ITEMS FOR LADIES,

Evening Post, Volume XLL, Issue 68, 21 March 1891, Page 1 (Supplement)

ITEMS FOR LADIES,

Some pretty morning pockethandkerchiefs in fine cambric are ornamented with two lines, an inch apart, of fine Broderie Eusse, in colour ; others have detached little sprays of flowers scattered all over. Some evening ones are in the finest cambric, with borders and insertion of Valenciennes lace. The elegance of the silk petticoat is now united with the durability of woollen ones in the newest patterns of those useful articles. They are made of fine twilled cloth for about 12 inches deep round the bottom, and from thence to the top of plain or striped silk of harmonising colour. These petticoats are usually lined with alpaca, or a material of mixed silk and cotton. Evening dresses have draped bodices ; they are open in the shape of a V, both in front and at the back. The waist is either peaked or round ; in the latter case a sash is draped round the waist. When the skirt is trimmed with embroidery, which is very often the case, it is made plain ; otherwise it is draped with lace, or looped up with bows of ribbon. Dresses of plain cloth are trimmed with braid, a little passementerie, embroidered galon, or embroidered cloth. In fashionable circles just now a considerable amount of interest is displayed in a certain superb mantle of sealskin the Duchess of Portland has just had made. It is lined throughout with sable, and cost over a thousand pounds. Nothing could well be more charming than some of the new feather boas made in cock's plumes of various colours, tinted to be worn with the toilette, the muffs arranged in the same new soft and pliable make, which is a good introduction. Cedar is a very fashionable colour for both evening and day toilettes. Coiffures are now very low, with long curls'or a pleated categan at the back. Few ornaments are worn, jewelled pins, small ostrich tips, or a spray of flowers, Diamonds are exquisitely mounted in detached sprays for the hair. Skirts are narrow and flat, and as long as the long coat bodices are in vogue they will continue to be the same as they are, as they sit so much better. The new jaguar fur promises to be a success. It is not unlike plush, or even sealskin, and is spotted here and there with yellow, brown, and red, in irregular shapes and distances. All the leading Paris firms (says the Queen) are using thick silk, and even cloth, for hall and evening dresses. Very little tulle is used, but sometimes gauze, with satin stripes or gold and silver threads. They are made up with a trimming of flowers round the low bodice for young girls, and feather border for married women. The light-coloured silks and satins are richly embroidered on the skirt ; the bodices are made of gauze draped over plain silk, ■with, the Byzantine waistband or belt (a sort of corselet) covered with jewels, placed amid the embroidery — extremely ric'i and handsome ; or, for young girls, the belt is simply worked with gold thread. The fan-shaped fluted bonnets, edged with feather trimming, have an oaprey on the top, and several j ostrich plumes stand up at the back. Astrachan is in greater favour than ever, especially for entire jackets, or for the Bleeves, waistcoat, and trimmings of cloth or velvet jackets. The new dolman jacket is very stylish, as it imitates a square-sleeve dolman when the arms are kept down, yet has all the freedom of a jacket. The following is a good rule to find the contrast of any, colour : Cut out a circular piece of the petal of aDy flower, and put it on a white paper, look at it fixedly for a few seconds with one eye, then look off the colour on to a piece of white paper, and you will see a bright riug of another colour ; that ring or circle is. the right complementary colour or contrast to the colour in the petal. RECIPES. A pleasant household deodoriser is made by pouring spirits of lavender over lumps of bicarbonate of ammonia. Bread-pudding. — A small pudding for two or three persons; — Beat an ounce and a-half of sugar in a halfpint of cream, then beat the yolks of three eggs and add, grate in a little nutmeg, then beat the whites of eggs to a stiff froth and add the last thing. Butter a pudding-dish, and sprinkle over the bottom breadcrumbs about the thickness you would have pie-crust, or if liked a little thicker, then turn over this layer the mixture ; put -a layer of bread-crumbs on top and bake. Have the breadcrumbs very fine. Fish Cutlets. — Chop herbs with a small quantity of shalot, season with pepper and salt, and put in a stewpan with two ounces of butter, and as the butter is melting add a toaspoonful of anchovies. Mix thoroughly. When the seasoning is nearly cold, spread it thickly over slices of raw or cooked fish, strew breadcrumbs over, and brown in the oven, or before the fire ; the former if raw. Stew a chopped onion with any green vegetables in season, cut small; add a few nasturtiums with the pickle, place in the centre of the dish and the cutlets round. Lettuce with French Dressing. — Lettuce should always be served fresh, crisp, and cool. To make the dressing, add throe tablespoonfuls of oil and a tablespoonful of vinegar, one-half a teaspoouf ul of salt and one-half a saltspoonful of pepper. Mix thoroughly, pour the dressing ovor the lettuce, and turn the leaves about in it until all are well covered. The salad is then ready for the table. Nothing keeps out moths so well as paper. If every housewife, when she puts away her furs, pasted up all the crevices and round the lid of tho box with paper, she would find her furs intact when unpacked. Ehubarb Pie. — Line deep pie pans with plain crust, mix half a teacup of sugar and a spoonful of flour ; sprinkle over the ernst ; then add the pio-plaat cut fine, sprinkle thiok with Bugar. Set in a slow oven and bake ono hour or stew tho pie-plant in a little thin syrup before putting in the pantry.