WOMEN'S CORNER

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19148, 3 November 1927, Page 6

WOMEN'S CORNER

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2.) VICTORIAN RELICS (WBITTEF FOR THE PBESS.) (By Mrs Malcolm Ross.) LONDON, September 21. After weeks at the seaside, where the beach girl strolls about in her coat of sunburn and so little raiment that she back to her stone-age ancestors and completes Fashion's cycle, one finds added interest in the Eoyal Victorian costumes in the London Museum. Our sisters of that period deserve our pity, so cumbrous, insanitary, and superfluous -were their garments—and so frankly ugly that even lovely Alexandra's beauty must have been dimmed in such settings. One sympathises with the children. My heart absolutely bled for King Edward as a small boy, decked out like a puppet in grotesque and bizarre mode. Figure to yourself the little six-years-old chap in buckskin breeches—very tight, and laced at the sido with cords ending in tassels—a coat of blue velvet embroidered with gold fastened by a dozen little gold balls and loops, the whole completed by a tiny round cap of red velvet almost covered with gold beads, and inset scraps of looking-glass! So garbed a Cupid would have looked a monkey, and it is pitiful to think how trammelled the child must have been. A plaid velvet dress, and a pelisse of magenta velvet bordered with minever were also in his wardrobe. All the Eoyal babies wore caps—the handiwork, perhaps, of queenly fingers—of daintv needlework and fairy-liko fabrics, and the out-of-door bonnets were quaint conceptions of lace . ruches of narrow ribbon and quilted silk. The little shoes, too, were fascinating. A pair of King Edward's were dolightfully stubbed at tho tiny toes, and worn with open-work silk socks. A pair of ! Princess Mary's is of fawn red, buttoned at the side, with scarlet rosettes, and there are some absurdly small satin and silk slippers in which." little Eoyal | feet have toddled. Stuffiness seemed

the watchword of Victorian modes. Even the golden cradle in which the Royal babies smiled or cried is too ornate and overwhelming with its ponderous Cupids and scarlet linings. The christening cloaks of heavy velvet bordered with ermine, yards in length and very voluminous, must have wellnigh stifled the ■ Royal infant and wearied its beaver. Charming, however, is the little blue silk coverelt with frilled edges, overlaid with finest Irish crochet, that covered in turn each of Queen Victoria's babies.

If the children were "cribbed, cabined, and confined," the women were in worse case, what with tho steel and whalebones, the tight-lacing, and the enormous amount of material used in a gown—material, too, usually of heavy nature. Tho going-away costume a coat and skirt—of the Duchess of Teck. is of incredible dimensions. Its colour and material are rather charming—a pinkish mauve rich grosgrain silk—but the skirt set in stiff folds must bo at least 10 yards round, and the coat four yards at the hem. It is trimmed. weirdly with bands of blue silk with Maltese lace insertion laid on them, and a blue fringe edges the i coat, while tho skirt is cut at tho foot

| into small tabs, falling over the. blue, and white bands. It is an appalling; costume, save for the; delicate-tone of the silk, and this is probably the kindly act Time, which has softened and .mellowed all.the crude and garish colours of that period. There were' then not all the lovely shades of to-dav to choose from. Besides the immense amount of material used, the gowns lhust have been most uncomfortable. It is easy to understand in that age of tightJacing the need of the smelling-bottle. All Queen Victoria's and Queen Alexandra's Court frocks were much boned

and laced at the back, and the waists were incredibly slim. Queen Victoria's wedding-gowu is of mellow satin with frills of priceless lace on the low neck, short sleeves, and at the foot of the skirt. The frock she wore on her wedding evening was simplicity itself—thick white silk with tiny frills ' of spotted silk net, held here and there with bows of satin ribbon. Some of her gowns were of Spitalfields silk of wonderful texture,, one especially, of bluish grey with bands of blurred roses and green leaves. Flat frills and ruches were the usual trimming, and generally .tho Jittle lace stomacher and the bertha were features. Sweetest of all Victoria's frocks • was a straight, highwaiited satin veiled.-with silk net. She must have :been about twelve when she wore it, but it touched the ground, and the tiny bodice was quite low and demurely banded with the satin. It was a delicious contrast to the garish tartan velvet of .her younger days. ■Li most encl] antinfr relic was her wedding bonnet—a huge poke of finest ' white Dunstable straw, with a cap of trills of fine lace, and orance blossom inside, -a cluster on one side,, and • a falling veil of.filmy, lace. The round, young face, girlish and sweet, must have looked enchanting in such a lrame. There were few relics of beautiful Queen Alexandra, but her wedding gown, of thickest 'silver moire very wide, and with shirred seams lace flounces, and wreaths of orange hlossom so neaw com pa red with the delicate modern flowers, is m a separate ea*e • . After all the elaborate and rather tasteless gowns it is a delight to look at a frock of Princess Charlotte style of finest white muslin, very ' ichwaisted tho bodice only four inches deep, the short sleeves of alternate Pnffsof muslin and bandsof net gned by exquisite tiny tucks. Tho same skut, falling in lovely folds to tl f, ground , s embroidered at the hen, J? is a model of dainty stitcherv an "tie grace and simplicity of the gown be J ond all words. I n these davs when ovei these gowns T?,if „e th«»ii siir+i— 1 ■ . ut » or course, i ;- c ?, heso tl,re€ tilings were mor-

i«r£l US + ? C - lr J ,ICCSS Charlotte had a pretty taste , n dress, for her wetflinV \ gown « absolutely fairy-like, of gleam. I ing silver tssue with apron front of silver spotted net and lace and a high-waisted bodice and tiiiv alcoves decked with silver lace in a design of leaves and roses. It is a fairv-likerobe | all soft- brilliance. Of this same Prini cess I may write more later, there are so many relies of hers in this treasury of Royal belongings. I must, before closing, however, notice Victoria's bonnets. At the opening of the 1851 exhibition she wore a small poke of grey-purple silk with knots of lace and green leaves, and her jubilee toque—for it was stringless—was massed with white plumes on a brim of black and white lace. A most striking exhibit is a very large crimson umbrella, encrusted and fringed with gold. With it was probably worn the crimson velvet cloak, heavy too : with gold embroideries, and tied with thick crimson and gold- cords ending in great tassels —a fearsome garment, and one in which the little ,Oueen must have been almost obliter- 1 "iWe may raise our eyebrows at the scanty raiment of to-day, but, after all—provided it does _ not transgress the laws of decency, it is to be preferred—in comfort, beauty, and ■ hygiene—to the garments of 50 years ' ago. ■