American Lady of Fashion.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume I, Issue 46, 27 September 1887, Page 2

American Lady of Fashion.

In the New World maturity ie reached much earlier than in the Old. A girl of 14 captivates the hearts of men. and is as fascinating to them as one of 20 here ; and fascination there is a fine art, not merely an occasional attribute. At 17 she is a finished coquette. The New York lady of fashion commences the day much like the Parisienne, only instead of chocolate she has coffee and " crackers" (biscuits) in bed. She does not take much interest in the newspapers, but languidly turns over the piles of correspondence of all descriptions which await her perusal and selects the most interesting. A picture of her at this moment would be most charming; a small, oval, spirituelle face, large luminous eyes, and well marked eyebrows, clear complexion and intelligent mobi’e mouth, give you at once the idea that here is a being capable ef understanding most things, and of taking her part in the world’s work. Her hair hardly tossed or tumbled, and her pretty pink silk night wrapper, are as carefully considered by her as if she were going to receive her friends in that guise. The American lady loves to have all her surroundings beautiful, and she takes great pride in wearing elegant underclothing of all descriptions, sometimes of pink, pale blue, or maize-coloured silk trimmed with Valenciennes or fine torchon lace, and sometimes of the finest and softest linen, merely tucked and gathered, but always elegant, and always of the newest design. In no city of the world is the subject of the toilette studied to such an extent as New York. The American society lady, as a rule, is not an early riser, and appears at a rather late breakfast in a pretty and elaborately trimmed morning gown. This is a more varied repast than with us, one of it* chief constituents in all seasons being fruit iu profusion. she then prepares herself for the promenade, or for an unwearied round of shopping, spending as much time and energy on the latter as if it were the chief object of her life. Up to about 4 o’clock the upper parts of Broadway and Fifth avenue are crowded with elegantly dressed ladies. A notable fact about these morning costumes ia that they are composed of silk, satin, or velvet, or a mixture thereof, elaborately trimmed aud in fact equivalent to the afternoon costumes of British ladies.