Ladies' Column.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 440, 15 September 1904, Page 2

Ladies' Column.

LATEST LONDON AND PAJRIS FASHIONS By MISS IDA MELLER [All Rights Reserved.] SO varied and numerous are the dress fashions of to-day that in surveying modes for the summer it seems as if originality in design must well-nigh have exhausted itself. Fashions are ' elastic ' just now. All sorts of coats are worn, from the tight-fitting basque-coat to the short sacque from Eton ; and skirts are equally varied, ranging from the fitted pattern, with or without a hip yoke, to the full, gathered skirt. The revival of the capo adds yet another choice to the list of summer wraps, and some of the newest and prettiest of these are made with an Eton back. Where the cape proper is not introduced, the capo effect is very often substituted and brought about, sometimes, by the mere arrangement of the sleeves. A cloth dress of much smartness is in a deep shade of dove, and the sleeves fall in a manner suggestive of a cape, almost to the wrists. They are gathered at tho top and then hang in their own natural folds, and are finished with a few rows of stitching at the hems. Beneath are uuder-sleeves composed of frills of lace-edged cambric, such as sold in pairs by drapers. These new under-sleeves are very decorative and convenient, a few tacking threads sufficing to keep them in place and enabling them to be easily and quickly removed from tho outer sleeves for laundry purposes. Robes of embroidered cloth are among tho smartor fashions of the moment, and give a very good effect with a small outlay. Tho price of embroidered cleth, however, like that of plain cloth, varies according to quality. A cloth dress is really the backbone of a

wardrobe all the year round. A pretty way in which some %e new cloth bodices : are made is with # sto)e or pelerine froriti, v 4 which forms the efltire front of the bodice in some cases, while in others it falls somewhat short of the width of the figure, and the rest of the bodice is gathered to the stole, the latter sometimes being piped or ;, embroidered. The stole is a neat simple style for a travelling costume, as it comes up high to the neck and requires no chiffons to soften it. Bodices of softer materials, such as voile or crepe, lend them3elygjflpty prettily to draped fronts, whioh tffie occa- . sionally slightly crossed at the waißt, and open over a fulness of chiffon, while on the upper part the voile material is softened by the influence of a lace collar. A SPOTTED MUSLIJ* FROCK. Pew materials, if any, are prettier than muslin, and the patterns this season are most charming and dainty, Spotted muslins are always more or less effective. For serviceable, dressy wear nothing can beat a black spotted muslin, turned back at the neck with a cream lace collar, and the skirt having small frills at the hem. Plain black muslin blouses are also very serviceable and cool, and a pleasant change from the more generally worn chiffon blouse. Pretty shades in pale blue arc introduced into the now muslins for the summer, and several charming frocks in cerise muslin, with folds on the skirts and blouses, aro among vogues for the hot weather. The dress sketched this week illustrates a pretty style for spotted muslin. The skirt is

gathered at the waist and trimmed below with three bands of guipure lace, and the blouse-bodice is cut low in the neck and turned back with the tabs of guipure, and a vest of tucked batiste frills in the interval between blouse and throat, while knots of ribbon velvet appear in front. The sleeves i«e slightly gathered at the top and are finished with lace cuffs. The muslin frock should be worn over an independent foundation, with a view to facilities for laundry purposes; but where a gauged yoke is introduced, as in the frock sketched, it is advisable to stitch the part to a muslin foundation, or the threads are apt to break when the dress is washed.

ETOJ< COSTUME FOR A GIRL, With the increased appreciation fcrf tailor-made coats and skirts that is apparent among women, it is not surprising that children's fashions should be built largely upon these lines; and some smart little costumes with strapped skirts and Eton coats are now shown by those who minister to the sartorial needs of the juvenile world. Children's fashions are undoubtedly very much smarter than they used to be, and are more inclined to follow on the lines of the costumes of their elders without, however, being unduly ' old' in style. A suggestion for a fashionable tailor-made costume for a girl is given in the accompanying sketch. The skirt is arranged in nice

wide box-pleats, which are strapped on the upper part with bands of their own material, stitched down tight. Above is a short, loose 'Eton coat, turned back at the neck with a wide collar faced with whito or Eton-blue cloth (if the frpek be of navyblue serge 6r other dark material, for instance), closely stitched all over. A scarf (of Eton-blue silk is drawn through a few 'stitched tabs at the neck and down the fronts of the coat, and the cuffs are bell - I shaped and finished with stitching. A high belt should bo worn at the waist. This smart little costume will prove useful, later on, foe the summer holiday at the seaside. If built of cherry-red or pale blue , frieze, or serge, the scarf at ; the nock should be white, for preference. \

England has twenty-eight railway tunj nols of a mile or more in length. j The engines of a first-class man-of-war oost about £140,000. ! I / ! In Chicag<j> bread must be stamped .with :the weight and the name of the baker; : - It is unwise to have a house too much shaded. An Italian proverb says that ' where the sun never comes the doctor must.' The most; valuablo crown in Europe s the Portugese; but tho Austrian, valued at £IIO,OOO, is ; the finest specimon of the goldsmith's firt. A moderate wind moves at the rate of seven miles per hour ; a storm at tho rato of thirty-six miles ; and a hurricane at tho rate of eighty miles.