Evening star., 1905-07-30
PARIS FASHIONS

e of The Star,

Special Correspondence of The Star
PARIS. July ID, 1905.
All Paris Is abroad enjoying itself. At
Trouville and Dieppe the same life of dane
ing. racing and racketing indulged in at the
gay capital is repeated, with the sea and
sand as a dramatic setting. It is prophesied
this season that International marriages
Will be made by the score on the French
coast. Vive lentente cordial and farewell
to lots of American dollars that later on
will permanently be exchanged for French
louis and francs.
There are two delightful resting places.
Toggenburg and Appenzell. in Switzerland
where fashionable folk satisfied with a few
| so-called 'gayeties' are disporting them
selves. These places are charmingly local
IN color, all characteristics of costume and
ways Of living being kept up. One can
easily understand why the smart set passes
them by, for the fear Of being bored is the
nightmare that puIsues society and causes
its members to start out exhausting
rounds of pleasure. This state of boredom
is not as many people believe, a modern
sign OF degeneracy Of the race. Some
has named boredom as the oldest disease
in history. Adam, 1t is true, is supposed
| to have died of gout, but while there viii
always be trouble in substantiating this
statement there is no doubt that if he and
Eve had not been suffering from symptoms
of boredom in the garden OF Eden they
would never have turned their attentions to
the particular apple tree, the sampliHg of
which was the cause OF such fatal results.
But, the other hand, this spirit of
ennui has accomplished great deeds. 1t
very likely drove the crusaders on their
holy mission and certainly relaxed the ten
sion of medieval Gullness. 1t is not pleas
ant to contemplate, but viewed mpartialy
everybody must be a bore some time or
other to somebody else. Half the trouble
1t seems to me. is due to the fact that we
all want to be amused and only limited
few will take the trouble to contribute to
the amusement of others To be sure. ev-
erybody can't be clever and witty but we
all could make ourselves more agreeab Bile
than We do. Let's try.
| Now that l have exhausted myself on the
pros and cons of boredom l will forthwith
apply some of my own remedies and talk
about clothes-the always agreeable topic
to feminlnity. We are told by great au-
thoritieS that the era of simplicity In modes
is the way. The simple wardrobe will
be included in the simple life. OF COURSE
l do not pretend that the simplest frocks
are the most economical. If they were the
couturieres would not tolerate them for a
moment. Simplicity to be good must be
dainty and dainty creations only come
from really first-class establishments No
smart woman nowadays discusses what she
is going to wear except with her modiste
and lew intimateS. and even then a GER
tain caution is observed. Indeed lots of
exclusively gowned women will not allow
| the name of their dressmaker to apear on
waistband or wrap through fear of
replica But the thinking about ones at
| tire has not diminished, and we are even
| now planning what to get for early fall.
| Ii you would be in the vanguard of fash
| ion have made right now an all-round
! serviceable gown of Rob Roy plaid In Alice
| blue and cream or in magenta and white.
! 1t is the dernier cri in Partisan forecasts
| and is made with the new box-plaited
| skirt, which really needs whole chapter
| to itself. though 1 shall try in a few words
| to let you know its peculiarities.
| In the first place, it is cut on a fve-gored
pattern, with double and triple box plaits
| that DO not touch each other A trick that
| keeps these plaits in place is done by stitch
| ing the exact edge Of each plat by machine.
| not, however, through the foundation, but
only to its own folds. Great care must be
| taken in matching the tone of the piaids.
| When well done the effect is that OF
| newly pressed skirt. The bodices are made
surpiced, with round chemisette of white
| batste and lace and deep cuffs of the same
| materials. A high ivory white crushed
! leather belt is worn with the gown.
We are nowadays disposed to become
more or less tired of everything, SO the
| attest skirt models come as sweet restorer
| to the overworked wardrobe of midsummer.
| One especially nice skirt is a simple little
affair that deSpairing woman pathetically
remarked took a mathematician and civil
| engineer to construct" This bette nOire to
| the home dressmaker is nothing more than
two-gored circular skirt with a seam
down the center. back and front. 1t fits
perfectly over the hips and back and
springs out at the edge of the corset. A
deep hem, stitched only once at the top,
finishes the bottom. The fivegored circular
skirt, though difficult enough to satisfy the
most expert dressmaker, is not quite such
a work of art as the two-pieced affair. The
majority of fall skirts will be made without
lining and the palmer they are the better.
To meet the existing state of affairs
stunning and practical pettcoat has been
designed. 1t is of heavy ungiazed white
linen and wears a dozen times as well as
the cambric skirt, besides holding out the
dress skirt beautifully. A fiye-gored pat
tern is used for this petticoat, which Is
hung from a tight-fitting circular yoke.
The trimming consists of eighteen-inch
founce cut In godets and put together with
heavy insertions of lace. A lace edginS fin
ishes it at the bottom. Altogether it is
about as smart and serviceable novelty
as we have had for long time
Linen short skirts are to be worn well
into the autumn, and the most recent ex-
ample / have seen has row of buttons as
large American 25-cent pieces down the
center of the front The edges of the seam
are turned back on each side and faced
About an inch away on the right are long
buttonholes firmly worked The skirt Is
easily removed by unfastening six or seven
buttons at the top for placket
Everything Russian Is tabooed here in
Paris even Russian blouses and enamels
that have had such vogue, and 1t looks
as though some of the oriental importa-
tions, such as pongees. are to receive the
same treatment at the hands of the cou-
turieres who have decried the passing from
smart favor Of this fabric Americans. like
the Parisians. wear what Is laid down for
them and although pOngee In all its diff
/ ferent weaves has never been so popular,
suppose women will conform to the man.
date. Consequently now that the season or
bargains is upon US this fabric will not
| prove a fashionable investment for next