Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-24
NEW BLOUSE EFFECTS
Snug tting Shirt Waists in
Heavy Fabrics.
READY WEAR T0GS
VELVET, vELvETEEN AND COR
DURoY ARE ALL SHOWN.
Separate Bodices Of Challis Are Trim
med With Lace and Velvet
Bows.
READY To- WEAR T0GS
Written for The Evening Star by Katherine Ander-

Written for The Evening Star by Katherine Ander-
son.
The most notable feature Of the ready-to-
wear blouses for winter Is the heayiness Of
the textures employed in their development
The feminine world has fought long and
hard against the independent velvet waist
but this is a velvet season. and the sep
arate waist. from severest shirt-waist cut
to ornate combination of fabric and trim
ming, shows the influence of the velvet
craze. Cheaper editions of the smart vel
vet waists shown in the more exclusive
shops are offered on bargain counters in
corduroy and velveteen, so that the shadow
Of the velvet waist or its imitation hangs
over us all.
The real beauty of the heavy shirt waist
lies in it's fit. Let it bag ever so little. let
it show chickering's along the seams. or
bullying under the arms. and Il becomes
cumbersome and unlovely.
The velvet shirt waist proper is exceed
ingly plain and trig. An effective design in
the popular gunmetal velvet Is dotted
thickly with black and white disks to re-
lieve the deadgray hue. The front is laid
in three rather broad pleats, which turn
out and give the effect of a fat box pleat
through the center, under which the waist
faStenS inviSibly. The sleeve pattern fol-
lows quite closely that of a mans shirt
sleeve and is gathered into a shallow cuff.
The stock collar is bound all the way
around with a heavy satin, finished with
stitching, and is crossed in the front, cravat
fashion, being held in place with rods of
featherbone.
Another striking gunmetal blouse has
five graduated box pleats in the front each
an inch and half wide and finished severe
ly with stitching in self-tone. The center
pleat is the longest, coming down to a depth
of seven inches. The intermediate pleats
are about five inches and the outside pleatS
about three in depth. Each is stitched to a
point where a gunmetal button is used as
an ornament. The narrow cuffs are also
pointed and trimmed with buttons and a
deep, pointed girdle in the velvet has a
similar stitched and buttoned effect. This
makes an excellent waist for wear with
oxford gray walking suits with black
skirt.
Two-Piece Suits.
Shirt waists in plain velvet or veIveteen
are shown for wear with the velvet two
piece SUITS but it is far safer to have a
blouse made to match the skirt and coat
than to trust to ready-made garments. So
many weights and tints of velvet are shown
this year that matches are harder to Sc
cure than ever before.
when the boundary of the simple shirt
waist Is passed, modes become so ornate as
to be fairly bewildering, but the woman
who has patience to work her way through
the maze will finally emerge convinced that
Louis effects are seen in the majority of
dressy velvet blouses. This means the
presence of revers, vest or iabot and a
glrdle. In the case of the grdle, either the
same material Is employed or silk or satin
in exactly the same tone the velvet.
A striking Illustration of the Louis infiu-
ence Is shown in a blouse of amethyst vel
vet with vest of tucked chiffon The
fronts blouse distinctly at the waist line
and are given fullnesss by three fine tucks
graduated from the shoulder to the bust
line. The rcyers are short and circular
and are lined with white silk. The sleeves
are not very full. and are gathered into a
narrow cuff, finished with founces of re-
pousSe lace. Vest and stock are of tucked
chlffon over silk, and the girdIe is of anne
thyst silk. -Four large rhinestone buttons
set off the lower part of the blouse on
either side. Such waist may be worn
with SILK or cloth skirt in the sane
color.
The Fancy Velvets.
Fancy velvets are always regarded with
more or less suspicion by the economical
woman. but there Is a black weave this
year which is worth seeing. 1t shows the
exquisite markings of broadtail ceverly re-
peated in the softest of velvet pile
blouse in this velvet shown at a modish
shop is cut as simply as possible with
only the shoulder and under-arm seams:
hence, it must be perfectly fitted to the
Inquire Small. pointed revers appear just
below the shoulder, and the vest is evoIv-
ed from deep houncing of oriental lace
From the collar to a point below the bust
line the lace is laid in tiny pleats and held
by daintiest of fancy stitches done in silk
thread. but from this point it tufts out like
a jabot. moderately full shirt-waist
sleeve is finished with a narrow cuff and a
flounce of lace to match that in the vest
The stock is a plain band of the velvet
Next to velvet. one of the most popular
fabrics is lightweight wool or silk and
wool showing shepherds checks in fine de-
signs. These appear in black and white
and white with all the popular colorings,