A LADY'S LETTER FROM LONDON. Feminine Facts, Fancies, and Frivolities.

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 30, 29 December 1883, Page 6

A LADY'S LETTER FROM LONDON. Feminine Facts, Fancies, and Frivolities.

(By £li,se.)

London, October 22. Giiils' books deserving of perusal grow rarer year by year. Tho "Girls' Own Annual" is almost too childish for our modern young ladies of 14 or 15 ; indeed, 1 believe it wholesomer to give them a good novel, such as " H ypatia, " by Kingsley, and "The Mill on the Floss," by George Eliot, at this age. Mothers who want simple tales to read aloud to their little girls should try some of Mr Ewings delightful stories, "A Flat Iron for a Farthing," is one of the best. There is not much to say concerning novelties in dress. Few people arc makingpurchases just now ; but I am anxious to mention a fabric for present wear that seems ominently calculated for the seaside, or for the country. This material resembles bath towelling with a brocaded surfaco of leaves and flowers, all bolng of uniform colour, that is, twine or ecru. The substance i& flax, and moderately heavy ; it would withstand M r ear admirably ; would last a considerable time without washing ; an accidental mark could be washed out without damaging tho appearance of the dress. There is besides something very artistic in the .soft clinging folds of a dress of this material. With the addition of a few black velvet bows, and velvet toque to match, the tout ensemble is most pleasing. The numerous lawn costumes made for the country testify to the great popularity of washing drosses. They are made in wonderfully pretty styles, a favourite method being a flounced skirt with seven pleatings, and a square tablier a la paymime, open in front and joined with long ribbon bows, or straps ot velvet. Small paniers are draped on tho hips, and a lawn chemisette is gauged at the throat, pleated at the waist, and finished oil' with a velvet collar. A Philadelphia lady has recently been figuring as the "Diamond Queen " at the Grand Union Hotel, Saratoga. At a recent garden party at tho hotol she wore diamonds to the value of 105,000dols> , and lace to the value of 30,000d015. moie. Two detectives in evening dress waited closely upon her as a precaution, so tho company must have been rather mixed.— "Echo. "' I wonder, says a writer in " Life," if this rage for ornaments in the shape of crawling things will soon die out? I saw a girl on Thursday whom I have known to scream with horror at a real blackbeetle, with the cape of her white dress fastened in about ten different places near her throat with ten hideously real-looking blackbeetles. She wore a perfect horde of them in her hat. I don't call that consistency ; do you ? The Queen of Italy is very fond of children, and seldom takes a walk without stopping to chat with one or two of her youthful subjects, especially little girls. Tn former days she would often ask a piotdge: "And what is your father, my dear ?"' But since the haughty reply of a mite of seven—" My father is a Republican " — Her Majesty studiously avoids this question. "Madge describes in "Truth"' the costumes of two children she knoAvs. The boy's new suit, she cays, is ruby velvet trimmed with ruby plu&h, and slashed with cardinal silk. A Henry VIII. hat of similar materials makes his lovely gold-brown curls look more golden than ever. He is a picturesque Tittle being thus clad, but a sailor suit would bo more sensible for every reason. The tiny girl- a year younger— is also a victim to millinery, but, small as she is, she takes to it more kindly than the boy. Her boots cost a small fortune, being made expressly for her, and provided with any number of buttons. Her short skirts have a sort of jaunty air that means selfconsciousness ; but she is a dear little thing, and very pretty. Her very newest frock is of peacock green plush, on which a rich design is worked in thick silk cord. The buttons are enamelled and very costly. Some yards of real Mechlin make a balayeuse, an appendage rather out of place on a garment so short, but still dainty enough to make one forget its inapplicability. She caught some of the meshes of this lace on the corner of a chair the other day, and tore it a little. Her cry, "Oh. mother dear, my Mechlin !" sounded less like the age of six than that of six-and-tsventy. Those ladies who like to have a fashion of their own that cannot be copied by anyone will be glad to hear of a new style that is full of beauty and attraction, and a curiosity withal, namely, Bulgarian hand- 1 embroidered robes. These dresses are ' most exquisite, and are in cream white and a black material, embroidered in gold, silver, and soft silks'of lovely colours. The patterns aro most graceful and elegant, consisting of scrolls, arabesque patterns and garlands or sprays of flowers. Some of the robings are finished off w ith a bell fringe knotted into the stuff itself, so that they cannot come away as even the most costly fringes do sometimes. These dresses seem suitable for almost any hour of the day, from the simple morning dress to the brilliant evening toilette, and they have the advantage ot being moderate in price. At a recent aquatic iGte in Scotland, many of the ladies wore very exquisite costumes. Amongthe prettiest, says a Society journal, we noticed a cream flannel with a waterfall back, and the novelty of the lower part was lined with ruby turned upwards and fastened with gold anchors instead of buttons. The front had two flounces, each edged with several rows of ruby and gold braid, and tho waistcoat matched, the buttons being small anchors ; a cream straw hat, with a ruche of frayed out ruby silk and a gold anchor in front. A broad " fishwife " striped blue and while skirt was worn with a dark blue serge tunic and bodice, with waistcoat of the stripes, and a red kerchief tying up the tunic to one side of the bodice, and another coming out from the waistcoat and looped back to the other hip. A very pretty costume consisted of Turkish embroidery on pale blue nun's cloth, with loops of ribbon of the colour of the embroidery ; over it for warmth, was worn a dolman cloak of brown brocade, lined with blue satin and edged with similar embroidery ; the hat was entirely of the embroidery, with a blue aigrette. At the ball most of the loveliest dresses were white ; one consisted •of lace and satin, looped up gracefully with artificial purple and white heather, and a few silver thistles. An uncommon dress consisted of a bodice and tunic of cream lace, looped over a plain tartan satin skirt-, short and full, the tunic being caught up on one side with a twisted scarf of the same tartan, and allowed to drop very low on the other : the petticoat was draped at distances, showing cascades of lace. Barege dresses over silk of another colour are also made, navy blue barege over grenat silk being an effective combination. The pleated skirt is edged with lace, and the silk corsage has an over-casaquin of barege gauged at the rieck and waist, and terminating in large Camargo paniers. A belt of; grenat velvet encircles the waist, The Lpsdiguicres hat is of b'liYe straw, intei'plaitedwith grenat chenille, and trimmed witli blue and red fea.th.ers,' fastened, by a golden arrow. ' '" J J " '<"