FASHION IN LONDON.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3175, 1 September 1881, Page 4

FASHION IN LONDON.

One of the first facts that strike us this year in the matter of dress is how much the costumes of rich materials have been supplanted for morning wear, even with middleaged ladies, by those of washing fabrics. As to young girls, they appear principally _to ring the changes on three notes —pink gingham, blue gingham, and white cambric ; and of these the pink is the most universal favourite, reminding us by its prevalence of the brown holland rage of some year 3 back. Almost every third dress is pink gingham, and very fresh and charming the dresses made of ifc are, helping to form a veritable ' rosebud garden of girls.' Nearly all these pink and blue washing frocks are made in the same fashion—a very simple one, of a full bodice fastened behind, waistband sometimes drawn in with an old paste buckle, tunic looped up on one or both sides, and short skirt covered with small kiltings. Some of these dresses are trimmed with cream lace, but Liu,' [iret f iest are those with no such extra adornment, an.l the pink only softened by the cream tint of the krge lace or muslin hat, the light Saxe gloves, and the cream parasol. Thc-'j is more variety in the white gowns, whether of cambric, washing silks, flannel, or nunscloths, the four favourite materials in white and cream at present. A very pretty white cambric, trimmed with white lace and embroidery, is looped over a black velvet skirt, and worn with a small white bonnet, with a rose wreath inside ; while a large paj&sol of white lace completes the costume. A pretty white flannel costume looks charmming with a big hat of claret velvet; and another most dainty frock is a cambric with a cream ground, with dull mauve tinted rose? strewn on it, looped over a Bkirt of cream sateen, the waistband being a wide folded one of satin of a peculiar shade of yello.; olive, matching the calyxes of the rose? while the large ecru cream hat has a tuft oi' old gold silk poppies in front. Pretty as thi* last dress is, ifc would be difficult to decide between its claims and those of another gown worn by a tall, slight girl, which is made of myrtle-green cambric, trimmed with the open ecru embroidery that so closely resembles old Venice point; the bodice is made very full, and with a Swiss belt of the cambric ; there is a great bunch of amber Marechal Niel roses at the throat, and the hat is a wide, old-fashioned Leghorn, trimmed with a large bow of black velvet in front, but the brim is crimped, and it is sot somewhat back on the head, so as to form a pale aureole round the face.—Queen.