Year: 1870

NEW YoRK, July, 1870.


Sitting in my quiet room, Saratogs


filed with pleasant sights, ears wit
pleasant sounds, it is rather difficult t
imagine myself in the hot-bed Of fashion
such as Saratoga is supposed to be. /
reminds me, as indeed one is reminde,
constantly, that the difference between
one thing and another is not so grea
after all, only the difference between th
black of the pot and the black OF tn
kettle, and that about as much patience
lis required with the virtue of the good al
with the acknowledged faults of thei
weaker brothers and sisters,


Saratoga is in its glory this beautiful
summer, and is crowded with visitors
from every State and nationality. 1t ii
warm, but the air is so fine and dry that
the heat is not enervating, and one feels
none of the lassitude and exhaustion
that accompanies heated term il
the city.


Almost the only thing that object to
about Saratoga is the kind of people that
are here to enjoy it. They are the drones
and not the workers of the hive, and it is
the workers that / should like to see,
resting or revelfng in the shade and
beauty of this pleasant land.


To such women, or wives of wealthy
men, the routine of all places is pretty
much alike. We must not blame them
too severely, for what can they do?
Dressing and driving, eating and sleep
ing, fill up the measure of their day in
New York as well as Saratoga, and long
ago lost special attraction. Labor, as
exchange, would be more welcome than
the rest they do not need and the holi-
day they have not earned.


But to the worn out mothers, the wea-
ried house-keepers, this place with its
sense of absolute freedom from all indi-
vidual responsibility, its music, its order,
its cleanliness, its perfect system, its
display only of the sweet and gracious
side of human life and human inter
course would appear like little bit of
heaven, piece of enchanted ground cut
right out of paradise. Granted that it is
only stage trick that the heaven is in
appearance, and not in reality, that
beneath the smiles, and cOurtesies, the
lights and flowers, there is the usual bit
terness and heart-burnings and anx-
ieties, what would it matter to those
who could not stay long enough to find
it out? who sat in the shade, inhaled the
fragrance of the flowers for a brief space,
and then took up again the burden of
life with spirits refreshed and strength
renewed? We do not question the skill
of the physician that heals us or the vir-
tue of the breeze that revives us.


HOW WE DRESS IN SARATOGA.


There is a great change in the Sara
toga Of the past and the Saratoga of the
present, due, hope and believe, 60 the
increased thought and intelligence of
American women. There are no more
women who dress FIVE times a day, and
there is no necessity for changing in any
respect the habits of refined women at
home. Four out of five dresses worn are
linen, cambric or muslin, neither of them
expensive materials; nine out of ten are
short, and few are more elaborate than
the present style requires even ordinary
costumes to be. At any rate the variety
is so great, and the freedom to do as You
please so entire, that any dress can be
worn here that can be worn elsewhere
without subjecting the wearer to either
remark or criticism.


There are, of course those who dress
with great elegance and very expensiyely,
but il is at least optional; no one is
obliged to dress this way who does not
wish to do so. Then it must be remem-
bered that pretty dresses are part of the
regular order of things; that ladies gen
orally take with them all they have got,
and change often while they remain,
partly because they have the leisure and
partly because their stay is limited and
they might as well wear them as not.


lolf AND WHY NOT?
Extravaganza is q relative term. What
would be extravaganza for Mrs. A. may
not be for Mrs. d., and would be mean
ness in Mrs. g., who has half a million
in her own right. | think the very beauty
of this place is its many sidedness and
the glimpses it gives both rich women
and poor women of a life different from
their own.


LONG TRAINS BUT no POWDER.


/ have attended one ball here, and
several hops, and have not as yet seen a
touch of hair powder, grey" or "dia- |
mond." The few trains we're of great
length, but the majority of ladies nearly |
all the young ladies' wore short dancing |
costumes, very small crinoline, and hair |
curled and buffed in the natural color.


There we're, moreover, with one excep-
ton, low pecks;" the bodies of dresses
were cut square or eRchdle, or the shoul-
ders were covered with lace A few were
cut high with short sleeves, but the ma
iority were cut PompadouFor open in the
form of V, and finished with sleeves
ruified at the elbow.


Paniers proper have disappeared en-
tirely, the only approach to them is made
by the looping of the upper skirts, which
are full at the back, and cut larger than



THE FEATURE OF THE SEASON.


The faatgre of the season is the polo
laise, which is made in all sorts Of nate
ials to complete every variety of cos
nme. ] have mentioned this in prece
ling letters as likely TO be exceedingly
popular, and the event justifies the pre-
lictio9 They are properly and most
lsefnlly made in linen, the length Of
hort dress, and are lOoped up at the
ide over the skirt so as TO display it.
The s,n;;rt may be of any color or mate
ial, but it is generally of black silk, and |
he sash worn with it is a wide black gros I
ain r;hhon strined in Roman cOlOrs