The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-04-05

thousands of women, many of them
moderately intelligent some of them
we'll educated, and hundreds of them
possessed of ample means, who have
never known the joys and sorrows
of an Easter hat
Thousands of them live within easy
distance of Paris, the fountain head
of millinery modes. More of them
live On the heart of the country from
which come the most beautiful weaves
of straws, the most effective arti-
fetal flowers in the world and the
finest laces manufac tured for the use
of milliners. They are the peasant
women whose provincial life does not
yield TO the fierce onslaught of mod
ernity.
In number of the foreign coun-
tries, such as France, Spain and Italy,
only the aristrocracy of the capitals
and larger cities has adopted the
modern style of dress. In the prov
inces naught is heard of Easter frocks
and hats The festive garb of the
peasant woman is handed down from
mother to daughter, generation after
generation, the same to-day as 1t was
a century ago.
For these women there comes no
joy of haunting a bargain square, nor
important question of fiat hat or
toque, shirred maline or satin straw.
They approach the festive day with
no misgivings regarding the timeli-
ness of their Easter raiment. The
only comparison to be instituted is in
regard to the cleanliness and stiffness
of their cap ruffles, or the quality of
the lace scarf.
The Prettiest Peasant Cap.
The AIsatian head-dress is said to be
the prettiest peasant cap in the world.
1t consists of a small piece of black
silk, shaped to fit the head tightly, and
surmounted by an enormous bow of
black silk ribbon with fringed ends.
These ends are sometimes half a yard
in length and stand out smartly
On a gala day an embroidered scarf
OF dark cloth is also worn. 1t is twined
from the neck to the waist, where it is
tied in a knot at the back. Tourists
who visit the old Cathedral at Stras-
burg on a feast day take great delight
in studying these quaint head dresses,
which beautify a young face and soften
an old one.
The Alsatian bow, in a modified
form, is often applied to modern
schemes, but the piquancy is lost when
the soft silk is combined with fancy
straws and flowers, instead of shading
some sweetly serious face.
The picturesque white cap of the
Brittany peasant is a survival of the
middle ages. 1t has many variations,
but the most common, and the one
most frequently reproduced by artists
on their sketching tours, is worn by
the Pampolaise, who, from the beach
at Pompol, watches her sailors ship
tack northward to Iceland's fishing
banks
This cap is made from singularly
beautiful grade of linen cloth, stretch
ed like a board. 1t consists first of a
small tight fitting cap with long
strings. To the top of this is sewed a
wide piece of linen, extending on either
side like wings. This piece narrows to-
ward the ends and is drawn around
and tied with narrow tape at the back.
The Normandy Cap a Sort of Halo.
The Brittany woman usually has a
best and an everyday cap. The for
mer is a part of her bridal trousseau
and generally lasts her a lifetime. as
does the embroidered apron invaria-
bly, worn on gala days. Her simple
cloth dress is trimmed with velvet
bands. The final mark of glory in her
costume is a stiff1y starched kerchief,
sometimes plain, sometimes embroid-
cred.
Even though family affairs or bust
ness may bring the Breton woman to
Paris to live, she never adopts the
modern style of dressing and in the
heart of the city which stands for mil
linery triumphs these quantity costum-
ed women are seen everywhere en- route
for church on Easter Sunday.
The Normandy cap is not unlike
halo. 1t is made from an exquisitely
fine net, edged with an equally deli
cate lace. The hair is covered with
little, tight fitting cap, and the wide.
deliberately futed ruffie stands out
twenty inches or Inore from the face.
Such a cap, tied coquettishly under
dimpled chin, is fascinating and rivals
in its effects a Virot of any price,
The Normandy lass, with her neat
kerchief and full. round. short skirt.
takes great pride in her cap, which
costs originally about seven francs, or
81 40. The art of laundering her best
cap is taught the growing girl almost
as religiously as her creed.
The Dutch woman does not confine
herself to one cap, but it just as apt
to wear several, one atop the other and
each rivaling the one beneath in glory.
Or she may even add, as the final
touch, an odd-looking straw hat.
The Quaint Caps of Holland.
One of the characteristic caps seen
in Queen Wilhelmina's country is that
worn by a woman of middle Hoi-
land. 1t is large, lace trimmed
scarf of net, fitted to the head and
falling down in great folds at the sides
and in the back. 1t is held in place
by four gold pins and peculiar orna-
ment-a band of metal which passes
around the head beneath the cap and
projects in front, forming two large
spirals, or curls, on either side of the
face. This ornament is generally of
gold, and often has depending from
it large pendaloques of gold or silver.
These are of great value, and an Amer
lean woman would hesitate to sally
forth after dark or even in daylight
with their jewels worn in so con-
spicuous and tempting a position.
The Dutch woman, as a rule, is home
ly and heavy faced, but in a dull
church, with her shining cap and
glittering ornaments, she is not unlike
a ray of sunshine.
The Head Scarfs of Italy.
In Northern or Middle Italy, the
grace a gay-hued scarf, depending for
ornament upon an elaborate gold OF
silver comb. The latter is the usual
gift of husbands to their brides and
is handed down as an heirloom. Fur
Their south is seen the beautiful old
costume which the traveller naturally
connects with thoughts of gondolas
statues and mosaics.
An embroidered scarf of two OF
three colors is folded under to form
a perfectly fiat head-dress, the fringed
ends falling down in the back. With