The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-03-13
By Our Special Correspondent
MIRIAM STEER.

ine season for getting clothes Is at It's Heisnt and we are now arrived at the e'y important stage of wearing what 's the newest and most up-to-date. Too "iucn emphasis cannot be laid upon the necessity of proper dressing. It is poss- pie py the mere way in which one turns me wrlst In fitting on glove to make U LOOK well or i'll cut. It is possible by setting the hat trife too far back, or a o't too far forward to appear ridiculous. while a person having exactly the same model and wearing 1t properly will ac- ouire that peculiar style which French people call ''chic."
 Gradually from the floor vvbera tba fulness of skirts a short time ago lay Tn folds. gathers and pleats are working tneir way upward The feminine sil- houette from looking like a flower in- verted on its corolla. with tiny calyx at the top and innumerable petals at the blossoms edge, now begins to look more Ike that of our ancestors. who so left their mark upon the styles in 1850. Sleeves. in the very newest and most audacious gown have their fitness below the elbow and in the skirts the fulness
 
 It lies in folds and gathers
 There is hardly woman under 4o ubo IS not ioafh to see the carefully acquired lines of her figure thus gradually envel oped; 1t has taken so long, such exercise and so much solf-denial to do away with hips, and now, with the gaugings and tucks in the new skirts" one might as well have hips as not
 The general change brings with it A multitude of smaller changes: already corsets are higher in the pust than last year, shorter in the hips and smaller at Inc waist. It stands to reason that if the 'uihess or our gowns is to be at the hips we must make our waists smaller in order 10 look as though we had any figure at aii' and that necessarily, our waists be- ing narrower, our hips must be broader.
 Although the '1sso" modes are fashion able. and Quaintness is the fancy of the hour, the wise woman will adopt only those features that are especially suited 10 her convenience or individual style. Drooping shoulders, the full round skirt voiuminous sleeves and the old d-tashloned peierlne are some or the picturesque modes of the moment, and the shops abound in exquisite materials that have been manufactured especially TOT aeyelop- Ing them. It is the tail, slender woman that wears these modes to pest aovau- lase' those or snort stature or inclined to slvutness will wisely choose the styles that especially become her.
 For the dressy street costume the mate rials preferred are soft and adapted to iuii straight skirts, the apparent sim phcity Of which must be vexing to the modistes. The new chiffon-velours IS the material above all others for these artls- tlc creations. It is delicate and has d semipanne surface. with scarcely greater weight than a foulard, and it Will out wear velvets with a more crisp body. The most beautiful colors are procuraDle in this fabric, shades that are exquisite by Hrtlhcial light and suggest evening tol- iettes of rare beauty, while the street coI- ors are many and varied. The popular coiors are brown. in all its shadings, with cinnamon, perhaps, in highest favor; blue, from sky to dark-tone, and the soft. nower-like purples, dahlia, raspberry and currant red. Gray will be much worn, loo. from a cinder or ash gray, and steel to gris-feutre and the plue-gray of flax and periwinfle violet and heliotrope shades remain extremely popular and, in handsome materials, will be seen in dressy gowns. As rule the approved colors this season are not the indefinite pastel tints, but the plain simple tones There is an extensive variety of novel, ties in imported fabrics, among them zibe- lines and camel s-halr weaves, showing mixtures of two or three contrasting col ors, with heavy moha1r matte oyerplaid as the distinguishing feature of some of the samples These goods are fashioned Into the most modish coat-and-skirt suits for street wear. Plain mohairs and si- ciliennes are exceedingly popular at the present moment and are to be obtained in a wide range of colors, from creams to black, and neat effects are Just now quite as active. being especially suited for the making up of tailor-made suits for street wear.
 The newest thing in the French tailored suit Is made of voile plentifully trimmed. and with the trained skirt and short |kjacket either of the eton or bolero char Rcter Paquin gown of this latter style