The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-02-01

WRITTEN FOR II sUNDA REPUBLIC.
To see the new French gowns for spri1g
and summer even before Paris herself has
had a glimpse of them is the rare privilege
Of the women readers of this paper to-day.
All the best surprises of fashion for the
months to come are here revealed.
Do you want to know the new materials
which Paris will favor for the spring and
summer of 1903?
Are you anxious to hear Of the wonders
Of the new sleeves?
Do the cut of the latest skirts, of the
new shoulder effect, and the most advanced
ideas in trimmings and color combinations
interest you?
II 80, read this article carefully.
Many quaint. picturesque ideas of long,
long ago will be introduced in the new fash
ions. yet it is only the best that will be
culled from the past.
Though the outline of the new gowns
will be artistic, yet It will be sensible. and
a certain simplicity of style will dominate
in many of the smartest Paris frocks.
1t Is to be a season of light. almost trans
parent fabrics and wondrous trimmings.
Skirts are to be fuller and more elabo-
rate than for many seasons past.
In the sheer fabrics many of them will
show a plated. shirred or gathered yoke.
below which the material falls straight and
full.
FIounced skirts are to be in favor and
triple ficunces much the vogue. When the
heavier materials are used, the plain, cling
ing tendency over the hips is as pronounced
as ever.
UNDER PETTICoAT OF
CHANGEABLE TAFFETA
All the skirts are made with a drop-skirt.
and ~changeable taffeta Is the material most
favored for this under-petticoat.
Sleeves have all sorts Of new airs and
graces. Some are exact copies Of the re-
markable sleeves worn as long ago as the
twelfth and fourteenth centuries. with their
deep cuffs and curious outstanding pu1s
below the elbow.
Other fashionable sleeves quite reverse
the idea Of the sleeve of the moment. with
its exaggerated fullness below the elbow
and its smaller upper portion.
A very new sleeve, which will be seen in
many of the summer gowns. Is known as
the mitten sleeve.
II Is a very long shirred affair. with a
slight Duff at the shoulder. ending above the
elbow. the remaining portion of the sleeve
being shirred and clinging close to the arm.
Cuffs are to be a feature of the. new sleeves.
They are to be curious In shape. very deep
and much trimmed.
The old. old fashion Of the long. round
shoulder is here again. A number of the
best Paris gowns show the bodice made
with no seam at the shoulder. the sleeve cap
coming down well toward the elbow.
fS uIOOplIe liobloS thANN ~
quaint and old-fashioned; but. like the
straight-front corset. 1t is more than a fash
ion Of the hour.
The bodice or Jacket cut in this way al
most compels the woman who wears 1t to
hold herself correctly.
HEALTH-CULTURE IDEA
IN NEW BODICE.
She cannot wrinkle up her chest and bend
over her shoulders, and expect her new
waist to have a smart effect.
She must hold herself as she should. with
her chest well up and her shoulders back.
to have the waist look at its best.
So much for the health-culture idea en-
bodied in the new sloping-shoulder bodice.
As for the new materials. there is a tempt
ing array of them. Paris has sanctioned as
a leader mohair sicilian. and the choice Is
indeed a good one.
The fabric is a happy compromise between
the too-heavy cloths and the too-crisp taft
fetas. 1t has a rich, silky luster and its
dust-shedding qualities are unequaled.
Then every woman knows that mohair
viii wear even longer. perhaps, than she