Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1901-01-03
PORTALS NEW YORK LETTER.



Special Correspondence Of Gazette and journal.
New York, Dec. %. Christmas is over,
what next? Heartaches have peen given
and soothed. disappointment and sur.
prizes have come in with Santa Claus
ring but the dear old saint Is gone, aud
now what9 For milday of fashion,
clothes, l fancy, for it Is the time Of
year une must think of renoyatint ones
winter clothes. Everything has become
a bit frsyed. and shows the wear and
tear.
Beth asks me about separate waists
Are they the proper thingf she says
Strictly speaking, il you must be up
to date, In with the close followers Of
Dame Fashion, no; but for the woman
no wishes to look well, and who with
our being called q fashion leader Is yet
dubbed the well-dressed woman, nothing
has taken their place. With every re-
curing season, there are In the realms
Of fashion two diametrically opposed
factions, one declaring the separate
waist has seen its best days and is
losing favor, and the other maintaining
that IL q woman has one good skirt and
q few pretty odd waists she can make q
eredItable showing at every function
Cnuturieres long to ring the death
knell Of this particular article of cloth
ing, but the world is made up OF Just
plain every day women without nil.
lions to back them, and these women
will advocate the wearing Of the
separate waist for long time to come.
From the standpuints Of economy and
comfort, this is probably very for
tunate, but one cannot help giving q
sigh Of regret over poor little Art with
her unbroken lines aud exquisite
curves, which come with the rfincese
gown and the gown of all one material,
but such Injuries are only for thu
woman of INFINITE resources and d
Croesus like purse. The ordinary welN
dressed woman finds herself ye.
mendously comfortable 10 her extra
bodices; and let me whisper TO you,
my dear women, to be very swagger
you must not say waist. but
"bodice. And in these extra bodIoes,
one may indulge in such extravas ancea
OF taste. For instance. the woman who
has had mad secret passion for c4rise,
but who could never yield to it be4ause
cerise gown would be entirely cint of
the question, can have it as a thdioe
with dark skirt to tone IL down I;
cerise or even burnt orange ID very
acceptable; or possibly she haB gypsy
blood in her veins, and loves thei glitter
OF gold; q gown decorated With such
gaudy things would be impossible, save
for a woman shielded always by her
carriage or Dame Fashion, but a waist
might be covered with gold and vet he
very quiet affair One Of thel SIMPLEST
theatre waists | saw last winter was
made OF alternate rows of biack lare
and gold braid, and worn with plain
black skirt. and had iaunty air that
was most attractive Now, velvet Ia
one of the most becoming materials
that q woman can wear, and whole
velvet gown is very exptusiye, but a
velvet waist IS In the reach OF most apy
woman of moderate means. Another
point In favor of these extra Lodices.
and one that endears them to women
economically inclined, ie' that almost
anything can he made ovsr" into them.
The skirt of old evening gowns, or any
odds and ends Of pieces, will make an
acceptable fancy bodice. 30 far are the
advantages OF this article of woman q
wardrobe! But beware of the pitfalls I.
A defective skirt will ruin the entire
appearance. The palmer tf,e skirt the
better the effect will be. All the laws
of length. breadth and thickness that
are 30 essential to the proportional con-
struction Of q gown must be considered,
not only in the skirt as whcle, not
only in the waist as whole, butlin the
relation as the one to the other. An
other thing, woman with a pArfeot
figure, that is woman neither, tall
nor short, mon thin nor fat, can be in
dependent 10 the selection Of separate
bodices but the short fat woman must
beware OF too great contrast; and the
tall thin woman, let her beware OF per-
pendicular stripes. Another thing q
woman must remember is that an effort
must be made to suggest that the skirt
in some way belongs to the bodies. II
the skirt be black, on all her bcdices
she must have touch OF this som bre
hew. Another general rule TO be oil.
served is that the belt should inl
variably match the bodice. The most
useful skirt to adopt for this kind OF b
costume is, of course, black sills.
though l know OF a woman who has
adopted a brown velvet skirt, and has
with it four separate bodices, one OF
turquoise blue with gold and brown
velvet for a trimming, one OF white
satin stitched in brown, one OF mauve
satin with gold as trimming and one
Of yellow with brown velvet strat 9.
Each and every one looks like conf
pletion of an entire costume, and 1t ID
this little secret this season that gives
the caohet so dssired. So now is the
time of year | tell Beth to take her