts, bows, ETC., are made to the
skirt or waist, aid even these are all inclined
to be soft, pliable and yielding to the curves
o. the body.
Now, this all leads up very naturally to
talk OF the new skirt which fairly grips
the hips. so snug is its fit at the top. Abb
~solutely without exception 1t fastens over
the bottom of the waist and then 1t has
short cores let in all about the bottom. The
cores run scarcely higher than the knee
and In one imported gown as many as ten
little fores were counted. Their seams
were cleverly hidden under a graceful ar
rangcment of frills zig-zagging over the
silken surface. Another interesting phase
,,of the skirt Is a fully gored under petit
coat Of cloth or heavy silk, over which
falls a thin silk or net top skirt. The top
skirt is cut in a series of large, deeply in
denied scallops, or sharply toothed at the
foot, thus allowing the fullness Of the under
, pipe, to fare out like a sort of fiounce.
. Patriotic Ribbons.
Every week there appears a new devel-
opment in ribbons and the summer shopper
gets a hint of the future in the growing
amount of embroidered ribbons for sale.
Small worked black dots on a blue, green
or yellow ground is a species that fairly
seems to court association with cool muslin
dresses, while black liberty satin .sashes
are the only kind any longer worn, Young
ish women, who have slim waists, draw
the wide, soft satin around their, bodies
twice and knot the streamers once, pin
ming the knot fiat with a bright jeweled
brooch. That knot can be placed at any
point on the waist line you please. An
other ribbon novelty, the popularity OF
which has yet to be tested, displays what
is called Tom Thumb fringe on either edge.
1t really is not intrinsically pretty, for the
fringe seems messy and superfuous, but
that Ia no reason why it should not eX-
cite a mild craze in the world Of good
clothes.
There is an exceedingly tempting oddity
on the counters Just now in the form Of
a lutestring ribbon of clear blue, having
one edge red and one edge white. Its pa
triotic significance is unmistakable. What
it is used for may be discovered by observ-
ing a trick which looks like a parti-
colored daisy, ornamenting the breast Of
the smart women. The daisy Is really a
wee rosette made Of this ribbon and caught
In the middle by q blue or white. or red
enameled star, else a tiny five-pointed pin
of gold.
Such gay buttonhole bouquets serve for
wear by day and many women, in satin
and lace, 20 to balls and dinners wearing
large ~rosettes of the red, white and blue
in their hair. The centers of such %rosettes
are often small stars of diamonds.
Patriotism has in other ways left its I'M
press on the women Of smart society A
small gold eagle, in the impossible atti-
tude the bird Of freedom strikes on our
coins, and clutching diamond encrusted ar
rows in his claws, is one OF the pretty
popular brooches. Another is a blue en-
ameled can of liberty, with a red head band
and a white star on the blue ground. The
cap is set atop a shaft Of gold used as scarf
min, A three pointed star made OF dia-
mond, rubies and sapphires is another costly
hut charming exhibition OF our natlonai
colors, while most artistic OF all is a silver
dollar used as the ornament Tor a neil
buckle. In red and blue enamel the lace
of the dollar, bearing Liberty's head Is
most artistfcally colored, the silver showing
In divers places in place of white enameiine'
Freaks In Rufiins.
Fashion as we'll as nature produces lis
phenomena and a few have been apparent
Mt the watering places recently. For IN
stance who can explain the fascination ex-
ercised upon the 1eminihe m'uu Wy III.
choice Of rufning only. the rear founces ol
n skirt. There Is a large class OF admired
and therefore influential dresses Of SILK
lawn and Bingham, which rustic out theii
little day on Casino verandas In hounces SCI
on the perpendicular of the skirt Truly
they are caught in. with the three pacf
seams of the skirt and SO fall in a )aoo'
effect. OF course they are wider at the ZOO
than near the waist and they are far pref
tier than those that run in a tier OF SIX
set horizontally on the rear widths. The.
don't venture further forward on the sklr
than a line that falls straight from TIT
hips, ana they, too, are deeper at the ZOO
than the waist region.
Another puzzle to the simple souls Is tn
handle of the very costly parasol that tn
rich woman carries. 1t Is a SHAFT OF iVor!
and finished with an astonishing Japanes
carving, representing either a Gagged nightip
gale or a handsome prickly dragon OF gold
no bigger in the body than a slate pencil
who ties himself In intricate bow knots be
hind a pagoda shaped cage In ivory. HOY
do the Japanese manage to do such thing
and why will a woman buy so valuable
bit OF brlc-a- brac TO put on the end OF
fragile net sunshade?
-IHHa II. HhA nn En