MATERIALS FOR MOURNING DRESSES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5290, 9 March 1878, Page 1 (Supplement)

MATERIALS FOR MOURNING DRESSES.

Soft lustreless fabrics of pure wool loosely woven are used for the first and deepest mourning dresses. English bombazines that were formerly prefefed to all other' materials' are now objected to, because they are made of hard twisted threads that produce stiff and harsh surfaces with demi-lustre like silk. . The' first choice at present is for. twilled stuffs, such, as the Henrietta cloth, which,. on account of its various qualities; is used both by the poor and the rich ;, it is as finely twilled as cash? mere, and shows slight twills on the wrong side, where cashmere is plain. It is double fold,, over a yard wide, and costs from §1 25 to, §3 for durable qualities. Next there, are diagqnally woven fabrics instead of the small irregular twills of cashmere ; these are, called imperial serge by some merchants, and by. others draip d’Alma ; they cost from §1 50 a yard to S 3, and are double fold ; this material is much used for the nunlike dresses worn by widows. The camel’s-hair fleecy stuffs so fashionable for ladies in colors are Worn as first, mourning, and trimmed with crape ; the fine , qualities known as India camel’s-hair cost $4 a yard for goods a yard and a half wide ; prices range below this to $1 60 a yard. Eour yards are purchased for plain over dresses, and an extra yard is sufficient for covering all that is visible of the lower part of the skirt; if pleatings are used, still another yard is needed. Cashmere is used for the second dress when themourniag begins to be lightened and crape is loft off.; it is also bought for the first dress by those who do not wear the deepest mourning. Very nicelooking cashmeres are sold for 85 cents or (§1 a yard ; finer qualities are 1 dob 50 to 2 dol. In purchasing cashmeres for mourning avoid the blue-black shades, not alone on account of the objectionable tint, but because the coal black cashmeres do not wear “shiny.” ; Tamise cloth is the favourite of all the low-priced materials for mourning dress, though many la. ; dies do not think it heavy enough for winter dresses in this climate ; further South it is worn all the year. Tamise is not twilled, but is woven in strait threads, like the fabric formerly called mousseline de laine. It does not catch and retain dust as repped and twilled materials do, but it is not well to brush it, as this raises a woolly nap on the surface ; it should be merely shaken or beaten, and sponged with diluted ammonia. It costs from 75 cents to 1 dol. 60c a yard. The knotted bourette and neigeuse cloths are worn in the second year of mourning, or at first when the dress ,is put on for a distant relative ; in the single widths this costs; from SO cents to 1 dob a yard. ~ The loosely woven basket cloths and the larger square figures called quadrille patterns are also much worn by young ladies and for lighter mourning. For serviceable dresses poplins without lustre and the durable mohairs and Turkish' brilliahtines are’ used. There are also stylish mixed goods of black ground with roughly knotted white threads ’ in irregular clusters or.in bars ; thesearecalled half mourning bourettes ; similiar to these are snow-flake cloths, with points of thicker white threads on black wool —Harpers Bazaar.