FROCKS FOR TO-MORROW.By“THE LADY DRESSMAKER”I haveseen nothing more wonderful this season than the combinations of colour in dress. To hear the suggestions of your dressmaker on the subject is to hear all your preconceived notions disputed and set at naught. The other day I went with a friend to order a dress, and she selected one of the new canvas grenadines, blue with a white silk spot. The blue was rather a bright one, and the material very transparent, and open in its meshes. There were several suggestions made for the silken lining by the very clever woman who was attending to us—white, pale blue, a darker blue, emerald green, pink, rose, red, lemon, orange, and, finally, a mauve—and mauve it was—being the latest colour combination and newer than the rest. But violet or heliotrope goes best, to my mind, with crimson; and that is a colour combination which came in as long ago as the early seventies, after the Franco-Prussian war; and nothing can exceed its effectiveness if you get the right shades for your mixture. Then heliotrope and light blue is very pretty; but much less so than the other. The favourite mixture of this season is, without doubt, black and white, and a very useful one it is. One of the favourite materials for the everyday wear of the season is alpaca, and next to that, for best gowns, comes canvas grenadines, and a new make of crepon. Nothing can exceed the beauty of the satin-faced foulards, which everyone seems to be ordering; and there is a great return to spots, either placed at regular distances over the material, or else arranged in irregularly-shaped masses. The new nun’s veilings arealso very pretty, and make delightful summer frocks for girls.SOME SUMMER GOWNS.There is much to be said on the subject of linings, and on all sides you will probably hear it said that no silk, or, at least, no rustling silk linings are used now; and that all dresses are so soft and clinging that only very soft linings are used, such asbatiste, which is either watered or plain, muslin, or any kind of unstiffened material. Alpaca is lined with the same material, and not with silk, but canvas must be silk-lined, so a new kind of foulard silk is to be found which is non-rustling and flows in straight lines in the skirt.Instead of a braid at the edge of your skirt, you must now use velvet, which is to be obtained at all the shops for that purpose, and black velvet is most used for the purpose.The attenuation of the quite up-to-date woman is very remarkable, and her skirts are so long and so unstiffened that they wrap round her feet, and make her look “like a mermaid,” as one of our many fashion-writers assures us; but, whatever the creature is that she may be like, the effect is startling; it is so long and so unshapely when the new style is applied to a thin figure.TWO HARMONIES IN BLACK AND WHITE.The group of figures which I have called “Two harmonies in black and white,” are two pretty gowns in the two hues which are the most fashionable of all. The figure on the left holding a bird wears a gown of white lace over black satin, which is trimmed with crescent-shaped pieces of silk, shading from black to grey and white. These are laid on in regular sequence of size on the skirt as well as on the bodice. The other dress is of plainer character, and is of black, with a white design. It is, in fact, one of the new satin-faced foulards, the pattern being of small leaves and dots. The vest is of pleated white satin, with revers of the same covered with lace. Thebodice and skirt are also trimmed with ruches of cream-coloured lace, which are laid over the dress in pannier fashion, and go round the skirt at the back. These small ruchings, made of ribbon, narrow lace, or pinked-out silk, are quite one of the features of this season’s gowns and mantles.MUSLIN FROCK FOR A YOUNG GIRL.The frocks for young girls are especially pretty this season, and the use of muslin makes them always youthful-looking and light. The frock illustrated in our sketch is made of a dotted muslin, which may be of cream orécru, or even of a colour. It is lined with either a good sateen or a silk, rose, pink, or blue being pretty colours; and the bodice has a deep yoke of silk of the colour of the lining, which has a ruching of lace round it, or else one of silk gauze, which is almost equally popular. The muslin which covers the bodice is tucked, and also that on the pointed tunic, which is edged with deep muslin frills, having lines of narrow pink or blue ribbon on them. The sash is of the same colour, tied at the back, the ends of which are fringed, and trimmed with bands of a deeper shade of the same colour. This might be made in an easier manner by tucking the skirt, as shown in the drawing, in a pointed shape, and then putting the muslin flounce on as a trimming to it. This frock could, of course, be copied in any other material, such as cambric nun’s veiling or a grenadine. Pale grey grenadine over pink or blue silk is a very fashionable gown for young people this season.The second figure of this group wears a black corded silk jacket, made very short, with white revers, and cordings of white satin. It is quite tight-fitting, and has an under vest of white satin, and a high collar at the back. A large scarf of lace is worn with a big bow under the chin. These last-named are donned by everyone this year, and they are also universally becoming, and lend much softness to the face. They are very easy to make for oneself at home, with the aid of a yard or so of net and a little pretty lace. But beware of getting either of these too cheap, for cheapness here would destroy the good effect; and poor materials will not wash. The skirt worn by this figure is of pale grey, trimmed with flat bands of silk, and made with a pointed tunic. The hat is a very pretty one, of white chip, trimmed with black tulle, ruched. A gold buckle and black feathers are worn with it. The edge is bound with black velvet, and underneath the brim is a bunch of pink roses.In the hair-dressing of the present moment there is an enormous amount of frizzing and waving; in fact, too much of it for the symmetry of the head, and the work of the curling-irons is all too evident. One thing of which everyone complains is, that all heads are alike, and it is much to be desired that more individual thought should be devoted to the dressing of the head. The back hair is dressed in coils, winding round and round smoothly, except when the door-knocker style is still retained; but this form of hair-dressing is fast going out. Then the head is covered with a mass of frizzled hair, which is too disorderly to be beautiful, and in which the beauty of its colour is lost.A great many women and girls have deserted the use of hot irons, and have gone back to curl-papers, and hair-pins, to wave the hair. In order to avoid the use of either of these, an inventive genius has found out a way of winding a ribbon round with the hair-pin, so that, after the hair is wound in and out on it, the hair-pin can be slipped out, and the two ends of the ribbon which have been left out are tied tightly together, and the hair is then held on the ribbon only. The little bunch thus made is far less ugly than the spiky wire-fencing made by the hairpin ends. The ribbon used is baby ribbon, of course, and when a becoming colour is selected, the effect is quite pretty. Silk pieces of various colours are used also, on which to curl the hair, and in some measure do away with the ugliness of the usual papers. I have heard lately of a young married lady who had a false front made, to put on at night over her hair-wavers, which, she said, were so ugly, she could not bear to look at herself in them, and so tried this way to surmount the difficulty.In the group of three figures called “Some Summer Gowns,” the first figure on the right wears a light-grey gown, with trimmings of coffee-coloured lace. The flounces are edged with the same, and the vest has alternate stripings of grey and black. There is a draping of white satin on the vest, which is like a sash from the side of the bodice. There are revers of the same lace, and upstanding frilling at the back of the neck. The sleeves are fluted in puffs, from the shoulder to the elbow, with rows of coffee-coloured lace insertion between them, and are finished with a pointed cuff over the hand. The centre figure wears a blouse ofécrusilk, the sleeves and yoke being mitred, and a pointed epaulette at the shoulder. With this a white muslin collar is worn. The last figure, at the extreme left, wears a cape of white silk with a cover of black net, and ruches of black and white satin ribbon; small black rosettes round the collar, and a ruche of black and white lace at the neck. A white hat, bound at the edge of the brim with a black velvet, the trimming being of black tulle, with pale-pink roses, and brownish leaves and buds; the same flowers under the brim at the back.I do not think, in spite of Viscountess Harberton, that the majority of English women desire to wear knickerbockers, nor even the divided skirt with which her name has been so much associated in the past; and I hear that French women of the better classes are adopting the skirt of the English women, which they consider much more becoming. After all, there is no need of complaint, for several English firms supply a most ingenious skirt, which—though divided, and giving all the advantages of that shape—when on the bicycle, falls into the usual folds of the skirt which is not divided, and looks just the same. I must confess that this appears to me to meet all requirements, and that the extreme ugliness of the knickerbockers, when worn, need not make them an object of attraction to any woman who values her appearance. There seems to be a universal consensus of opinion that nothing can look better than an Englishwoman in a tailor-made and carefully-fitted dress, quiet in colour, and of the suitable length and shape of skirt. She looks one with her machine, and has nothing flying in the way of decorations to make her untidy.
By“THE LADY DRESSMAKER”
I haveseen nothing more wonderful this season than the combinations of colour in dress. To hear the suggestions of your dressmaker on the subject is to hear all your preconceived notions disputed and set at naught. The other day I went with a friend to order a dress, and she selected one of the new canvas grenadines, blue with a white silk spot. The blue was rather a bright one, and the material very transparent, and open in its meshes. There were several suggestions made for the silken lining by the very clever woman who was attending to us—white, pale blue, a darker blue, emerald green, pink, rose, red, lemon, orange, and, finally, a mauve—and mauve it was—being the latest colour combination and newer than the rest. But violet or heliotrope goes best, to my mind, with crimson; and that is a colour combination which came in as long ago as the early seventies, after the Franco-Prussian war; and nothing can exceed its effectiveness if you get the right shades for your mixture. Then heliotrope and light blue is very pretty; but much less so than the other. The favourite mixture of this season is, without doubt, black and white, and a very useful one it is. One of the favourite materials for the everyday wear of the season is alpaca, and next to that, for best gowns, comes canvas grenadines, and a new make of crepon. Nothing can exceed the beauty of the satin-faced foulards, which everyone seems to be ordering; and there is a great return to spots, either placed at regular distances over the material, or else arranged in irregularly-shaped masses. The new nun’s veilings arealso very pretty, and make delightful summer frocks for girls.
SOME SUMMER GOWNS.
SOME SUMMER GOWNS.
SOME SUMMER GOWNS.
There is much to be said on the subject of linings, and on all sides you will probably hear it said that no silk, or, at least, no rustling silk linings are used now; and that all dresses are so soft and clinging that only very soft linings are used, such asbatiste, which is either watered or plain, muslin, or any kind of unstiffened material. Alpaca is lined with the same material, and not with silk, but canvas must be silk-lined, so a new kind of foulard silk is to be found which is non-rustling and flows in straight lines in the skirt.
Instead of a braid at the edge of your skirt, you must now use velvet, which is to be obtained at all the shops for that purpose, and black velvet is most used for the purpose.
The attenuation of the quite up-to-date woman is very remarkable, and her skirts are so long and so unstiffened that they wrap round her feet, and make her look “like a mermaid,” as one of our many fashion-writers assures us; but, whatever the creature is that she may be like, the effect is startling; it is so long and so unshapely when the new style is applied to a thin figure.
TWO HARMONIES IN BLACK AND WHITE.
TWO HARMONIES IN BLACK AND WHITE.
TWO HARMONIES IN BLACK AND WHITE.
The group of figures which I have called “Two harmonies in black and white,” are two pretty gowns in the two hues which are the most fashionable of all. The figure on the left holding a bird wears a gown of white lace over black satin, which is trimmed with crescent-shaped pieces of silk, shading from black to grey and white. These are laid on in regular sequence of size on the skirt as well as on the bodice. The other dress is of plainer character, and is of black, with a white design. It is, in fact, one of the new satin-faced foulards, the pattern being of small leaves and dots. The vest is of pleated white satin, with revers of the same covered with lace. Thebodice and skirt are also trimmed with ruches of cream-coloured lace, which are laid over the dress in pannier fashion, and go round the skirt at the back. These small ruchings, made of ribbon, narrow lace, or pinked-out silk, are quite one of the features of this season’s gowns and mantles.
MUSLIN FROCK FOR A YOUNG GIRL.
MUSLIN FROCK FOR A YOUNG GIRL.
MUSLIN FROCK FOR A YOUNG GIRL.
The frocks for young girls are especially pretty this season, and the use of muslin makes them always youthful-looking and light. The frock illustrated in our sketch is made of a dotted muslin, which may be of cream orécru, or even of a colour. It is lined with either a good sateen or a silk, rose, pink, or blue being pretty colours; and the bodice has a deep yoke of silk of the colour of the lining, which has a ruching of lace round it, or else one of silk gauze, which is almost equally popular. The muslin which covers the bodice is tucked, and also that on the pointed tunic, which is edged with deep muslin frills, having lines of narrow pink or blue ribbon on them. The sash is of the same colour, tied at the back, the ends of which are fringed, and trimmed with bands of a deeper shade of the same colour. This might be made in an easier manner by tucking the skirt, as shown in the drawing, in a pointed shape, and then putting the muslin flounce on as a trimming to it. This frock could, of course, be copied in any other material, such as cambric nun’s veiling or a grenadine. Pale grey grenadine over pink or blue silk is a very fashionable gown for young people this season.
The second figure of this group wears a black corded silk jacket, made very short, with white revers, and cordings of white satin. It is quite tight-fitting, and has an under vest of white satin, and a high collar at the back. A large scarf of lace is worn with a big bow under the chin. These last-named are donned by everyone this year, and they are also universally becoming, and lend much softness to the face. They are very easy to make for oneself at home, with the aid of a yard or so of net and a little pretty lace. But beware of getting either of these too cheap, for cheapness here would destroy the good effect; and poor materials will not wash. The skirt worn by this figure is of pale grey, trimmed with flat bands of silk, and made with a pointed tunic. The hat is a very pretty one, of white chip, trimmed with black tulle, ruched. A gold buckle and black feathers are worn with it. The edge is bound with black velvet, and underneath the brim is a bunch of pink roses.
In the hair-dressing of the present moment there is an enormous amount of frizzing and waving; in fact, too much of it for the symmetry of the head, and the work of the curling-irons is all too evident. One thing of which everyone complains is, that all heads are alike, and it is much to be desired that more individual thought should be devoted to the dressing of the head. The back hair is dressed in coils, winding round and round smoothly, except when the door-knocker style is still retained; but this form of hair-dressing is fast going out. Then the head is covered with a mass of frizzled hair, which is too disorderly to be beautiful, and in which the beauty of its colour is lost.
A great many women and girls have deserted the use of hot irons, and have gone back to curl-papers, and hair-pins, to wave the hair. In order to avoid the use of either of these, an inventive genius has found out a way of winding a ribbon round with the hair-pin, so that, after the hair is wound in and out on it, the hair-pin can be slipped out, and the two ends of the ribbon which have been left out are tied tightly together, and the hair is then held on the ribbon only. The little bunch thus made is far less ugly than the spiky wire-fencing made by the hairpin ends. The ribbon used is baby ribbon, of course, and when a becoming colour is selected, the effect is quite pretty. Silk pieces of various colours are used also, on which to curl the hair, and in some measure do away with the ugliness of the usual papers. I have heard lately of a young married lady who had a false front made, to put on at night over her hair-wavers, which, she said, were so ugly, she could not bear to look at herself in them, and so tried this way to surmount the difficulty.
In the group of three figures called “Some Summer Gowns,” the first figure on the right wears a light-grey gown, with trimmings of coffee-coloured lace. The flounces are edged with the same, and the vest has alternate stripings of grey and black. There is a draping of white satin on the vest, which is like a sash from the side of the bodice. There are revers of the same lace, and upstanding frilling at the back of the neck. The sleeves are fluted in puffs, from the shoulder to the elbow, with rows of coffee-coloured lace insertion between them, and are finished with a pointed cuff over the hand. The centre figure wears a blouse ofécrusilk, the sleeves and yoke being mitred, and a pointed epaulette at the shoulder. With this a white muslin collar is worn. The last figure, at the extreme left, wears a cape of white silk with a cover of black net, and ruches of black and white satin ribbon; small black rosettes round the collar, and a ruche of black and white lace at the neck. A white hat, bound at the edge of the brim with a black velvet, the trimming being of black tulle, with pale-pink roses, and brownish leaves and buds; the same flowers under the brim at the back.
I do not think, in spite of Viscountess Harberton, that the majority of English women desire to wear knickerbockers, nor even the divided skirt with which her name has been so much associated in the past; and I hear that French women of the better classes are adopting the skirt of the English women, which they consider much more becoming. After all, there is no need of complaint, for several English firms supply a most ingenious skirt, which—though divided, and giving all the advantages of that shape—when on the bicycle, falls into the usual folds of the skirt which is not divided, and looks just the same. I must confess that this appears to me to meet all requirements, and that the extreme ugliness of the knickerbockers, when worn, need not make them an object of attraction to any woman who values her appearance. There seems to be a universal consensus of opinion that nothing can look better than an Englishwoman in a tailor-made and carefully-fitted dress, quiet in colour, and of the suitable length and shape of skirt. She looks one with her machine, and has nothing flying in the way of decorations to make her untidy.