LADIES' COLUMN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 8082, 24 September 1887, Page 4 (Supplement)

LADIES' COLUMN.

REVIEW OF FASHIONS.

The remarkable variety which is exhibited in all departments of fashion at the present day is not due altogether to an abundant collection of shapes for garments, but to the freedom of taste which permits the most varied and original uses of material.

Costumes for ceremonious visits are elaborate in style and rather varied in colouring, although this last point is usually settled by the taste of the wearer. The majority are a combination of fine woollen fabrics with velvet, and in all carefully prepared toilets the mantle and chapeau correspond with the dress, unless the mantle takes the form of a large and cosy wrap, which is left in the carriage or in the anteroom. Dinner dresses, like visiting toilets, are usually composed of two materials. Plush and faille are a favourite combination, bat the faille is often a mere background for the richest embroidery, or else serves as a foundation for lace flounces or draperies. Rich and artistic effects are more easily produced with plush than with arty other material, and it is almost equally beautiful in any of the fashionable shades. Lace ia again very much employed for the fichus draping the open bodices of dinner dresses and for the sleeves of these toilets. A corsage of velvet or plush, matching the skirt and trimmed with costly lace, is much in vogue; the bodice is open in a square or pointed shape in front, and is trimmed with lace in the shape of a fichu, sometimes crossed in front, or, it hand-made, is put on quite plain. Sleeves are either made entirely of lace, or else the delicate fabric appears in puffs, bouillonn£j, and flounces under the open sleeve, or between the quaint scallops in which it is cut. In contrast to the dinner toilets the dancing ones are charmingly fussy and pretty, and are giving many industrious and tasteful girls employment in the fashioning of little pompons, tiny bouquets of flowers, and. embroideries 'of all kinds in pearls and beads, for their adornment. Ia them we notice the prettiest tints of pale amber and pink, with gold or pearls for their several trimming. Then there are gauzes in which several colours are blended, and many in which tinsel is introduced ; but for small dances, commend us to the tulle, or more inexpensive net. On some of these there is a puffing at the back of the skirt, but in most cases they are made in the waterfall style, and there is plenty of scope for displaying taste in ornamenting the front. The satin pearls scattered loosely over are very effective, so are little rings of pearls themselves, while little tufts of chenille or little fluffy pompons are also sewn upon the tulle, whioh usually veils the front. Ribbon is used in profusion for evening dresses of light material, and is usually arranged in falling loops, while the bodices are of all sorts of materials, even washleather being used, and almost without exception they are worn entirely without sleeves, merely a soft falling lace round the armhole.

Opera cloaks are richly ornamented with embroidery, passementerie, beads, or fur; they are generally made in the form of a hooded mantelet with sleeves, and are fastened with silk cords tipped with tassels. They are lined with plush, if made of soma other material, but if the mantle is of plush, the lining is frequently of quilted silk.

NEW TOILETTES.

Some very charming toilettes have lately been worn at evening gatherings. One young ladie'a ball dress of white tulle over silk was trimmed with medallions of Indian embroidery in beetles' wings, and gold cord and braid, on a white foundation. The effect was exceedingly good. Another wore pink tulle, the delicate Da Barry shade, with a tablier of pearled net of the same tint. A dainty gown was of pale heliotrope, the bodice covered with cream lace, and similar lace used for the draperies. A white satin worn under blaok lace, with bows of handsome black velvet, was much admired. A pretty frock was of poppy foulard, with the long pointed bodice edged around with a band of «old and silver braid alternately placed ; a V similarly made was let into the bodice, cut rather high on the shoulders, and a panel to correspond ornamented the left side.

Miss Amy Sherwin has worn some very beautiful toilettes ; one with skirt of very handsome brocade white satin, with large vine leaves in frise velvet, each leaf having a golden pendant ornament. The sides are open, revealing pleats of white velvet; the court train is also made of white velvet. The bodice of satin has a stomacher of gold and steel bead embroidery; a Medicia cellar, velvet edged, with large gold beads, and a scarf of rich lace below the collar, terminates with a spray of flowers on the left. The waist is draped with full paniers, from which on the left side falls a broad sash of gold silk ; a girdle of gold talis on the front of the skirt.

Another of Empress pink merveilleux has a drapery of chenille lace, deep maroon in colour, falling over the left side; the same kind of lace richly borders the square-cut bodice and forms the small sleeves; the court train is edged with a ruche of pink merveilleux.

A third is of white satin striped with a rich Louis XIV. floral design in geranium reds; the skirt is cut in deep indents, each lined with red aatin, which throws the toilette into fine relief; the paniers are of battercup orape, and folded panels to correspond are attached to either aide, with clusters of ribbons at intervals, reproducing the ,colours in the brocade ; the bodice is of brocade, the long train of white. One gown of pale blue satin, with draperies of tinted lace artistically intermingled in the skirt, the whole gracefully draped, and the long train depending from the waist after being raised on each side of the waist in panier fashion. Another of white satin, richly embossed, has train and panels of white moire,' with a long double girdle and tassels of gold ; a fan of gold colour suspended by a golden chain. All these dresses are exquisitely cut, and the charming wearer places their beauties in the most attractive light.

YACHTING COSTUMES FOR LADIES.

Yachting dress is an unique oreation. From it has sprung the " tailor-made" mania in all frocks for country wear. The pretty Englishwoman looks her very best when stepping ashore out of gig or launch on to the Castle Gardens at Cowes, the piers of Ryde or Oban, the New Ground at Dartmouth, or the plage at Trouville or Dieppe, clad in the severelybraided yachting dress of cloth or serge, in contrasting colours, surmounted by that most becoming of head-gear, a peaked cloth cap, or a straw sailor hat trimmed with club ribbon or burgee. But for real wear-and-tear of everyday work afloat, there is nothing like an old thick dark dress that will never see the shore again; or, better still, a perfectly plain serge skirt, guiltless of steels, and that no drenching will harm. A really good macintosh and one of the warm circular boating cloaksred, if you likewhioh can be wrapped round anyhow, are great comforts. With a thick skirt, a neat and serviceable fashion in warm weather are the tennis-shirts in cotton or flannel, over which, when the sun robs in and the breeze springs up, can be donned a neat pilot coat, more or less buttoned. Sailor hats catch every puff of wind, and the brim of a yachting cap is the only real protection to the eyes against the glare there always is at sea. An ample gauze veil is necessary with these to protect the head and neck, and in rough weather a warm hood is eminently satisfactory.—From The Lady's World for August.