Saint Mary's beacon., 1904-07-14

By xARY AxsABlk Esros.

first sight invariably N es her FIRST
appearance In white sl1aslin gown.
These draperies OF filmx white sug-
gest to the imagination Tonth, inno-
nocence. garden parti1s. leghorn
hats aud love stories Yet they are
becoming even 10 che ray haired.
Made as they are this seasou with
fnll skirts. many RUSS and low
shoulders they make the a.odern girl
look like picture af hexEw grand
mother. SO that II her grandfather
were 10 see her suddenly on sum-
nler day he might easily think that
helooked keduponsomebewitchingg ghost
out OF his youth.
Never were the thin white mate
rials 10 be had in such bewildering
assortment OF materials, in varying
degrees of whiteness, from the sim
pie lawn or fifteen cent null to the
costliest OF lace and chiffon.
To the ultra practical woman these
gowns may seem an unwise invest
ment for anything save ball or din
ner gown as they become easily soil
ed. especially when with long skirts;
something OF the first bloom disap-
pears after the visit TO the cleaners,
and the process of washing is either
supposed to be impossible, or is
thought OF as reducing the gown to
lower place in the social scale.
This, however, is not the case.
II the washing is properly done, the
material need not suffer in the least.
Then, the short skirts, which are
now worn with all save ball and din
ner gowns, remove one potent cause
OF soil-every woman has discovered
the irapossibility of holding up all
OF long full skirt at once. And
even the heavy lace gowns, which
are so rich in effect in ecru and deep
cream, will wash beautifully in bo-
rax water with some good white
soap. Women who expect to have
their gowns last over into the next
season, will find il an excellent idea
TO have the lace ripped and washed
at the end OF the season before put
ting it away or having it remodeled
in the fall fashion, as the case may
be.
This heavy lace should be washed
in boiling water that contains four
tablespOonfuls of borax to q tub of
water. Soap should not be rubbed
upon it, but used in the form of suds.
The first rinsing water should con-
tain one tablespoonful of borax to
one tub OF water. The water must
not be wrung out from the thin ma
terials or lace ; they should be
squeezed and shaken. The heavy
lace can either be pressed on the
wrong side with a hot iron (taking
care not to pull or stretch it out of
shape) or it can be pinned down on
top OF sheet stretched upon the
floor.
Almost all thin lawns, muslins and
organdies If washed in this way,
without much rubbing, will not suf-
fer from laundering. indeed, they
seem to come out with an added dain-
tiness. Care must be taken, of
course, in the choice of the lace that
is to 60 on the washable dress, for
some lace is very perishable. 1t is
not likely that the process need be
gone through more than once or at
most twice in a season, but white
dresses of this description do not
readily go out of style unless made
| in some ephemeral fashion and they
are capable of surviving many con-
siderate washings. Ii is the rub
bing that wears out and destroys
delicate fabrics, and method of
cleaning without friction will make
the wearing of nice white frocks q
more unmixed blessing.
Even chiffon may be washed, al
though the pressing Of il is a deli
cate operation. IL the material is
not scant and has q hem at the bot
tom it is possible to turn q chiffon
dress into one of delicious creepy ma
terial by washing ID without press
ing.
The woman who expects to wear
her gowns more than one season will
not choose to have her new white
gown made in too elaborate a man
ner, or in one requiring her material
TO be cut up in many small pieces.
but will be fairly conservative in
the style she selects, remembering
that for such q gown the simpler
ways are invariably the most charm
ing. Moreover. the gown that is 70
be worn in the summer and out oi
doors does not want to be built upon
such lines that sudden shower will
destroy its usefulness forever.
The use Of ecru. yellow or cream
colored lace upon thin white gown
gives charming effect, more charm
ing, as q general thing. than the
pure white lace which must be real.