Fashion Notes.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 906, 12 July 1889, Page 4

Fashion Notes.

Black, slightly relieved with colour, is in great demand at the leading London dressmakers. The newest styles of fans are of gauze, with three very large flowers forming the entire shape and design. Black and white laces are equally, fashionable, and both are favourite trimming for evening dresses. Silk beaver hate are as light as a feather and are very stylish. They are made in fawn, black and other colours. A large trade is being done in Paris with antique buttons and old silver, and old paste ones fetch fabulous prioes. Glittering beads have almost disappeared from walking dresses, and withdrawn them* selveß to the ball and reception room. The new empire veils, which are slowly

but surely growing in favor, are warm and comfortable to the face when made of gauze. The question of trains, or no trains is one that usually arises at this time oE year, and it seems decidedly that they are to be worn tor receptions and similar occasion, except by very young ladies. At least such is the decision in Paris, where they are made fuller and longer than for some time past. For dancing, however, dresses still clear the ground. Although coiffures are less voluminous than they were, the hair is still piled up on the top of the head, while a few light cnrl3 fall over the forehead. None but young girls wear the cakogaa plaitod or twisted, and tied in a bow in the neck. By way of ornament, a little aigrette of feathers or flowers, springing from the daintiest possible puff of tulle, is the style preferred. All ladies know how bewitching is the new coiffuro now in fashion, tho small toupet Oi frizzled curls placed in the middle in front of the head, a few stray meshes of which fall over the brow, leaving the sides uncovered. IS is, however, 30 awkward to cut one’s hair, or spoil it with fiizzling-irons, to form this toupet, that many a fair one prefers to procure:it ready-made from her hairdresser s. This toupet is put on only after the toquet is on the head, aud the frizzles at the back of it are turned up over the border, and maintained there by the violotte. This is called the coiffure jolie femme, and nothing can be more becoming. Whether with or without train, the Princess robe (says the Season) remains the favourite style in Paris. Nor does the rich material drape so beautifully in any other shape, much less velvet display its rich softness in unbroken folds. Such a velvet dreßS made of cobalt grey, lined with white Chinese silk, over a pink crape devant, with crossway pleats, was lately worn by a distinguished lady at her five o’clock tea, and justly regarded as the very acme of good taste. Ruches are still in great favour for trimmings, and the dress in question had ruchings of velvet lined with pink silk. Very pretty walking dressing for girls of eight to ten are made of plain or striped woollens. The skirt is full and plain, with a few tucks above the wide hem. The bodice is an open jacket, with straight fronts, but tight-fitting back, showing a full blouse front of cream surah. The jacket fronts, collar, and sleeves are trimmed with guipure embroidery, turned back flat on the material. The jacket is fastened at the throat only. Sometimes, instead of the full blouse, there is an under blouse of the dress material, rather full at.the top, and drawn in above the waist ,by a band of very narrow vertioal tucks, forming a kind of corselet. There will be a great demand for woollen, goods for some time to come, and, although it mav seem very early to mention autumn goods, yet (says Weldon’s Journal) the re. port goes shat embroidered dress lengths will remaininvogue, and forthese such designs as poppies, tulips, dahlias, and other large flowers will be woven in the fabrics, otherwise the design will be arranged with very fine silk cord, with which coloured beads will be introduced,

For travelling-dress, the most fashionab e costume just now is what is known as Le R6ve, in fine ladies' cloth, moss or cress green, nut or Indian brown, Sardinian blue, Russian grey, &o. The skirt forms three treble pleats at the back and one double flat pleat on each side, while the narrow space in the middle of the front remains plain. The upper surface of each of the two wide pleats are covered with a fine-braided pattern of a darker shade or black. The bodice is cut princess fashion, all in one, with the skirt at the back ; in front it opens with narrow revers coming straight down to the waist, and also covered with fine braiding. The opening shows a plain vest, buttoned down the middle, with very small revers at the top. Young ladies’ ball toilettes are poems of freshness and simplicity. When they do not wear Empire dresses, with their broad sashes and ronnded corsages, they have delicious arrangements of point d’esprit tulle, gauze, or silk muslin. One example is of white gauze embroidered with coffee spots. The full skirt, edged with three bands of coffee satin ribbon, is mounted on white silk. Over this is a delicious tunic of the gauze, edged with ribbon aud looped with wider ribbon bows. The close-fitting pointed corsage is of gauze on Bilk, the gauze draped en fichu about the low pointed neck. There are no sleeves, a satin bow ornamenting each shoulder. In Paris it is fashionable for girls to wear high full tulle bodices over their low-necked dresses; this is a pretty custom, and one that it would be well for older ladies to imitate. An old farmer, returning from the wedding of a niece in a distant city, was eagerly questioned by his family as to the bride’s costume. « Well,’ said he, * she had on some kind of a dress, with a lot of flubdubbery of some sort or ’nother down the front of it, and a thingamajig on the back of it, with a long tail of some stuff—l don’t know what it was—draging out behind, and a lot of flip-flap flounces over the whole thing. There wasn’t no arms to it, and she had a lot of white truck, soft and floppy-like, on her head, and that s jist all I know about it’—all of which must have been very unsatisfactory to the ladies of his household.