Poplins.

Otago Witness, Issue 2430, 10 October 1900, Page 60

Poplins.

The liking for Irish poplin displayed ;by the Queen on the occasion of her late visit to- Ireland is no new thing. So long ' ago as 1836 rlie "Princess Victoria" ordered ] dresses from the very same firm that sup- ; plied the Queen a few weeks ago. A [bright violet poplin was one of those chosen by the 17-year-old Princess ; and about the same time the latter collaborated with the Duche&s of Kent in designing and drawing out a charmingly pretty pattern 1 of. wheat-ears in bouquets, which was car- ' ried out to order in rose colour and silver.

After the Queen's Accession, in 1838, some rarely beautiful poplins were ordered iby her for ceremonial wear. Among them were two rose, shamrock, and thistle brocades. One was pure white and gold, the other (of different design, the three em- , blems being still more effectively arranged) had the rose carried out in crimson, the thistle in purple, and the shamrock in green, all on a white ground, enriched by gold threads. Some diys ago we (Modern Society) saw cuttings from each of these gowns, and the gold and colours were as bright as those of her 'Majesty's latest purchases.

A considerable change, however, has taken place in the manufacture of poplin during the la&t twenty years. The de- . velopment of our colonies, strange to say, • is answerable for it. Australian and NeAV Zealand wool of special quality is now used with the silk, instead of Knglish wool, which, though soft and elastic to the touch, hardens in process of manufacture, and u&ecl to make the old poplin unbecomingly &tiii. The colonial wool, an the other hand, • weaves fine and flexible, and the poplin of | to-day is, in conseciueiice, as graceful in its folds as a. piece of French cashmere. i Nothing more beautiful could be ima- • gined than the stuffs lately selected by the Queen, who has certainly displayed excel- ! lent taste in her choice. The dress pieces j (including many lengths in each) comprise a, very beautiful gold brocade on white ground, the design bsing Hoyal fern and maidenhair ; an "invisible pink" "brocaded in single shamrocks ; a rich rose-colour, j with conventional eighteenth-century leaf i and ribbon pattern ; a pale heliotrope, plain j and thickly ribbed and rich enough to stand alone ; a black to coner-pond ; a white, with, brocading of white lilies ; a very thick I and handsome cream ; a splendid black I watered poplin, and — prettiest of all-— a "gossamer poplin," very light and dainty, in pure white, patterned with singularly brilliant gold shamrocks. " Fit for a Queen," all of them— and yet the prices are not correspondingly Royal, for none of these magnificent fabric? coat more than tweaity-three shillings a yard. All the genuine Irish poplin in the market is turned om by about a hundred Dublin looms — handloonis all, as tuc best stuff cannot be made by power loonus, which snap and tear the delicate warp of silk. It is obvious, therefore, that much of the poplin sold as such cannot be the real thing ; for the Dublin, output is a fixed quantity, limited by the length of time required to train the woiktr^, and their clannishness in refusing to admit outsiders. Genuine Dublin poplin is very ricn and handsome in appearance, does not crease when folded sharply in the hand, and falls in fine soft, graceful folds.' It is luscious, look^ all s^- , and it certainly '.rear* better ! than if it were, being practically everla&t- | ing, and not at all liable to cut.