Gulf Coast breeze. [volume] (Crawfordville, Fla.) 1897-19??, 1901-03-22


sat In the study trying to read III
{ Woman's page In the Boston Worl
but 1t does seem as If couldn't bef
1t IL way WASH. opened for me [
nave new gown for that reunion.
! just then something in the fashlo
notes caught her attention and sc
her to reading in earnest.
Revival of Taffeta Silks.-Amon
the most attractive gowns In cours
OF making for winter festivities mr.
taifeta silks figured in tiny flowers
like those worn by our grandmothers
lndeed,i 1t is said that many such gown
are being resurrected from old trunks
and chests by the lucky owners o.
such ancestral finery, and with only
slight alterations will grace many O,
the seasons teas and receptions"
| "Taffeta silk = ancestral fnery,'
dropped dlsjointedly from Mrs. Vim
ing's lips as she laid down the paper
why, there is Aunt Tabitha's wed.
ding gown
That wedding gown! If ever there
was little illustration of the proyerb.
Every dog has his day." 1t was that
ancient garment. A dozen times every
year for twenty years It had been dug
out from the ponderous Noahs Ark
of trunk for examination and final
rejection.
1t had been suggested as a ball dress
as tea-gown, as lining for an opera.
wrap, as almost every article of fem.
mime apparel. 1t had been handled,
literally and fguratively. until It was
a wonder that rag of the original
fabric remained. In fact, III suppose
must get along with Aunt Tabitha's
wedding gown" had come to be the
vining family Expression for 81 must
give up getting anything new" while
that heirloom itself was regarded as
a symbol of rehunciation. -
eS ,the,sifls tsFta,nIy woSld laugh
when they heard that at last the de.
spised gown was in style and that
their mother was to wear It at the
Avery reunion! At least that was
what Mrs. Vining had thought as she
folded her paper and started upstairs.
1t was not until she had been kneel-
ing for some ten minutes beside the
Noah's Ark trunk In the little attic
storeroom that the guilty fear already
referred to seized her. Suppose the
girls should want the taffeta them
selves? To be sure she had only the
day before given them money for
gown apiece; but those were to be
evening affairs of filmy chiffon and
lace. Wouldn't Ellen, the eldest, ask
for the taffeta when she knew that
taffetas were ''in!'
At the thought Mrs. Vining suddenly
rose with the precious silk pressed to
her breast, her pink cheeks pinker and
her bright eyes brighter than ever
was their wont. ITS mine-mine"
she whispered, 81 can't give 1t up. I
do so want gown that's pretty and
In style just this oncew Then, hear
ing a sound Of girlish laughter below,
she thrust the rustling folds into the
remotest corner of the big trunk,
lowered the lid, and crept downstairs
as cautiously as Is she had been a
housebreaker.
'I'll take it to my room and begin
on 1t this very afternoon" she thought,
But that afternoon proved an I'M
usually busy one, even for this busy
woman. First, neighbor called a
moment for fancy-work pattern, and
stayed an hour. Then the girls brought
In mounds Of samples from which
mother must help them select their
new gowns, and later In the day an
important committee meeting Of her
sewing society drew Mrs. yining away
to the church vestry, there to discuss
ways and means Of providing the
heather with the garb of civilization.
All the time that gray taffeta silk
with the pink rosebuds existed as an
unchanging background against which
were outlined all the events of the day.
Even the girls gowns aroused only
a half-hearted attention. At the COM
mittee meeting she barely escaped
forever losing caste with her fellow
committee-women by voting that So
many yards Of taffeta silk with pink
figures he bought for garments for the
heather, instead Of the unbleached
muslin commonly appropriated for that
purpose.
And at the neighborhood sociable
that evening Mrs. Vining was present
in body only. Even when talking with
the rector, or looking over a photo
graph album with the doctors wife,
she was. in fancy, walking up and