A ROYAL TROUSSEAU.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVI, Issue XXV, 20 June 1896, Page 737

A ROYAL TROUSSEAU.

Some thirty dresses of the trousseau of Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg, to getber with mantles, capes, lingerie, teagowns, dressing gowns, matinees, etc., have been made by Madame Maynier, of Wigmore street, who has dressed the young princesses of the Duke’s family since they left the nursery. The wedding-dress is a charming composition,suited to the dignity of a bride and the girlishness of sweet seventeen. The material is very rich and novel, being the new moire velours, so called from the velvety softness and sheen of its surface, and the large, irregular, and highly effective waves in which the watering is carried out. The skirt, which Hows out at the back in a long and graceful train, is bordered all round with a silk embroidery of myrtle and orange blossom, connected by chains of pearls sewn upon the dress itself. The pointed bodice is low, and at the waist is edged with pearls, and lines of pearls descend from tbe upper part, converging at the waist. All round the shoulders is a frill of chiffon bordered with pearls and lightly embroidered with myrtle. Sprays of orange blossoms ornament it here and there. The short sleeves are puffs of the moire velours draped with chiffon and adorned with sprays of orange blossoms. A cblitelaine of myrtle and orange blossom falls in three long trails at the left side. The wedding veil is to be tulle, with a wreath of orange blossom. A dress to be worn at one of the receptions to be given at Coburg to the German Emperor and Empress is of remarkable beauty. The skirt is fn shaded pink chine silk in an obtrusive design. Tbe bodice is in deep rose pink, a lovely shade called Fragonard, after the artist of that name. The material is silk, and the collar, re vers, sleeves, and full basque are trimmed with fine and beautiful lace laid on tbe silk, and exquisitely embroidered. Tbe mellow white of tbe lace, and the meandering lines in which it is laid on, has a very good effect upon the deep rose pink silk. The dress is lined with primrose silk, and tbe front of the coat bodice is frilled in with primrose chiffon. A ruche of pink ribbon edges tbe skirt, and is carried a few inches up each seam. Among tbe evening dresses is one of sky blue silk embroidered with roses and buds in lines, rising from the hem to tbe height of the knees. The style is Louis XVI., the bodice being pointed in front, and the short, fluted chiffon basque giving almost the effect of small paniere. The bodice is trimmed with silver sequins, and the short puffed sleeves, made without exaggeration, have two rows of sequins round the top. Another Lonis XVI. dress is in broche silk with flowers in the bright and sunny bleu de France upon a ground of soft pale blue. The more decided tint appears in a ribbon round tbe shoulders and borders the puffs of the sleeves. A few folds of cream-coloured lace serve as a relief upon the shoulders. Very picturesque is a Trianon dress in striped blue and white taffetas, the skirt plain and full, and the bodice made with a fichu of white

muslin edged with frills bordered with butter-coloured lace. Down the front a stomacher of tbe muslin is caught in with three narrow bands of black velvet, each held in the centre by a steel buckle. The bodice of an apricot moire is turquoise blue, with an embroidery in appliques of the silk sewn on white gauze laid over the blue. The edges of the apricot appliques are sewn with cream, and the effect of the whole is very unusual and attractive. A lovely drees is in velours moire, the colour being called Aurora, a mingling of soft, cloudy blue and sunset ping. In some lights the nink preponderates, and in others the gown rooks wholly blue. The sleeves are puffings of blue crepe, very closely ranged together, and the pretty bodice is a mixture of puffings of blue crepe and bands of deep cream-tinted lace. There are tea gowns, morning gowns, garden dresses, and dressing robes, in all colours, and suited to all seasons. Some are in tbe most delicate surah, pink, green, blue, maize, and white, trimmed with ruffles of white or coloured accordeon-pleated chiffon ; while others are in the finest wool fabrics, the warmest being made of the soft molleton, in pink, striped brown and grey, and pure white. A beautiful gown for morning wear is in cream coloured zenana, a sumptuously soft woollen fabric. It has a satin collar, and the usual soft puffings of ki'.ted chiffon at the throat and wrists. A beautiful little white cape, in the same material as the wedding dress, is to be worn by the bride on her way to and from the chapel. It is embroidered in flowery lines with pearls, crystal and silver, and has a very bigh collar made in three sections, and lined with very soft, pleated white crepe de chine, which is continued in a wide full jabot down tbe front. The going away dress is made of a new woollen material called Vizier, not unlike canvas, but with a beautiful gloss. The tint is a pure, cold grey, and the bodice has an artistic addition of handsome lace in a warm shade of cream colour. This is fashioned to suit the dress, spreading out, saddle wise, on the shoulders and thence descending to the waist, where, at the back, it falls in full ends, and in front finishes on either side of the central line. To be worn with this a jacket of the finest grey amazon cloth has been mepared. It is lined with white satin, and all round the outlines there is a very rich embroidery of grey sequins and satinstitch. The sleeves are enriched with similar fine stitchery. and are made long enough to fall over tbe back of the hands, this portion being lined with a kilted chiffon frill. Tbe very high collar is richly embroidered and lined with pleated chiffon. Another handsome jacket is in coffee brown cloth, tight-fitting, and braided in curves that droop towards the waist on either side the front. There are long cloaks, one in superb silk shot like a dove’s neck, and made with a very handsome embroidered cape and high collar, capes for evening and afternoon, collarettes, mantlettes, and a unique Indian jacket in red cloth covered with gold braiding, and supplemented by transparent black lace sleeves. The headgear consists of hats and toques, with the single exception of one bonnet, a wonderful composition with a crown of gold, a brim of shaded roses, and a cluster of snowy feathers perched at one side, with a tall aigrette rising from their midst. Many of the toques are in crinoline straw of foule colours, such as green, mauve, maize, and pink. These are trimmed with bunches of flowers, the buds of which are made into aigrettes. The prettiest is made of sequined horse-hair lace, or straw woven into the semblance of lace, with a large bow of the same on one side fastened with a steel buckle. Among tbe most picturesque of the bats is a fancy straw with a large * combcover ’ of black feathers at the back. The crown is filled in with pink roses, and tbe brim is fashioned entirely of rose leaves ; a poetic bat, for youth, beauty, and a princess. A large white one is a snowy drift of chiffon and lace, with a large bow of the latter at the back, held by a diamond clasp. A beaver-coloured straw bat was trimmed with blue of a deep sea shade, trimmed with rosettes of turquoise tulle and chiffon and black quills. The young Princess shares with her mother and married sisters a great taste for neat and dainty muslin collars and cuffs, collarettes, and fichus. From Mr Lee, Wigmore-street, she has ordered a large number of these telling additions to the toilette. Very small tucks with insertion and edgings of white or buttercoloured lace are the usual characteristics, but some are in very fine embroidered batiste, with lace let in and the batiste ent away from beneath it. Tbe trousseau veils and gloves are also obtained from the same firm, tbe former being crescent shaped and made of very fine foundation net, with spots of the same or in chenille. Some have a white ground with black spots, and others are pure white, with a very small dot all over them, the effect of these on the bride’s pink and white complexion being quite dazzling. Brown veils with

white dots are a novelty appreciated by Princess Alexandra. The gloves include some of the new cream coloured ones, with slender black points, the latest devised for afternoon wear. There are gloves for every possible purpose and occasion—buckskin and dogskin for riding and driving, suede for day and evening wear, deerskin and doeskin for morning rambles, and French kid in all the soft, neutral shades in which they are prepared for the coming season. The shoes for the trousseau have been supplied by two or three London houses, and comprise every variety of shape and a considerable number of different colours and materials. There are Russian leather boots and shoes in every shade of brown, all more or less ornamented with stitching and punchings. Bronze shoes with fine embroidery, in delicate colours, are for bousewear, while for walking there are patent leather and fine, soft kid boots and shoes, and for evening wear, others in gold kid, ‘Cromwell’ shape with flaps and buckles, coloured kid to match walking costumes, and white ones for tennis. White satin, richly embroidered in gold, silver, and tints of delicate richness, have been prepared to suit the numerous evening dresses.