Ladies' Column.

Otago Witness, Issue 1596, 24 June 1882, Page 27

Ladies' Column.

The world was tad— the garden mat a uild; And man, tht hermit sighed— till woman smiltd. — C&MPBBLIi

Among the Fashions.

, -'What does one see in the way of fashions' ' (asks a lady correspondent), in walking along Regent street, in glancing round the Lyceum during the ' run ' of ' Romeo and Juliet,' or in examining ; the combinations 1 at Worth's or Felix's ? One very elegant simple costume is of moire and cashmere, the colour being slategrey. Round the skirt is a plaited flounce, surmounted 'by moire an inch or so wide; the tablier is provided with flounces, and the polonaise'is cashmere. The regulation bow at the back is more prominent than last season ; moire is used for waistbands, cuffs, and collar. The collar is about six inches deep, and the cuffs are about three inches. This costume is varied by being of claret colour, by the introduction of bead embroidery, by a high moire bodice pointed in front and delevoping coat tails at the back, and by a high collar. For walking purposes the ulsters are made in imitation of gentlemen's tailed coats. The garment is divided at the back, the slit being surmounted by buttons. The favourite colour is light-grey. A very handsome bodice consists of satin and dark-green cloth with point in front and bow at back. The effect of the satin upon the dark-green ground is very striking. On the bodice there are in front two angular revers-oi satin on each side of the long strip of Breton lace, which, after forming the collar, passes down the front of the bodice as far as the bottom of the point. The new guipure fichu is ornamented by a bow and side pieces of bronze satin ribbon. The mantle of the season is the Helena, which is made of satin, and trimmed as a rule either with Spanish lace or jetted fringe. The fringe or lace is very deep-set. A moire bow at the back sets off admirably a really elegant finish to a walking costume. Parasols are much larger than usual this season, and the best are provided with lining so loose that the silk hangs in folds between the ribs when the parasol is opened. The worst of silk parasols is their extreme dearness if really good, and consequently an effort has been made to introduce cotton ones of a superior quality and finish. They are, of course, much cheaper, and so well are they got up that only upon close examination can you tell that they are not silk. It is fashionable to deluge the parasol with lace in row after row.

A beautiful dress, originating with a London milliner, is of a black gauze, embroidered with jet, and trimmed with quantities of black French lace, with ruches of the new taffetas and of lace. This new silk is an exact reproduction of the old-fashioned glace, revived in company with the old pinked-out ruches, the resuscitation of which is giving employment to thousands of the very poor throughout the country, as well as in town. The arrangement of the lace and niching at the back is very graceful and original, the lines running diagonally from right to left, the whole being suggestive of the graphic "French word, frou-frou. A flounce of rich Calais lace falls round the waist. A shell trimming of jet edges the panior-like' arrangement of the embroidered gauze. A dress intended for morning wear at perhaps such places as Ascot or Sandown is of a deliciously-rich, dark shade of brown, with almost a suggestion of dull sago throughout it. The whole of the front, with an exception afterwards to be described, is covered with cream-coloured lace, fully draped over folds of tho brown satin, and ending in a soft, silken fringe, worked into the edges of the laco. This is intersected by a thick shell ruching of brown satin, with a small admixture of pink satin of the soft, old-fa&hion shade. This ruching curves upwards on either side from the centre of the front, about half-way down. Tn the very middle of the front, a panel of darkbrown velvet runs from waist to foot, opening about half->vay down, like a pea pod, and .showing the soft, pink satin lining. This panel add* to the apparent height, which might otherwise lie detracted from by ihe intersecting ruching lust described ; and also counteracts the ell'ecl of fulness given by (.ho arrangement of the lace over tho satin. All round the edge of tho .skirts is a trimming of brown satin pleats, about two inches wide, lined with pink satin. At the back is a graceful arrangement ot brown natin, with occasion ■:! ',qir>ro undf, liiw'l wall )>iplc, "ntl ;ui!l!". (In] )<ioini vb et. I

Think of Liiii. lovely diush in c< .uipaiiy w'ih a, j Hullo iJi'.'i; of lirov/n kid ehoey, biov/ii dik&lock- j

An eminent physician has lately published a circular warning women against the use of rouge. He states, and cites cases innumerable^ l that it produces premature failing of the eyesight. The horseshoe device which has been so ex- • tensively used on Christmas cards, wedding presents, and as receptacles for holding flowers, ' is growing out of favour. In its place the four-leaved shamrock reigns supreme. The passion flower, it is said, was one of the flowers which received a sort of homage or worship from' the fervent superstitions of the early discoverers of the new world. It was first found in the Brazils, and very soon it became famous throughout Christendom. Its name is suggestive of the solemn reality it was romantically supposed to typify, which the particleaof the blossoms are supposed to represent. As it has become common, naturally it has lost its sacredness, and has the bare vestige of it now left in its name.

During the carnival at Nice, a waggish, goodlooking young Englishman took advantage of flower day to throAV bouquets at all the pretty girls. Each bouquet contained a billet-doux, stating that the writer was a young lord with a long rent-roll — madly in love with the fair lady, but being too timid to propose, took this opportunity of declaring himself, and of laying his hand and fortune at her feet. Signed Sir John B 1. Before dusk that same day , thirty young ladies might have been seen walking sadly from Hotel G , having learned that the young lord was all moonshine ; thirty pairs of eyes flashed with anger, and thirty foolish little hearts vowed vengeance on Sir John (?), who was enjoying the lark from an upper window. ; ;v ' The ex-Empress Eugenic reached , Paris this morning, and at once proceeded onwardsto Italy'— so runs V telegram in' one of tlijb* London daily papers. What a world of hidden meaning is there in that, simple sentence! '. If there is any one whose fingers would linger' over the soft music ,of 'Scenes that are brightest;' if there is any one whose' heart, the. sa ( <l wailing's of 'Oh! for the touch of a. vanished' hand, and the sound of a voice that is' 'still,' could , come with a doubly' deep force ( aha pathos, that one is the ex-Empress., '.By&'cp'! incidence the parents of the bride' of Prince' Leopold,, are to ocpupy' the apartments 'at Windsor Castle in 'which Napoleon 111 'arid Eugenic were installed on the great occasion of 1855. Now the childless widow ,has no part or lot in the festivities or doings of Royalty. Her secluded life at Chislehurst— now fast growing into a fashionable and popular suburban place of residence— is seldom broken in uppp. , -In France the causa of her family is infinitely more hopeless f&fan when Louis Napoleon'first' obtained the Presidency, which he afterwards converted into an Imperial throne; in England, her only connection with Royalty and society is the private sympathy and friendship ' of the Queen, and the respectful but pitying intercourse of a few of the nobility. It was once announced that the Empress meant to enter a convent. She has done so already if separation fiom the world means the same thing.