Melbourne Fashions.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 308, 17 October 1888, Page 6

Melbourne Fashions.

Each week brings to light some fresh and dimming novelties, and the Melbourne ~!'ops are gay with spring millinery that i s almost irresistible, and light materials in sort harmonious colours, and the various accessories of dress which the fair sex know • o well how to appreciate. Spring- toilettes • tic f,u be seen here and there in Collinsstreeb and more frequently at the Exhibition, where on Saturday afternoons and evenings both sexes are wont to appear in all the glory oi fashionable altire. The Empire styles are gradually gaining ground, and all snrfcs ol innovations may bo noted. The tendency to wear blouse bodices of different colour and material to the skirt will undoubtedly increase us the .season goes on. Loo»e bodices of e\ cry desci iption will be quite a feature oi the season, but they must ht well on the shoulders or the efleet will be dowdy in the extreme. One day last week I caw a combination which will probably be fiequently essayed later on. liefer to a tennis shirt of pale blue flannel worn with a skirt of navy blue be i 140, the band of the -skh t being fastened orcr the shirt, which was quite loose and fastened down the front with pearl buttons. The wearer was a young lady well known i» Melbourne society for her attractive appearance, her good style beiner one of her elder charms. This, decidedly uncommon cj-.tnn.ie wa« most- becoming in this instance, but I should not recommend it indiscriminately to my leaders, as it would look well on none but a stylish figure. Hats are decidedly lower it) crown and wider in brim this, season, though the^trimming id pilot) on so as to give an appearance of height. The brims arc of every style — btiaighb, bent, ot laised in one paib. In some instanced the biiin is> of white straw with a black chip crown, or of mixed straw with a plain straw crown. I t,aw some sailor hats la='u week which had been jubb received notn England. 1 hey were ot fitiM navy blue straw, the brims being lined with white chip. Has is a good idea for our warm climate, for a velvet lining in too heavy for summer wetU,and. devoid of any lining most haU pieoent an un'ini=hed appearance. '•Uiot ribbon* are largely used in millinery thio treason, quite supeiseding the admixture of libbon of two colours, and it may not be generally known that shot ribbons are almost universally becoming (even to those whose complexions are not their strong point), that is provided warm tints are chosen in prefeience to greenish greys with a soupgon of yellow. The popularity of green in every shade cannot be recorded too emphatically, and by the end of the summer we shall doubtless have had a surfeit of veidant tints. Even white flowers ate tinted with a cool areen shade, and all artificial llowev*. aie plentifully furnished with green rohage. The most dainty productions in the way of hats for races, f6tes, and similar occasions are constructed of tulle or crape, gauged or bouillonne and trimmed with flowers, and a bow of prune or moss screen velvet. Lace is extensively employed for trimming straw hats, being generally pub on so as to fall over a portion of the crown from toe top, in addition to the other adornments in the way of flowers and fancy , pins which are still used. The flowers are generally arranged on the top of the crowns, coming forward towards the front. Fancy strawa are decidedly in the ascendant for spring bonnets, Directoire shapes appearing in crinoline, Tuscan and other open work straws ; the brim being frequently lined with gauze the same colour as the straw, either pleated or bouillonne, and sometimes ornamented on the outside with gold or silver embroidery. Lace bonnets are trimmed with spring flowers, such a? lilac, Marguerites and laburnum, and grasses of every description are mingled with them. Fancy ribbons of one colour are general on bonnets of this style, and some of the new ribbons are lovely. Among the latest are plain corded ribbons with, graduated satin stripes at the edge only, or stripes of moird ; ribbons edged with broche stripes ; gauz^ ribbons ; and ribbons with cordlike edges which serve the purpose of supporting the stiff and upright bows. Nuts and bop» are frequently seen on the new season's millinery. Stringlesa bonnets ha^o not disappeared altogether, and one prepared for a young girl is composed of green corn and cowslips, with a thick border of oats round the face. Jeb bonnets trimmed with green are very popular, lettuce green and black being a favourite combination. Dust clonks are no longer nondescript; garments of pale grey lusbie or alpaca, in shape resembling a dressing gown or an ulster, and lavishly trimmed with fluffy niching* of the material. Such useful and certainly not ornamental cloaks have given way to more tasteful and becoming style which a'e dressy in the extreme, and so elegant that thej 7 may be worn on very smart occasions. The shapes are as varied as the materials, and so much might be paid on the subject of dust cloaks that it) had better be left for some future occasion.

4 Papa, ' said tho beautiful girl, as she hid her blushing face on her father's shoulder, ' would you object to Mr Hankinson as a son-in-law V ' N-no, I guess not,' said the old gentleman, apathebicallj' ; 'he might as well be costing me something in groceries as in gas and hard coal,' Little Dot (at the table) : ' Some more of that, please.' Mamma (who has finished her meal and feels a sense of repletion) : ■ Mercy, no ; you'll kill yourself.' Papa (who came in late and has just got seated) : ' Well, if you won't help her I will. I'll not sit quietly by and see a child starve. 5—5 — 'Omaha World.' When you see a prominent citizen, a bright and shining light in society, and an energetic man in business, and ali that sort of thing, pause in the middle of the pavement and gaze about him with a glassy look in his eye, you needn't think ot apoplexy and paralysis. He is simply trying to remember an errand his wife told him to do. It has Ibeen stated that since the sunflower has been cultivated on certain swamps of the Potomac malaria fever has decreased.