Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-09
A DOWAGER SEASON
Fashion Seems Just Right
for Elderly Women.
MATERIALS ARE RICH
PRESENT DAY WRAPS MAKE
YOUNG LOOK OLD.
Summer Blouses and Shirt Waists
Are Becoming With Gray
Hair, Too.

Written for The Evening Star by Katherine An
derson.
This year the dowager may enjoy sar-
torial triumph over the debutante. For
every weave that lends itself to girlish
wear there are five that suggest grand
mothers and great. grandmothers. For
every mode in frock building that Is
youthful there are ten which add years 10
the most slender and girlish figure Ana
as for wraps. they are distinctly evolVed
for the woman who Is in the full flush or
maturity, If not verging on the silvery
hair age.
In the matter of ~weaves the dowager
has a bewildering array spread before
her. The white linens. shot with black or
trimmed with embroidered bands. ex-
ouisitely colored, but still digniiied. are
above reproach for mornig wear. Fine
black voles, shot with white. may be
made into dressy travelling gowns. All
the colored veilngs cling well to the MS
ure and give slender lines, IL properly
cut. In silks the dowager has the held
almost to herself, for the glace silks have
a way of making the girl who wants 10
look young acquire a year in spite or the
most girlish colorings she may select
Even the pin-striped silks the small
checks and daintily figured grounds all
mirable for the woman of advancing
years.
In the effort to secure quaintness in
weaves manufacturers have made much
of colors favora BILE to the woman in the
prime of life or somewhat on the other
side of 1t. Changeable silks. shading from
violet or lavender to silver, in peculiar
mauve effects. all the natural tones In
glace taffetas and countless other weaves.
suggesting a thread of metal in the woof.
distract the woman of moderate purse
who Is torn between the desire to possess
dainty garments and yet to maintain her
dignity in dressing.
Plenty Variety.
For afternoon frocks there are exquisite
colorings in crepe de chine, yelling. silks.
batistes, organizes and lawns, far
moved from the wee. prim models once
considered the only things suitable for
the woman past her prime. For evening
wear there is an equally large range of
weaves, from almost transparent grena-
dimes. with satin figures, dots or stripes,
to all-over lace robes that are not nearly
so expensive as the inexperienced shop
per might imagine.
There is nothing more serviceable for a
summer dinner or evening dress than one
of the black silk nets. dotted net for
which a woman may have a variety of silk
slips and an equal variety of berthas, tuck
erS. fichuS. etc
lining for net dress the middle-aged wo-
man is not confined to white and lavender.
for there are silvery green's, blues and
pinks that are none too gay for the woman
of forty-five. With bertha of real lace,
or one of the less expensive berthas OF re-
pousse or point de venise, a simple black
net becomes an elegant and dignified con-
lection.
When the net Is worn over a drop skirt
and lining OF white taffeta 1t Is not I'M
usual to see a bertha of fichu effect evolved
from combination of white and black lace.
black Chantilly being used over a heavier
like black Spanish. being draped over ac-
contemplated white lisse.
Organizes and printed chiffons for even
ing wear show such delicate colorings that
by women we'll advanced in years. provided
colored ribbons and girdles avoided.
For Smart Occasions
An organdy costume sent out by a smart
eastern shop for Newport dowager shows
a pale yellow rose pattern on white
ground The skirt is shirred on the sides
and in the back. leaving the front gore
plain with the effect of a panel outlined
on either side by three rows of exquisite
Valenciennes insertion. The latter turns
Just above the hem and runs entirely
around the full 1890 skirt. The blouse
closes surplice fashion in the front, with
a tucker of pure white organdy tuckinS,
alternating with NalenclenneS insertion
The bishop sleeves are gathered into deep
cuff of the tucked white organdy and mar
row insertion, and the girdle is of white
meSsaline.
The hat to be worn with this simple
but expensive frock is a large toque of
white lace falling over a brim massed with
yellow roses. While this gown could be
worn appropriately by debutante, 1t Is
equally suitable and really more becoming
to her chaperon.
These expensive French organizes, with
their exquisite coloring, are reproduced in