MESSRS J. BALLANTYNE & CC.'S SPRING SHOW.

Timaru Herald, Volume LV, Issue 5515, 17 September 1892, Page 3

MESSRS J. BALLANTYNE & CC.'S SPRING SHOW.

Messrs J. Ballantyne and Co. have got their first lot of spring and summer goods opened out and ready for distribution and consumption. The show windows are all very tastefully dressed with samples of numerous lines m stock, and present a most attractive appearance. Th« lar^e central window, devoted to ladies' dreßS stuffs, contuina many new fabrics and now patterns of old ones, to be soon m piloa inside. The millinery window is full of hats and bonr.ctß, trimmed on i!ib prominoo with enviablo skill, and with materials for those and all binds of milliners' work. Tbe windows of tbo men's department do not vary so much from year to year, or season to season, as tho others, the etorner sex being decidedly ooasirvative m their attire, while their sistorg are extremest radicals, desiring change for obange'g sake, The materials for dress and costume thU season contain many real novelties. In the | Manchester or cottons department tbe crepons are quaint stuff*, m which the manufacturers seem to have tried, and wilh a good deal of succers, to imitute the crinkling of leaves (tbo lottuce or cabb&ge for instance). In patterns of frizzling, and m Tarious quiet colouring;, this is a very taking new material. Pongee cottons, m imitation of pongee silks, are wonderfully surfaced. In muslins and aateaoe tiiero are many now patterns and pretty colourings. '1 he clren« and Bilk department contains, be.-ido standard fabrics of the best quality, many novelties which must go off well. The silk weavers are turning out beautifully glos.«y and soft goods, and the dyers are no whit behind ia plnjinir thxir part. The woollen fabrics are ns surprising m their variety of texture, and it is no nomlcr ladies are fond of shipping, or that they should spend a long time over it, when they have to oeloot anything m co great a range of choice. Tbo woollon weavers soon took the hint from the ootron workers (or was it tho other way about ?) and hive alto prjduoed frizzled "orupon" stuffs. Corduroy is another now fabric, resembling m appearance the Bedford oord once so popular amongst our stockmen. It would ho usclost to enumerato the mere names of iho various (luffs, they must be eoen, and handled. The making up of those materials will coon sot the dressmaking department biwy ; already orders lira coming m and customers are consulting the fashion plates, or the head of tho department concorning tho styles to bo aduptod. Long, or trained skirts aro " in"' and Ktons, Chiswbks, Aecots, and Sondovms, hiive been ordered. ( llioee sound rather horsey, some of them ) Tbe shonroom is full of (.rsttinessrs, Parisian and) Londunian, for-ludios' and children's wear. Tho modistes must spend a lot of time devising new things, to throw old ones out of. fashion. Cloaks, capes, and mantles must differ from Iboso ever worn before, and aleo from onch otber as much os possiblo, even when conforming to tome acknowledged typo. Tho " Watteau bow" is one of these types. The milliner has an abundance of boautiful and quaint materials to select from. " Straw " hats are made of a multiplicity of materials, Blraw, grass, reed, I rush, chip, oord, horsehair, b fibre very like that of p hormium tenaxs, and othor materials unrecognisable. Tbe shapes aro more and more variable, from ohoeee plates to " jam pots." Thors is a tendency m aomo plainer ones for tho brim to work its way upwards. It will be on the top ia a year or two, or wo shall see a circular college cap; later on it may become an umbrella above tbe crown. Anything for novelty. Among the ornaments the oonvolvulous appears for Iho first time among tho artificial flowors, the perfection of imitation m which inoreases year by year. Another novel adornment for hati — (garden hats ?)— are sprays of ripe fruit, such as peachee and plums, looking good enough to eat. Amidst a great variety of ladies outdoor garments, some pretty yet simple oloaks for girls ara pointed out. Downstairs the house furnishings is art muslins, cretonnes, oarpets, linoloums, rugs and mats, make a good exhibition by themselves m their variety of matorial, of patterns, and of ilnifh. The men's department as remarked above, is now turned upside down by change of season, but lighter clothinga replace tbe heavier m tho fore front, and straw hats assume to lead m head gear. It ia sufficient to say that this department is equal m its way to the ladies' side. Altogether Mobbh Ballunt.yne'e stock will compare favourably with any m tho colony — we doubt vory much whether it is surpassed for variety and beauty, and it U a matter of perpeiual surprise to us that a small town like Timaru, with only a small oountry population around it, can maintnin the demand for guob large quantities of mttOrials for clothing and adornmont. There they are, however, as onr readers are invited to go and Bee for thorn ccives.