DRESS AT ELLERSLIE.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IX, Issue 455, 13 April 1899, Page 12

DRESS AT ELLERSLIE.

[By

Taffy.]

The lawn at Ellerslie was not so crowded on Tuesday as on the first day of the races. All the habitues were there, however. I was not present myself, but I heard that Mrs Donnelly wore a black grenadine, checked with blue, and her daughter a striped pink and green silk, made with a seam down the centre of the front. That the Misses Moss-Davis appeared in white serge skirts and pretty white silk blouses. Also that Mrs Sharman was particularly smart in a Navy blue and white shepherd’s plaid, braided up each seam; with this she wore a li’tle blue coat, braided all over, and “ carried ” —as the French say—a “ harlequin ” hat, turned right off her face, and trimmed with quills.

I was present on Saturday, when there was again a large attenaance. The Autumn Meeting is not very satisfactory from a feminine point of view. It is between the seasons : too warm for our new winter clothes and too late, really, for summer ones. Flimsy chiffons and muslins, thick serges and furs, jostle each other at every turn, and one sees variety if nothing else. Those who elect to wear tailor-made gowns always look appropriately dressed for races at any time of year, and many of these were to be seen. Mrs Lyons, in a Lincoln green sacque coat and skirt; Mrs Ware, in navy blue, with white facings ; and Mrs Ernest Burton, in fawn, with stitched ornamentations of a darker shade, were walking about with the Commander of the Forces.

Mrs Hope-Lewis wore a neat grey tweed coat and skirt, and a toque of three shades of violet

Mm Sharman looked chic et charmante in a navy blue cashmere, bordered with three rows of silver braid ; a Russian blouse, with a very deep rolled back collar of pale blue satin braided with silver, blue folded belt, and a vest of Mandarin yellow chiffon. Her hat was of dark blue velvet, three-cornered in shape. One side was draped with cream lace, another trimmed with pale blue satin, the back with sable tales, and there was a touch of the yellow somewhere, but I forget the exact spot. Many well-dressed women wore black, relieved with yellow, either in bonnet or hat; among them Mrs Scott, of Onehunga, Mrs Devereux, and Mrs Devore. The latter’s dress had sleeves of red and black brocade, and her bonnet was gold openwork, with black feathers. Mrs Keogh wore a handsome black crepon, with vest and rerersof mauve covered with black lace.

A handsome black silk dress was worn by Mrs J. W. Russell, and Mrs Ching was also in black. In the paddock I noticed Mrs Willie Bloomfield in white, and a lovely mauve hat wreathed with Neapolitan violets and bow of ribbon on one side, admiring the beautiful Miss Delaval, with Mrs George Bloomfield, who was gowned in tabac brown, with a Zouave of a darker shade, trimmed with horizontal bands of black ribbon, headed by cream guipure lace. Douglas held quite a levee when he was being saddled up for the Bt. George’s Handicap. Of course, Miss Donnelly was there. This time in

a heliotrope skirt, braided with white down the two front seams, and a pink silk blouse, much tucked and studded with steel buttons in groups of three; a purple hat and parasol Miss Percival and her sister were faking a keen interest in everything. Mrs Johnson wore a beautiful figured electric blue silk, made in the apron and flounce style, and a large black hat, the brim of which was caught up with white ribbon, and trimmed with ostrich plumes and red roses His Excellency the Governor of the Society Islands and Madame and Mademoiselle Gallet were present, under the shelter of the broad wing of Mr George Dunnett, the French Consul. Monsieur Gallet is a fine-looking man, and the two ladies looked more like sisters than mother and daughter. They were dressed in neat travelling costumes of fawn cloth, silk blouses, and felt hats, with blue gauze veils. On the' stand I noticed Miss Bush in a tightfitting scarlet hunting-coat bodice, pointed back and front, with gilt buttons, the revere. faced with white, and this over a white pique skirt. I noticed another startling scarlet bodice, barricaded with cross bars of black velvet, both back and front, and I once or twice thought of the funny things one sees when one has not got a gun. Many of the new hats, for instance, are distinctly remindful of lop-eared rabbits. A black ostrich feather over one ear and a white one over the other, both emanating from a buckle in the centre of the forehead, and flopping at every step taken by the wearer, suggest the gentle pets of the children. But to return to the dresses.

Mrs T. H. Lowry was gowned in Navy blue, braided with black, the bodice cut in a V shape back and front, over a tartan under-bodice of red and blue. With this she wore a very stylish hat of a new shade of red, called, I believe, Cuban — or was it Samoan P

Mrs Edmund Mahoney was in black satin merveilleuse, with cream lace appliques a large hat of black chiffon, pearl crown, black feathers, and yellow chrysanthemums under the brim. The Misses Kerr-Taylor carried exquisite white silk parasols, hand-painted in a design of pansies, a border of lace insertion, and frills of shaded silk repeating the coloring of the pansies. Their dresses were pink muslin, but they were a minor consideration, the parasols were so lovely. Miss Laird wore white muslin, flounced to the waist, and a black hat with yellow flowers. 3 Miss Iredland’s dress was violet cloth, with rows of black braid about ten.inches apart all round the skirt. The pouched bodice had one large rever of white satin, with cross bars of black braid.

I had almost forgotten Mrs Morrin’s pretty pale grey dress. On Tuesday she wore a black and white striped glace silk, with true lovers’ knots of white ribbon. Mrs James Russell wore black opening over a finely tucked nnder-bodice, and sleeves of white chiffon, and a long white sash. Mrs Masefield and Mrs Dufaur, Miss Rathbone, the Misses Warnock, Mrs Kilgour, the Misses Keesing, were there, but as I have already exceeded my allotted space I cannot describe their or other peoples gowns this week.