SEASONABLE DRESS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 771, 10 December 1886, Page 4

SEASONABLE DRESS.

As yefc very few real summer toilettes are .seen in our streets, owing, no doubt, to the changeableness and uncertainty ef the ■weather, but the shops are full of distractingly pretty things in such a variety j©f colors as to outrival Iris herself. It is

quite a relief to the eye to turn to the piles of white embroidery and numberless white materials of every grade of thickness, which declare the revival of the pretty fashion of entirely white costumes. Spite of the silks, surahs, foulards, and all the army of fashion’s richest and newest stuffs for summer wear, nothing looks prettier, cooler, or more lady-like than the lawns and muslins brought out this season in colors as well as white. I have seen some beautiful made-up dresses, trimmed elaborately with Swiss embroidery, in robings and entire fronts; others with alternate tucks and work ; and handsomest of all are those with flounces ten or twelve inches deep, set one above another, with very slight fulness. Nearly all the bodices are made either in. the Norfolk style—that is, with the muslin laid in pleats over which the skirt fastens—or gathered back and front into a band. The most judicious way is to make them as simply as possible for convenience of washing, and depend for dressy effect upon the host of graceful accessories now so fashionable. A pretty way to adorn a plainly-made dress is to open the neck a la Vierge, and arrange a wide sash ribbon from the shoulders to the waist, laying the ribbon in surplice folds and gathering them into a narrow compass at the belt. Scarves of lace can be draped in the same way. Bretelles of velvet are also effective additions to plain bodices ; for short women these bretelles are made very loDg, while for slender figures velvet revers reaching little more than half way to the waist are used. The Swiss fichu 13 a pretty novelty that can be made at home. It is of silk muslin or pale tinted crape or soft, surah. The fichu forms a' V from the shoulders to the waist, lying in soft folds, and trimmed round the edge with a narrow rouleau of silk and a frill of lace. It fastens at the back of the neck with a hook hidden under a cluster of loops and ends of ribbon.

Mulls, silk canvas, cream, and snowy muslin, grenadine, &c., are all used for neck and corsage dressing, and guimpes and plastrons, gathered or laid in folds, are worn by young and old. Chemisettes and guimpes of lace are worn with half open corsages of evening gowns.

Another revival is that of the habit shirt fastened with studs and shaped exactly like those worn by gentlemen, even to the tiny muslin tie; these are intended to be worn with zouave jackets and cut-away bodices. The plainer kind are made of figured percale or piqud ; more dressy chemisettes are of embroidered bishop’s lawn, or clear organdie finely tucked, with one wide plait down the centre, worked with briar stitching.

At the present moment bodices of dresses are cut so high in the throat that lace ties, handkerchiefs, and all that class of adjunct is eschewed, and a tiny line of white is alone necessary ; but the cut of the gown collar is all important. It must not start anywhere near the neck bones, but exactly at the throat, encasing it thoroughly, aud meeting well in front, where it is generally fastened by a large stud. The most fashionable tuckers are bias folds of silk or muslin. There never was a time when lace was in more request, and there are several new ways of arranging it on dresses. For instance, a large lace veil or shawl-is becomingly draped in front of a high dinner gown by having one oorner carried up to the throat, the fulness spread out over the bust, and gathered into a loose blouse front secured just below the waist. The rest is spread out over the front of the skirt with two comers gathered up and hidden under loops of velvet at the side, while the third corner is drawn down to bring the lace to a point. The large real lace collars, such as both sexe3 wore in days of old, and were quite fashionable only a few years ago—many ladies having them still in possession—are again coming in for simple toilettes. These round, and sometimes pointed, collars are usually fastened with a large bow. It is asserted that steels for skirts are completely out of date in Paris ; but then Parisians understand the art of petticoating in a way that no Englishwoman ever seems able to compass. They have a substantial mattress, and to this is tacked the folds of the train, thus ensuring a graceful flow. At and above the hem a multiplicity of muslin frills are tacked, inside the skirt. But to my idea these mattresses are an abomination, unhealthy to a degree, since they overheat a most delicate portion of the human frame, the region of the kidneys. A better plan is to place the steels in skirt-backs, very high, so near the belt that the upper one will make a bouffante tournure without the aid of the horsehair cushion- To do this properly the placket-hole of the foundation skirt is made longer, and the open placket space slips back and forth on the steel across the top. The back breadths of the outside skirts are then attached to a separate band and hooked on each side of the belt beneath.

Princesse styles are coming in again for gowns, and a more graceful mode could not be adopted, especially for women inclined to embonpoint. A lovely model is composed of white veiling, with low cut lining that shows the shoulders through, while the sleeves have no lining. In front the robe opens over a white surah tablier, embroidered with wild roses and foliage, a Watteau plait at the back, the lower portion of which

is wider and forms loops which make a full drapery. Many elegant dresses have no drapery, and fall in straight lines from waist to feet; but the material used for this style must be of a rich quality to give substance to the skirt. The foundation skirt is gored and drawn in by tapes to produce a narrow skirt for the kilts or folds to rest upon, and at the extreme back it is necessary to put into the band every inch of material that it is possible to adjust, in order to give the extremely full effect now so fashionable.

Now a word as to hats and bonnets- Much license is given to individual taste ; bonnets may be worn with or without strings, very high, or close to the face. A very charming bonnet is of black lace, pointed over the face, cut up curtain fashion at the back, with a closely plaited ruche of red crape lisse under the brim all round ; a tuft of red roses and an osprey aigrette in front standing upright, watered ribbon strings. Among the new shady hats which are now affected are those made of white Manila and Dunstable straw, faced with ruby or black velvet and trimmed outside with white crepe lisse scarves, and immensely long white plumes, which droop above and nearly cover the front and sides of the brim. White sailor hats trimmed simply, with a scarf and loops of tulle, with a cluster of white roses and pale green leaves intertwined, are in favor for wear with summer toilettes.

The Catogan style of dressing the hair is still considered very becoming, but there are other pretty simple ways of arranging full heads of hair. One is to wave and comb the locks up to the top of the head, and twist them into a coronet-shaped roll, which is brought forward in front to the centre of the head, forming a circle. This gives a foundation for an aigrette feather, or rosette if for evening wear. Now that the fashion of short hair has passed away, girls are repenting of their folly in cutting it, and find a difficulty in choosing a tidy and becoming style of hair-dressing. For children the poll comb has come in again, and soon we shall see our little girls with flowing locks and curls tied on top of the head with ribbon, the most becoming way of any.

A pretty little story is current just now anent the etiquette of costume in Russia. The Czarina appeared one evening in a lovely maize-colored toilette, the fashion of which called forth the universal admiration of the court ladies. Shortly afterwards the young Countess Ferdorovna Ghika was announced. As she came forward to kiss the hand of the Empress it was seen that her dress was the exact counterpart of that worn by the Czarina, who flushed indignantly at the outrage on court etiquette. The young lady turned pale with fear as she recognised the awkward mistake made, not by herself, but-by the Parisian house from which she had received the new costume. The Czar got rid of the painful situation by a happy jest. ‘ I and my lieutenants ’ said he, * also wear exactly similar uniforms.’ The good-natured remark had the desired effect, in causing a smile to again illuminate the royal lady’s face, but won’t the fault be heavily visited on the head of the maladroit costumier !

Elise.