Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-01-21
Copyright. ls9e by John Erisben walker@


Special Correspondence of The Evening star.
NEW YORK January 10. 1899.
This winter thee will be no vegetable
party.
Last years masquerades Of heets and
cahbagcs trod on the reels of the Maine
disaster and received an amount and Kind
of advertising beyond its deserts and cal
culateG to discourage repetition.
But of fancy dress parties the short New
York season. cIt to barely eight weeks. is
fun Half the dancing classes nave ar
ranged for them childrens parties are apt
to take a fancy dress turn, and as for
Crown-ups. Jerome X. Jerome is not the
only man who has noted the advantages of
appearing IL but for few brief hours, as
a "glittering dream"
One of last years successes was a cat
and dos party, at which special quadrille
was danced by white kittens labeled with
such names as s'Tou Tou,' ''Fihne'' ana
'.Toinette.'' This year a rival hostess has
projected menagerie. guests TO appear as
animals of any preferred description. A
great turnout is expected of bulls, bears
and American eagles Somebody has sug-
gested the signing of a peace protocol be-
fore any dangerous beast is allowed to en-
ter the ball room.
An animal party for children was held
during the holidays. the beasts taking part
being those figuring in kipling'S Jungle
Books. \ bird darce for children was also
a feature at q country house party. At
neither of these affairs were any elabora te
tered into the spirit of the thing with a
zest that made up for all deficiencies.
Favorites From Books.
Among less eccentric ideas there has been
revived the oId-fashioned scheme of char
acte-s from favorite books. each guest be-
ing invited to represent a chosen hero or
heroine. The chief disadvantage of this no.
tion. now as always, is that the man or
woman who prefers modern writers and
characters is still driven back upon books
dealing with former periods in the effort
to find distinctive costumes. Yet there are
advantages.
who are you?" was asked of a man VINO
Ventured TO party of this description in
ordinary evening attire.
Il? Oh. I've forgotten just who 1 am
call me the hero of whatever story you
finished this afternoon
Hocpskirt parties are occasionally resort
ed to. and furnish an unfailing source of
amusement, bringing out. they usually
do. every form of skirt distender, from the
most antique farthingaleS through the pan
niers of the rocco period, to the big hoops
of the ifties and sixties; the style of dress.
OF course. corresponds with the period of
the hoop chosen At recent party of this
sort the awkwardness of the women in
managing their unwieldy draperies sug-
gested some interesting reflections
Eras and Places.
Marie AntOinette parties are another re-
source Never winter passes without one
or two, and undoubtedly there would be
more Of them if there was a smaller sup
ply Of raw material for queens. But when
Madame Elizabeth and Madame Royale and
more duchesses and princesses than any
queen could invite to her fete have been
parceled out. there still remains a lurking
feeling that no royal festival is perfect at
which every woman is not Marie = A COM
peuttVe examination of Marie Antoinettes
might be worth some hostess while all her
guests being invited to play the part for an
evening. with prize for the best queen.
What one might almost call geography
parties are popular this winter-balls illus
trating the dress of some especial region;
Cuba, North Holland, Sicily, Greece and
China being singled out for different rea-
sons.
Chinese ball is fashionable for a good
and sufficient cause There are fewer cheap
productions of Chinese eInbroideries and
Nestments than of Japanese in this country
ana WnOSO possesses any of the fine old
pieces. thick with gold and floss silk en-
broldcry. or Slittering with the fiye-clawed
dragon that only figures in the rovaI paIace
or whose can boast of Il Chinese coat with
hoot sleeves like those in which the gran
dees of the palace grovel before their en-
peror, can make Herewith an admirable
display
In Classic styles.
Greek dances are easily arranged: but
whereas a majority of the people invited
understand by Greek the old classic cos
tunes of hordered wool there are always
enterprising folk who assume the dress of