Los Angeles herald., 1907-03-31

or the edgings Of boleros and hanging
sleeves. are all being made in this
material. in a shade contrasting with
| that of the rest Of the costume. BlacN
velvet is, of course the favorite, as be-
! ing so extremely becoming TO the com
plexion, when mixed with light tints
but on some dresses 1t would be Toe
sudden, and a darker tone OF the pre-
vailing shade Is then chosen, often witt
admirable effect. For instance, a peach
colored cloth gown, made with an EN-
pire belt-bodice of Turkish embroiderles
I'm innumerable shades of pink and rec
on a ground of Sevres blue silk, has q
bolero of peach-colored chiffon, fully
drawn and gauged, and edged with j
band of almost ruby-red velvet. The
velvet about two inches wide, is lined
with similar embroidery to that on the
bodice, while the chiffon is left trans
parent. The upper part of the dress
is in fine string -colored Mechlin lace
and net, with very high collar, Slightly
pointed at the ears and bound with q
narrow line of the embroidery peeping
above a slightly wider band of the
velvet.
The long, quite close-fitting sleeves
are of the cloth. They are perfectly
plain, and made in the medieval style
coming down almost to the fingers
where they are finished with band
like that on the collar of the embroidery
and velvet. They also benefit by the
sense of contrast, for they appear eX-
traordinarily smart, after the universal
short sleeve, which at first seemed sc
pretty. and then became so usual that
one outgrew ones appreciation. How
ever, there are no serious signs of lone
sleeves coming in just yet, and we shall
almost certainly be wearing short ones
now until after the summer, if not
longer. Very few Empire dresses are
likely to have long sleeves, so that as
long as one continues the others must
wait for their turn. The probable cause
of a change will be the famine in
leather, which is becoming acuter every
day; and as one cannot conceive of a
fashion for silk gloves, sleeves will pro-
badly be heightened to meet the ques-
tion. 1t may yet come to a return to
the mediaeval glove of embroidered
velvet, and it would probably be a good
deal more comfortable than that of kid,
but less becoming to the hand.
Soft spotted materials are being used
to a great extent; muslins, voile, chif-
fon, ninon and all the nameleSS multi
tudes of composite materials called vel
vet-muslin and satin-muslin, and so on.
Striped gauzes are also likely to be us
much in fashion as they were last sea-
son, and certainly they are extremely
smart. Black and white and gray and
white are the first favorites; but, of
course. the real palm belongs to those
strange faint mixtures of color for
which the materials are not to be
bought in any shop, but are only seen
after they have emerged from the hands
of the sartorial' artist. A pale sevres
blue stripe, separated from a cloudy
gray one of q pin-line of black is one
of these. 1t is made over silver-gray
silk, which merely shows the colors OF
both without over-accentuating them
The full skirt is adorned with two
bands of eastern embroidery, in blue
pink and yellow of many shades or
golden tissue, each headed with a band
of black satin-gauze laid on the dress
perfectly fiat. The front panel is plain
and the embroidery goes up each side
of it to the belt of black satin-gauze
folded over golden tissue. The style is
Empire, of courseSand the belt is drawn
down in front from a point midway
between the shoulders at the back
Bands of embroidery cross the shouI.
ders, and in front outline a square vest
of wonderful old Venetian point. The
high collar of transparent folded blacl
tulle is finished by an old-fashioneC
white tucker of huted lawn, a wonder.
fully becoming adornment.