The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-07-02
ROYAL WOMEN AND
THEIR DRESSMAKERS

maps, that some years ago queen VIC
! toria caught the dress reform fever and
Joined an association. She Furthermore
| inveigled a number of her dowager
friends into becoming members.
Although the queen never astonished
her court by appearing in a dress cut
a la reformation. she thought the IDEA OF
some not too radical reforms IN dress
capital one-at least for the other wo-
men. f
Through the queens influence the
Princess of Wales and her daughters
became interested, and for a brief sea-
son Princess Victoria and the Duchess
of Fife appeared upon occasions in
garbs that were at least semi-reformed.
1t cannot be said. however, that they
ever became violently enthusiastic upon
the subject.
During the last fifteen years the Prin-
cess of Wales has scarcely varied the
fashion of her costumes at all. Through
the age of big, pulled sleeves she chung
to the small ones. For the make of her
gowns, the style known as Princess
has always been adhered to and no one
has ever seen picture hat on her
royal highness' head. She wears only
those dainty little bonnets which bear
her name. Tailor-made frocks and jack
cts she dotes on, although before go
had blossomed out in very stunning
toilets.
She does not favor the fashion of
high shoulder knots, and her ball
dresses are made with the old-fash-
toned court bodice, the shoulder strap
dropping onto the arm.
The Princess Beatrice attire is apt to
be of the simplest description upon or
binary occasions. One travelling the
of
Victoria and the Princess Beatrice,
wrote home, nothing could be palmer
than their gowns
The Empress and Her Staff of Dress
makers.
The German empress, too, has well
defined ideas about dress, and once or
ganized a dress reform order, which
counted among its members many high
and mighty danes. The empress, how
ever is too fond of fine dressing to
carry these reforms very far. Twelve
dressmakers are kept constantly en-
ployed in the empress tailoring depart
ment, as it is called, under the superin-
tendance of a lady of the court. The
staff is increased to forty at certain
seasons, when court festivities are go
ing on, or the empress is preparing for
a Journey Blue and white are, by the
way, the favorite colors.
The empress buys yearly 100 evening
and state dresses, twice as many car
riage and visiting costumes, and about
$50 demi-toilettes and house dresses
$50 frocks all told. The sewing machine
is an unknown quantity in the en-
press tailor shop. From $25 to $50 a
yard is paid for the silks and satins of
which her dresses are made.
NIL rzo,ioa,e yryo
The empress of Russia spends more
on her wardrobe than any royal lady
in Europe. Until and for a short time
after her marriage, she dressed with
almost severe simplicity, but the grand
ladies of the Russian court took no
pains to conceal their disapproval of
the empress indifference to regal
splendor of attire. and the result IS
that her majesty is gorgeous now in
raiment which might be likened to
wrought gold' Shoes are an import
ant item. for the lady has a pretty foot
with a high instep and her size is No.
2 B.
ROYAL handkerchief.
Queen Margherita has passion Tor
dainty handkerchiefs and the costllest
lace handkerchief in the world belongs
to her. 1t is valued at $4,000, a not
sum, when one considers
that three artists worked at it for
twenty years 1t is so filmy, that it can
be folded up and placed in a gold
sheath about the size of a Lima bean.
The favorite dress of Queen Olga of
Greece is of blue and white striped or
checked domestic silk, these being the
national colors. and besides the makers
of silk in her realm have not learned
to dye it any other colors.
The cast off demi-toilettes of royalty
and carriage and house dresses are the
of the head woman of the
bedchamber." who. after making a
selection for her own use, in some
cases. she either sells them to private
parties or to on "old clothes" estab- !
ishment Here they are not allowed |
10 be sold. as they are received, but |
n all cases. they must be remodeled
30 as to obliterate their special fea-
.u-es. Actresses are among the prln-
,ipal customers of these shops.
Aristocracy's Fine Clothes.
The Countess of Warwick, whose wit, |
beauty and philantrophy are often
is magnified at times in |
Ter attire-like unto royalty itself. she
S a woman with exquisite golden hair,
leep blue eyes, finely marked brows /
md a graceful, elegant figure An |
American lady who recently met her
II an outdoor function says that the |
countess wore on that occasion, I
French blue cloth dress, trimmed with |
silver passementerie, and she trained /
Ter handsome skirt about the yard
With a nonchalance that showed there
we're plenty more where that came ,
rom.
Consuelo, the Duchess of Marlbor-
,ugh's ball gowns are beautifully soft, |
white and fluffy and she invariably |
wears strings of pearls as ornaments.
md keeps her diamonds for gowns OF |
more imposing material. with |
I .othair," she thinks that there is a |
,eserve about pearls, which makes
hem best fitted for white dresses: one
If her pearl necklaces consists OF SIX
cen rows of magnificent pearls. An
,ther one has ten rows OF pearls win |
-reat diamond sliGes-thls seems al
most too heavy for her tiny throat.
Another grand dame whom we can |
lain as one of our countrywomen, the |
Countess Castellane, has a large and |
nagnificent wardrobe; she seldom |
wears a gown more than three times
It most.
Black-but black of the ARREST and |
most sparkling description-is Lady
Churchill's favorite material
or gowns, while white MORE embroid-
red in silver is chosen invariably by
Irs. Joseph Chamberlain for her ball
Iresses.
The woman who has more gowns
han any other of this or any other
ge-2 900. 1t is said. with 500 women
o care for them--iS madame, the wife
f Ii Hung Chang.
In striking contrast is the attire OF
he Comtesse de Martel-"gyp'- she
: better known by her nom de plume.
He. n1n n m n