LADIES' LETTER FROM PARIS.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 177, 2 January 1875, Page 4

LADIES' LETTER FROM PARIS.

%^ : it edrrStpdnetent of the Press.) ■!<■ TII6 eWeme Republicans must perceive by Hj-Jbiff-thajrthere is;'something good' in, all The visit of the Prince 'df itifii put life into-the dried bones of |i^;the-o|ld|«erichi aristocracy, and money into trades, and his Agreeable Wahners, coupled with 1 undisguised symW&jjfflS&ii the him not only a ;''j.^|spß' : btrt the;' favorite guest. He dis-much'-liberality', equality, and fraKt.[t/atm^i 'that it is not quite clear he has gone R? * ae Democrats, or the latter have Constitutional Monarchists. One party will not make much I - diffiinmce in France, where nothing is con- ;• Bt2tU|lbnal. This is the moment of retours, p of Wales and his Princess return r. and our Deputies are returning % jftfTejaailles to rehearse their coming battles, Palace is intended to contain an addip''ticjiiiyfo aU the glories of France, that of an ? , Jljfefably decreeing its own immortality till | of grace 1880, after immortalising Siteptf for such a long time past; Madame Patti has returned to us in a kind of swallow flight of aung, doing her best to succeed in her impassible music lessons in the "Huguenots" and "Faust," where she proved a beautiful failure, she received 5000 f r per night to confirm her breakdown, with the right of manufacturing her own soda drinks between the acts, and setting theatrical critics and political editors at loggerheads, and nearly ruining France by producing a rupture of the banns whicH united the vain Faure with his soft-hearted director. Paris feels more

relieved at the . departure of Patti to enjoy her drosky and roubles at St Petersburg, than at the collapse of the Serrano-Bismarck threatening letter, inviting France to prepare her coffin, because the Spanish troops cannot drive Don Carlos over the border, being too much occupied like a celebrated King of France, who marched bis men up a hill and then marched them down again. The Grand Duke Constantine; h&8 returned home, amazed at Republican France being more tranquil than imperialised Poland. He has been the unconscious cause of stimulating the fashion for gentlemen to wear bracelets on their arms, out of memory to patron saints and first wives, or in honor of great expectations from maiden aunts with'''life-preserving rheumatisms. The; Grand Duke had a simple bracelet of his wife's hair. It is said that he left Paris precipitately to avoid the monster charity for the distressed Alsatians and in France, a colony that must be ' inji; plight, since pity or patriotism accords T -tliefr members numerous professional favors

' at half-price; several dentists will operate on . thieta at a reduction of fifty per cent, and a .noted patent medicine dealer will supply them with purgative pills and cod liver oil on the same terms. At the operatic representation in question many robes displayed flowers and diamonds;-there was a delicious toilette in straw satin, with a gauze tablier, embroidered with pansies in divers shades, with a pouff behindhand raised with a satin scarf similarly embroidered. It was the most marked,.the principal costume distinguished by individuality, for fashion is tending to become personal,'so that a salon "filled with ladies, may in matter of toilettes resemble So many pictures and not a collection of uniforms. The Duchesse de Montmorency carried off the palm for head-dress; the chignon was worn . very high, and very back on the head, in the form of 'a crown united to the bands by a bunch of flowers at the left side. Tabliers were in great favor, and were surcharged with jet embroidery velvet applications, and garnished with divers colored flowers. The new jet is made in so many shades, as to possess all the brilliancy of sapphires, emeralds, rubies, and topazes. When one thinks of all the cuirasses, coats of mail, laces, fichus, velvet bands, &c, covered with spangles and pearls, worn by pretty ladies in the crush, of splendidly lighted salons, with fascinating music, mixing its harmonies with the perfumes of exquisite fl>weis, it may be % forgiven for concluding one has strayed into Mahomet's paradise. Another retour very \l much spoken of is that of Prince Jerome ifapolebEi to his first love—Red politics; p buthe has not even frightened a single lady annuitant to take time by the forelock by quitting Paris. People never allude to his ;'Princess, poor dear creature, wrapped up in ' her children and piety ; how happy it was

-for'her to have been bred up'-to a cloister- '■ life^for Victor Emmanuel kept his daughters 8,8 concealed as if they were born in a harem. Italy conducts natui ally to the pifferari, who since years have had the run of France ; these musical gutter-children never made much money for themselves, but a great deal for their speculators. As France and Italy have been striking a balance of their accounts, the pifferari have to go home with the whole of their impedimenta, comprising a hurdy-gurdy and an Alpine rat. French ladies have an excellent plan of shopping ; first, I should observe, the principal drapers at the commencement of each season advertise very largely, a combination of poster type and diamond print, on the last page of the newspaper, for the first is sacred to political lucubrations; each article advertised has its price also set forth. Ladies, study and mark the sheet with the gusto that an old amateur would the catalogue of an exhibition of paintings ; they set out on a pilgrimage to the bazaar, for a shop nowadays is only that, and speud two hours examining the articles exposed, coolly asking assistants to unroll this and open out that, and finally support the house by purchasing a pair of gloves for two francs. That evening something between a cabinet council and a court martial is held respecting the goods, &c, examined, and next morning, for serious customers arrive before breakfast, that is to say, first dinner, they make their purchases with the cuteness and decision of a stock-broker. It is a nuisance that some of these establishments do not undertake to send purchased articles to your address; on the other hand, there are shops with delivery vans the size of Noah's ark, and which it is said serve as dormitories for

the shop assistants, that will convey a spool Of cotton 6r a pair l of Swedish gloves with all the solemnity of .a wedding trousseau and all the precaution of a registered letter. Far '■' iioerior to antibilious pills is the modern . cjirefoT impaired digestion, that of eating c 'gfapes ; you are to pass your days in the " Vines like the hares and partridges, eat as many of the luscious grapes as possible, and v, iM,liktle of anything else, and walk till feeling fatigued. Thiskindof" grazing"isfarsuperior [ to ,'tliat indulged in by Nebuchadnezzar; '■ fireweeksof this mythological dietary would ; reduce an enlarged liver of fifty years standing in an Indian tfficer, it waß it is alleged, to the good eSfccts of such, a mode of treat-

merit, that Prince GortschakofE was enabled to possess the excellent health which enabled bim to revise, unaided, the treaty of Paris of 1856. The regimen is a capital Banting prescription, as infallible a reducing process as sentencing one to prison fare—the claimant to wit. It is not exactly known which of all the political leaders whose guest he was the Prince of Wales most sympathises with Perhaps he acted on the principle, how happy could I be with either were t'other dear charmer away. The Legitimist Due de Bisaccia beyond doubt received him the most sumptuously, and yet without display. The minutiae of the Teception was most studied. and so delicately as not to display the , slightest evidence of preparation. The Prince might be excused a momentary embarrassment in believing himself to be at Marborough house or Sandringham, so much did the apartments prepared for him recall auld folk a' hame. Then the ladies appeared dressed in English materials, reps and plaid. Some had the second jupe retrousse, and fixed at the left side, terminating in a scarf upon the shoulder, Scotch fashion. The Prince expressed his admiration at this delicate compliment. Hats were in colored felt, in harmony with the costumes, and had feathers with bright flowers running along the left side. The marabout is the feather par excellence for the ball room. So one young lady created a great sensation with a coiffure composed of diamond ferns, mixed with marabout feathers, which admirably suited her blonde hair and vapoury toilette of lace, gauze, and tulle. There was also a robe very much admired, in two shades of blue, trimmed with feathers, the first Jupe being raised by an anchor in diamonds, and sustained by a chain of precious stones. The Prince has the reputation of not only admiring elegant and graceful toilettes, but of knowing when they are such. He was very liberal in his munificence to the English poor and needy resident in Paris, happily their number is not great; he did not neglect to pay his accustomed visit to his old French tutor, and at the theatres he felt much more at home than if he were at London. The French, so exquisite in these matters, thoroughly respected his privacy, viewing in him and his Princess, but one more distinguished lady and gentleman in Paris. We are apparently about trying to iacclimatise horse-racing for all the year round; there are steeplechases on the card up to the close of November, and only the sporting world must have a little rest to balance their books, it would defy the very elements, like King Lear, to do their worst. Book-keeping will, henceforth be very simple, and must be' " single" for the devotees of the horsy world, as the betting offices have been suppressed, much to every sensible person's satisfaction, save small boys, male and female servants, calicots, waiters on Providence, and waiters in general. Toy racecourses are very much in vogue, and appear to be as entertaining as automaton pianos, which latter save all the disgusting nonsense of pressing persons to play, or sing, whose concealed desire to do so struggles with the conventional reluctance; then the performer expects no compliments, no insipid tam-tams with the palms of the hands, and can be stopped without any wounding of the amour propre ; neither ought to be forgotten the amusement of the speaking portraits, where ladies and gentlemen dress, themselves up to resemble public characters, passing into a frame and there standing just so, as motionless as Hermione in the "Winter's Tale." A few attempt the tableaux vioants, recalling grandfathers in alabaster. Private theatricals are becoming more and more the order of the day, and the leading artistes, when they have played their part 0 , often make a collection in character for some charitable work, they can thus display their costumes to the r friends at the same time. Generally, ladies succeed better as sock and buskin amateurs than gentlemen, the latter seem to feel they are ever making a fool of themselves, which they often succeed in doing, and generally finish by modelling their lady partners, hence the feminine character of all drawing-room theatricals. For downright fun the alphabet cannot be excelled, shake up the letters of a dozen alphabets in a corbeille and distribute them, every person is bound, nnder pains and penalties, as rigorously applied as the laws of the Medes and Persians, to compose at least one sentence, often a droll question and a happy reply ; if unable to do so, if a rule of syntax or prosody be violated, or no attention paid to the right placing of P's and Q's, as far as the academy has published its orthodox dictionary at least, after centuries of labor, the law must take its course. Some of the blunders prove laughter for a month. Such is the rage at present for ornamenting dresses and foulards with feathers, that legislatures will be compelled to pass large, as well as small, Bird's Acts. Not only the desert bird and the Sultan of the poultry yard are laid under contribution, but peacock's feathers form bands for dark grey failles, and guinea-hens contribute their plumage for iron and nut-colored cashmeres. One lady has even ordered canary trimming for a black poult de sole, and a Russian Princess had a dinner black velvet dress garnished with rose-dyed ostrich feathers. Ladies should study " Hints on the poultry yard," and the " Management of cage biids." That powerful modern Juno, Fashion, has even knocked at the door of the Colleges of the State, and reminded grave professors they must brush themselves up, and wear gowns when lecturing. The army too is changing its coat—without being less loyal —and its head gear, that one is puzzled on encountering a new uniform, whether it is a Russian, Prussian, or Austrian, that passes by; The present race of soldiers are fine, martial, intelligent, and healthy looking fellows, nothing of the premature old man about them, and all the result of regular exercise, stern discipline, and no intoxicating liquors. Burke's recipe of " brandy for heroes" is rejected as useless. Ladies would do well to rely more upon out-door exercise for their health and good looks, than the new Bains de Jouvence, which owe, it is said, their power of correcting the ravages of time to electricity. It is whispered that since the Catholic clergy have been forbidden to write to the newspapers, they have fallen back on cigars; the "naked beauties of one," do little harm, according to Mr Spurgeon, nor half a dozen, following the Papal Nuncio here. The Protestants are in hot water in France, not ab >ut thirty-nine articles, but one. Tranquility alone reigns with the hairdressers—they have adopted the " firmament" model of head-dress, as created at their late exhibition.