Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 13, Number 23, 19 March 1881 — SPRING FASHIONS. [ARTICLE]

SPRING FASHIONS.

NEW FABRICS AND POPULAR STYLES FOR

THE COMING SEASON.

Marked Improvement in the Manufacture of Cotton Goods— Short Dresses— Popular Style of Bonnet— Notes.

1 1 At the present time there is not the least excuse for buying silk when it cannot be afforded, or when wool or cotton would do just as well. The cotton manufactures for dress purposes " have 7 been gradually improving for several • years past, or rather they have revived some of the styles that were known long ago, before silks became ] so common as to j drive I them for ..' a . time from the market. .This spring, they are daintier,' prettier, "■ more varied ; and ; more attractive than ever. -The soft satines are tine as silk, and there is a new cotton batiste " to which the name does great injustice, for it is not so slszy ;as the linen batiste, and will not wear " stringy " aa does the linen batiste, unless it I is of the very highest grade, and then it is too costly for a majority. •'.,•. x What is called cotton batiste is made like linen dress lawns. It is "sheer," as ladies say, ; without being diaphonous, • and fine aa well as fair. ty It comes in j small, charming designs some ; bid English and some a modification of the Japanese. Some lovely ; patterns are in shaded blues, and others in very dull buff, with minutest leaves and tiny brown berries in the delicate designs.

THE SHORT DRESS

Is still . in the I ascendant, and it depends upon women themselves to keep it so, or at best, so well sustained and protected that any woman can wear it without feeling herself remarkable. At present the short dress, as before remarked, is in the ascendant. - The majority of evening dresses of silk, satin and brocade, worn by young girls, are cut short, and spring walking and visiting dresses of the richest material clear the ground, so that they can be worn with comparative comfort. Unlike the modes of some ten or fifteen vers ago, which ran into all sorts of eccentricities and made those who indulged in it look like mountebanks, the style ot to-day is, or may be, modest, sensible and convenient. It is not too short, and it is most fashionable when it is simple and free from overloading. ! One of the short dresses made recently for a bride's outfit was of the richest winecolored velvet, and consisted of a shirred and flounced skirt, a princess polonaise, and street jacket lined with silk to match. Polonaise and jacket were untrimmed except with exquisite buttons of carved moss agate, and ruffle and jabot of Mechlin lace, the jabot for the jacket forming shell-like ends, but that for the polonaise reaching to the waist. Another short dress for the same trousseau was composed wholly. of satin of the new blue green shade known as "duck'sbreast." It consisted of : a trimmed skirt, basque and small "Mother Hubbard " mantle, the latter gathered at the throat, but drawn in at the waist, where tho fronts were confined by a broad belt. The skirt in front was a mass of shirrings and small, straight puffs and ruffles. The basque was a modified cuirass, sloped at the sides and with a fan-shape at the back ; and the rich trimming of knotted silk and chenille fringe, with deep-netted beading upon the mantle, exactly matched the shade of the satin.

Another dress for more serviceable wear was of dark-brown zephyr tweed. It consisted of walking skirt, polonaise and cape with hood. The skirt was trimmed with a single flounce, made in clusters of five pleats spaced between for about half the distance occupied by the pleats. The polonaise formed hollow pleats below the waist, which gave it the requisite fullness, and was girded just below the line of the waist with heavy cord and tassels. The cape was straight and lined with Bilk ; the hood with dark-brown satin. The tone was dark-brown throughout, "which ia much more elegant for out-door costumes than a striking contrast.

THE NEW TWEED.

The new spring tweeds for suits are "all wool fine, soft, with an almost imperceptible rib, and 40 inches wide. They come in olive gray, brown, invisible green, and wine mixtures, at from to $1 25 per yard, in New York, the cloth stripes and minute checks being only $1 and very suitable for spring ulsters as well as suits. Two yards make a Scarborough ulster with double collar or hood, as preferred, and no trimming is required except a quarter of a yard of plain silk or satin as lining for the hood, and buttons which should be of dark smoked pearl. If the collar is used instead of the hood, the edges should be faced with silk and finished with several rows of stitching. The tweed suits are very simply made in three different styles. One is the Jersey princesse dress, and is . very suitable and pretty for young girls. The lining for a Jersey basque is lengthened into a complete dress, and upon it is mounted the outside of the basque-shape and a deep kilting which is headed by a wide sash laid in folds and knotted at the side or finished with straps. If the sash is silk or satin it should be gathered into a round knot upon the ends and completed with tassels, but if it is made of tweed ' the straps are more suitable. ' yff, ' ,

Another style consists of a skirt polonaise draped away from the front and arranged in a double pleat at the back and a cape, with hood or without. The skirt is arranged with three ki! tings in front and one at the back. It may be mounted upon a lining. .'.7 ' yy '■; ■- '-!■ 7 A third style consists of plain cuirass basque and trimmed skirt, the latter arranged very much as the polonaise, except that the back is draped, not full,' however, and low down. - - With this and the jersey dress jacket |is usually made to complete tha. suit, and this may have a collar of satin of the - darkest shade to match, or a hood lined with satin. -7- 7-.

. The bonnet may be a little capote of satin trimmed with feathers, or a dark mixed straw (Cabriolet) 7 with a pretty bunch of dark shaded leaves and field berries upon the side, and tapestry silk ribbon for bows and strings. ■' 9 A great deal of . robbin's-egg and gensdarmc blue will be worn by young girls, these shades being particularly attractive in line wool 'and in silk plush,. which is used for mounting rather : than • for trimming, as it is usually confined to collar and cuffs, 7 although.; it < sometimes | reappears upon the skirt. -"-.' Satin is also used by those who have grown tired of plush during ; the winter, and is preferred to brocade . or figured fabrics. -,-.:

. j The new blue green or bird blue ;is not yet to be found in any but rich materials satin, satin de lyon and. the like— and the most expensive spring suits are made of it, and are trimmed with bands of beaded feathers which match exactly the different effects :of color and have a j wonderful effect. 1 .-". 'f7 . . ....'. BONNET TRIMMINGS. ?7 The new spring bonnet has hardly as yet made its appearance, but the popular shape ;• will be the Old English, the modern " Cabriolet.'' The cottage shape and the capote have also* their admirers, but the capote is principally made lin | fabrics to match costumes, and being small is capable of being a sort of jewel upon; the head.';; A verypeculiar one worn recently had the form of a brown luminous beetle. It was all beads and a scaly material like brown cloth-of-gold. Another, was of feathers made from the breasts of ducks. J In the narrow I interior of the brim the feathers were scarlet, deepening into wine color. v 7j yyff7f f: Bark mixed straws will ' be worn largely this season, trimmed with low hush '< leaves and berries. v Fruits will, from present appearances, quite take the : place of flowers,' or will be mixed with email blossoms and flowers.*' The J Email' blue , German grape appears in clusters, and might be mistaken for. our own blue-uerry. j Some of the sprays I are tangled up in very, wild-wood fashion, tia- ■ - *-•■*..;

and these are the ; most desirable. [Hartford Post Correspondence. „

• ! NOTES ABOUT THE FASHIONS. . Silk bonnets are > in- high ' favor and are made to match the toilet. 7

7 ... The shooting I jacket : now so ; popular is becoming only to slender figures. •• :• •. Plush will be used upon spring costumes of cheviot, cloth and cashmere. : t Uncut velvet , in ," changeable ; colors will be used this season as a dress trimming. 75 Henry 11. toques' of plush or velvet are favorite hats both in Paris and London. :■

The corsage bows of satin to be worn at the left side :of the belt have reached absurd dimensions. t - '

; 7 Embroidery and '•: hemstitching )in - the highest styles ;of > decorative art - are now applied to table linen. v. y The most fashionable porte bonkeur of the moment is the bracelet formed of silver medals. ■•.';''* ■' .; ■ '-',- • The old-fashioned flowing sleeves of lace are again popular. The 'wide directoire i collars are worn with them. ',-' Dove-colored silk stockings embroidered ' in colors to match the toilet are tho very ! latest novelties in French hosiery. 7 Egyptian scarabees and South American ; beetles have been supplanted j by locusts j and Texas tarantulas j formed of gold and ; enamel inlaid with imitation jewels. . I Bridemaida i wear short ; veils ,of : white silk tulle, and shoulder capes, and dainty monchoir muflV, formed entirely of white flowers and edged with j frills of . rich lace. Chenille flowers and foliage \ are very fashionable ; they are used for coiffures and the trimming .of bonnets, and : are especially pretty and effective when twisted among the braids and coils of the hair. . Brocaded and p'aided • ,Surah is much used for brides or spring bonnets. A pair j of these broad scarfs like strings, with an ; Alsacian bow on the crown of the hat, is ! .all the trimming that is needed to trans- j form a winter bonnet into a bright-looking I head-dress suitable to wear until the June : breezes blow. ' v ■ „. " . >"•.-• i ''iyy.^-'yi- -•':'£ \ The Louis XV. coat basques for street ! wear will continue in favor. The material j for these coats is generally of black embossed | velvet, as they can then be worn l over skirts of every description. The coat' requires very little ' garniture except the buttons, which must be very handsome. | Steel lace is a novel fancy in millinery trimmings, although gold and silver laces retain their . popularity, and Spanish, Nemours, Renaissance, and laces wrought in designs of whjte Derbyshire spar beads ■ and seed pearls have appeared in large ' quantities, and are much employed in the formation of opera and reception bonnets. ■ Newly imported costumes are all bouffant in fleet about the hips, bat narrow, plain and clinging around the lower portions of the skirts. The sharrrfy-peaked bodice is also a feature of these toilets, many of j them having handsome fichus of lace to be worn over them. The general effect is a close resemblance to the costumes of the latter part of the eighteenth century. yy \ Some of the new spring bonnets are studdied with mock jewels, and some of | the fancy braids aro dotted with tiny straw ; buttons and . crystal heads. The bright | yellow straws have the precedence of the j pure white, although the white chips are unusually delicate and beautiful, and are ■ exceedingly graceful in shape. The Belgian split satin braids . and the Florence and Tuscan straw a are equally attractive j and I new in design. The new directoire mantle is made very long and is exceedingly graceful. This ] wrap is shirred over the neck and shoulders j and is made of a dark bronze, or black ! vigogne, lined with gold-colored Surah silk, j and trimmed with amber, bronze and gold- ; beaded ornaments. Sometimes the mantle i is formed of heavy black Sicilienne, lined I with crimson and trimmed with sparkling i ornaments of jet and Hungarian cords and spikes. Although the spring dress fabrics are ex- < ceedingly elegant in color and design, there ' is a noticeable and happy tendency toward simplicity of style in the formation of the I garments made of this new material. Street j costumes are made in the severe style so j popular the past season the Trinitariai , dress being a decided favorite. This cos- J tume will be much in vogue during Lent, j and is invariably made of black. Another i popular dress to be worn during this season ] is a short kilted skirt of black Hindoo I cashmere, with a draping of the same ma- • terial laid over it in heavy upright folds. ! A jersey bodice is added, and over this ' waist is worn a pelerine of black fur or j plush. t''*" f - ■ . ni.si.wi i ■■■■■. i.isMw i. m »■ !