The Colorado statesman., 1908-01-11

Inc Two most remarkable features
Of the present season in connection
with the dress question may be said
to be the very long, very plain, and
very tight skirts-for afternoon and
evening wear-and the tunics which
are veritable overdresses.
With regard to the long, plain skirts
it In certain that they will be amaz-
ingly fashionable for many months to
come; their charm is only just now
making itself felt because at first
sight they were so remarkable that
many women hesitated about adopting
them. 1t is not that we have not had
long, untrimmed skirts with us before
now, but it is that these particular
skirts are designed to display the
lines of the figure with such absolute
accuracy that the effect is, as l have
said, startling-at first. Almost in,
variably these dresses are cut in
semi-princess style, with a seam right
down the front. In some cases sew
eral small pleats are made in this
seam, giving the dress the effect of
having been too long when sent home
from the dressmaker's establishment
and of having been tucked up" by,
more or less, amateur hands! This
seems a funny description of very
new Partisan fashion, but twill serve.
Anyone who has seen the particular
skirt l mean will understand. Happily
many of the new evening and after
noon dresses of this order are made
without these peculiar little pleats on
the front breadth, for, though novel,
they are not pretty!
Supple satin and mirror velvet are
the two favorite materials for such
gowns as those to which l have Just
alluded, and though the skirts are for
the most part untrimmed, vast guam
tity of stuff is used in their construc-
tion. The trains are invariably long,
and at the hem there is a wide
flare" Very soft silk is used for the
Innings of these dresses, and many
wide-pleated frills of chiffon or crepe
Chine are introduced underneath, to
make the hem flou.
With a satin or velvet gown of this
order as a foundation the most beauti-
full and delicate over-dresses-half coat
and half tunic-are introduced. These
over-dresses are made of embroidered
and pailletted chiffon, lace, crepe,
tulle, or coarse Russian net, and fire.
quently they are hemmed with mar
row band of sable, chinchilla or mink,
and always they are delightfully."- pic
turesque and becoming.
The ultra-fashionable evening gowns
of the moment are made in three dis
.iuct parts, the long plain skirt of
satin or velvet cut en- corselet at the
back and showing almost normal
waistline in front. Then there is the
tiny cross-over bodice of richest en-
broideries and most costly lace-col-
ors and materials, most probably,
forming a contrast to the skirt. Final
ly, there is the transparent over-dress
or tunic-rich in paillettes and in
cr1sted with lace and motifs of fur!
The combination is marvelously ef-
fective when carried out by master
hand, and in such gowns as these a
pretty woman looks more than her
prettiest!
1t must not be supposed that the
dresses AIN NOW ueSCIlDluS III Gil re-
semble tea-gowns, for they do not;
they are picturesque without verging
on the artistic" and they are not in
the least of the order neglige. A
marked popularity of the tunics
which are rapidly becoming SO fash
ionable is the manner in which they
are shaped down almost into a point
directly in front. Sometimes this
point makes it's appearance at the
back also, but as often as not the
front is very long, while the sides and
back are comparatively short. l have
seen this outline making it's appear
ance in several of the new models for
est~rnoon gowns in chiffon-cloth. the