Ladies' Column

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 357, 12 March 1903, Page 2

Ladies' Column

FASHION AND THINGS FEMININE. Bt MISB ADA MBLLEB WRAPS FOR THE AUTUMN. 3|faS>lGHT colours are by no means dieWp£p car( * e d by the absence of summer, •&&Mi many of the new wraps for autumn wear being of putty-coloured cloth strapped with their own material. Patty-colour, although delicate, is surprisingly durable, and cloth coats or felt hats so tinted give good fresh wear when carefully used, and will keep fresh if dusted with a silk handkerchief each time after use. The elegant three-quarter length coat sketched in this column is intended for dun-colour or putty-coloured cloth. It is smartly trimmed with velvet cuffs and collar overlaid with guipure, and is finished in front with a big bow and ends of guipure, apparently proceeding from the lace on the collar, but really being independent. To give the effect of the continuation, the lace, as it becomes

narrower towards the ends of tne collar, should be slightly folded, nob cut to the actual width. The bow shonld be: a made one, stitched to the coat and not requiring to be tied and untied each iims of wearing, and the velvet should be either black or a deeper shade of the coat material. Stitched straps of cloth give smartness to the border and fronts of the mantle, and the out of the coat, it will be observed, is easy fitting. The cape sketched should be carried out in reversible tweed, the outer surface being splashed and the "reverse' checked • The high roll collar and shoulder-hood ate comfortable and warm, and the crossed straps on thejinside of cape hold the wrap securely in pl*ce A GRACEFUL HOME-DRESS. The single box-pleat, which is being used on many of the new bodices, is in * way novel, owing to its breadth.. It is very wide and is. pressed.. very flat. The home-dreas illustrated in this column is arranged with the box-pleat of the moment, which, it will be seen, proceeds from the decolletage to the waist. The dress itself works out very prettily in cashmere of a bright red shade trimmed with blaek velvet ribbons of graduated width and a

chemisette and trader-sleeve or recucoloured lace. Those who prefer pale blue cashmere can copy the design equally well in their favourite colour, blue ana black being becoming to blonde's and brunettes alike. The Swiss belt, skirt, and bell sleeves are strapped with velvet, and a single band of the same outlines the decolletage. SOME COLOUR SCHEMES, Next to brown and claret-red, hussarblue is to the fore, and Aery excellent is a walking costume of hussar-blue , cloth trimmed withcaraoule or black astrachan, the fur being used as a fashionable square collar and as cuffs, and again appearing in a quite narrow width of the hem of the skirt. A plum-coloured coat and skirt are smartly trimmed with black braid, and a costume of brown zibeline looks charming with a touch of beaver. Here are other seasonable suggestions, from which, mesdames, you may perhaps glean hints that may guide you in your shopping s—A red cloth coat, ulster, or costume is usually improved by the association of black fur or braid as a trimming; electric and other light shades of blue are beautified by grey fur of so pale a colour that it emerges into white in parts; beaver fur on beaver-coloured cloth is always'safe.'

UTILITY SKIBTS. The utility skirt should be blaok, and ftß lightly trimmed as possible, so that it may be becoming to any style of bodice that is worn with it The material par excellence for a skirt of the sort is black wool-satin, soft and supple, and tbat does hot crease, for I am considering the oo- - casions When the skirt in question will travel by train or omnibus en route to theatres and other entertainments fiom suburban districts, and it must, therefore, be tolerably hardy albeit dressy. Merveilleux satin, plain or figured, is also useful, and bengaline offers an alternative choice. So also, does poplin. The materials suggested do not .necessitate a silk slip being worn beneath, as they are not transparent; but my next suggestion, namely d voile skiri, demands that either a silk or cotton-baok satin slip should be a necessary Bupplement The voile skirt might be finished at the hem with a few little frills of its own material. Black lace skirts also call for a silk or satin liniug. Tliey are useful and dressy-looHng, but are apt to catch in protruding pieces of furniture .. if the pattern and texture of the lace are large ,> and coarse, therefore lace skirts need careful wearing, if they are to prove the really useful skirts for which we ax* planning.