LADIES' COLUMN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 9307, 9 March 1889, Page 4 (Supplement)

LADIES' COLUMN.

FASHION NOVELTIES. Winter dresses are already being displayed in the windows of the principal shops. Some lovely dresses in moFsgreen moire and plush, brown ottoman and black moire, gobelin blue, peau de saie with black moire facings, and each a beautiful design in the modified dirocboire style, have been on show for a few days just to give the public a glimpse into the fashions which are to reign during tho cold month?. Lovely mantles of cloth, plush, and other warm fabrics trimmed with furs, astrachan, or feather trimmings, and made in the redingote fashion, will be de riyueur for the winter ; and exceedingly comfortable and very handsome they look. Warmth and comfort, as well as elegance, are tho unspoken i language of these garments, which make a tall woman look like a princess, and a little woman liko the perfection of feminity. Opera cloaks suitable for cold evenings aro to be larger, and more in the form of wraps for the whole person than merely for the shoulders. ' Plush cloaks with loose hanging sleeves, wadded about the shoulders, lined with soft silk, and trimmed with fur, will bo sold at prices suitable to the pockets of the wealthy only. Bub there are many nice opera mantles in many other styles and fabrics at a very reasonable figure. Some of Oriental silk, trimmed with swansdown, are pretty ; and the little shoulder capes of plush are most- becoming and oleganb. Mantles for evening wear of fine wool and chedillo, in delicate shades of pink mixed with white, are very soft and graceful, as well as comfortable, Tho oldfashioned shawls and later-fashioned clouds have been relegated to tho shades. One can obtain a very handsomo " cloud" for a small sum, comparatively speaking, just now. Scarves for the head, in tho iiehu style, are in black or cream lace, and have a pretty effect, as well as being so appropriate for summer evenings. For tho winter the nice warm woollen hoods or plush caps will come in again. Scarves of silk, with fringed edges, rtre pretty, and a knitted silk scarf, with deep silk lace border is handsome. Jerseys have come into favour again under a new form suitable for winter wear. They are much heavier, ami more suitable for walking jackets. Some are in the style of covert coats in navy|bluo or deepred. Others have sailor collars, and are ornamented with brass anchor buttons. Oriental cloth outdoor mantles, bordered with fur or trimmed handsomely with a silk gimp, called unjetted gimp, are coming in ; and a novelty in jackets is the fur-lined driving jacket, which is made of heavier cloth. Some of these are made doublo-brea3ted, with lapel collar. Others havo an embroidered vest and directoire lapels. Sealctto is the newest material for winter wear. It is richer and lighter than plash, an'd looks like sealskin. Some rather sudden changes are to be seen in bonnets and hats for *e coining winter. Bonnets in embroidered beaver cloth are a novelty, as aro also beaded cloth bonnets, with long feather curling round the brim. Bonnets aro showing in low-crown and extended brim, which protrudes over the brow, and displays bows, or feathers, resting coquettishly upon the fringe. This mode comes from Paris, along with tho stylish low-crowned hats, which aro happily to supersede the "gem," with its tiny, trim, and top-heavy barrel crown, so unbecoming to many faces. Felt hats, bonnets in tan shades and gobelins, as well as green,,will be worn to match tho costume.—Sydney Town and Country Journal. FLOWERS FOR TABLE DECORATION. The fashion regarding floral adornments for the table has completley changed during the last few years. The high towering vases or elaborate centre pieces, which had Each an imposing effect, but wore terribly in the way at times, as they completely hid one's vis-a-vis, and spoiled the chance of a passage of arms across tho table, havo disappeared. Fashion rules supreme hero, as well as elsewhere; no domain being sacred from her interference. High vases are, therefore, now decreed bad form ; and in lieu thereof flat dishes of all conceivable shapes and styles are used. To set these off ■ to still better advantage, a strip, or stripes, of bright coloured plush or delicate hued Oriental silk are laid lengthwise down the cable on the snowy damask ; and upon

this beautiful groundwork is laid the fanciful devices for Itolding tho flowers or foliage. Very many of the pretty flower-holders are set upon mirrors, either bevel-edged without frames, or with plush borderings. A crystal horseshoe, made hollow to hold water., and filled with violets and tuberroses, resting upon a horseshoe-shaped mirror, with bevelled edge, and outlined on a bed ot! ruby plush, looks exquisitely pretty. So does a clear glass canoe on an oval mirror, or a glass tub on a round one. Cinderella slippers in clear glass, also miniature glass baskots, are in good taste. Antique China bowls are recherche for table use; and coloured glass bowl-shaped vases with raised ornamentation are pretty. Pure white opaque glass wide-mouthed vases look very effective on cardinal mossgreen or old gold plash, and are exquisitely pretty, on pale pink silk especially, if filled with pink moss roses and green leaves. Those •who cannot afford plush may drape their dining-tables mast artistically with liberty silk or even leugths of ribbon. A few flat dishes of glass, which are so pretty and so cheap as to bo within reach of all, may bo made to produce an artistic effect by trailIng pretty ribbons among them. Thus, first lay your cloth, as fine a damask as you can alFord, and sec thab it is nob creased. Then place (say a dozen, if your table is a cood size, half-a-dozen if otherwise) your glass dishes irregularly in an oblong or oval form, arranging them artistically and carelessly. Then bake a length of 3in wide ribbon, pale blue, apple green, marigold or pink, according to fancy. Tie a large loose bow on each end. Lay one bow on the tablecloth a littlo distance from the first flower dish. Then trail the streamer in and out among tho various vases until you reach the last. Do not place the second bow exactly opposite to the first but in a different direction,-so as nob to look stiff or formal. If flowers are difficult to obtain, foliage of different shades of green may be used ; and even grasses of a feathery kind when running to seed make very effective table decorations. Tho variegated foliage, so fashionable for bordering flower beds, is very suitable for the purpose of arranging in low vases or flab dishes on tables when green leaves are arranged in white glasses, bronze in crystal, red in amber or pale green, and so on, use being made of contrast for effect