The San Francisco call. [volume], November 22, 1903, Image 11

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
three. Cashmere is also pretty lor this
purpose.
But tha feature of the skirt is its em
broidery. A very profuse and very elab
orate design in wheat ears is worked upon
the gown in such a way that the design
runs all the way around the skirt. There
is a trimming of wheat oetween tha rows
of ribbon, and at tha head of tha ribbon
there Is a very wide, very elaborate em
broidery of wheat. ••;
The same design Is seen on the sleeves.
The cuffs are deep and are funnel shaped
and embroidered with wheat heads. Above
the cuffs there ara great melon shaped
pieces gathered at the back to form a
very full sleeve. The sleeve Is banded
with two-Inch wide rows of ribbon.
The top of the sleeve is a mass of tuck-
Ing and embroidery and the embroidery
extends over the shoulder cap and up on
the shoulder and yoke.
The waist Itself, too, Is a symphony In
harvest home ooiors, for, upon tha waist,
which Is a pale brown, there are em
broidered wheat stems and wheat heads
In shaded colors, changing from tha deep
er shades of yellow to tha paler ones.
A touch of scarlet is an excellent thing
In the Thanksgiving dinner gown. Thera
are very elaborate little scarlet • stocks
and there are handsome Persian neck and
wrist bands.' Coral beads are very showy
upon a house dress and great strands of
coral hang from the neck right. down to
the belt. Knots of scarlet ribbon adorn
the throat and a great many stocks have
knots of scarlet ribbon at the back of the
neck as well as under the chin, in fact,
the little : ribbon chou plays a very • Im
portant part in the house dress, changing
it, coloring It, subduing it and bringing it
Into harmony with whatever color scheme
may be desired. X ,
The New Bibbon Trimmings.
The extent to which the modistes are
carrying ribbon trimming cannot be fully
understood by the ona who has not made
a study of the subject.
Ribbon Is used for belting which ter
minates In a fat little chou;. and from
this chou Is carried a little loop of rib
bon up to another chou, and another loop
connects it with another chou further up
on the waist, until the whole terminates
In a very neat little ribbon ornament fat
the side of tha collar.
Then ribbon Is used as a band trim
ming and Is put on, not as a ruffle, nor a
a flat band sewed, upon each edge, but
It Is attached along tha upper edge and
is trimmed with a strange little fagot
pattern. Fagoting Is very fashionable,
used as the heading for a band of rib
bon; • and some of the prettiest ribbon
trimmings are doubled, sewed along the
upper edge and handsomely fagotted.'
' The Thanksgiving hostess must not for
get the new sleeve, which Is s now seen
Another restaurant gown, very similar,
was worn by the Duchess of Marlborough.
who was gowned In black net appliqued
with geranium flowers cut from panne
velvet. The=e geraniums were some of
them In a flaming red. while others were
In a deep crimson, while a few were In
pink, making altogether a perfect glow
of color.
The application of flowers to a gown Is
not at all difficult and. If carefully cut
out of the velvet, there will be no frayed
edges, nothing to .mar the completeness
of the flower. These bunches, or the sin
gle flowers, can be used upon the finest
and the thinnest of dinner gowns with
the very best results in every case.
At a restaurant dinner, where one Is
under the brilliant lights, the sharpest
contrasts In color are permissible, and
The neck was high, with transparent
yoke, and the sleeves were transparent,
and the slmnle little ruffled net at the el
bow was the only finish the sleeves had.
The entire gown was appliqued with
large bouquets of forget-me-nots cut out
of black velvet. These were in clusters
upon the waist and were scattered over
the skirt. Single forget-me-nots dropped
here and there upon the nounces.
For a Restaurant Dinner.
A typical gown for a restaurant dinner
was one worn by the Puchess of Manches
ter, whose dress was a pearl colored net.
built with fitted skirt, around the foot of
which there wt re two flounces, each eight
Inches deep. At the head of the upper
flounce there was a little ruffle of the net.
The waist was tight fitted, with only the
very slightest shirtwaist tendencies. The
yoke was ruffled with very narrow ruf
fles of the net. and the elbow sleeves were
finished with net ruffles, while a ruffle of
net went down the back of the arm, fol
lowing the seam.
In London, where the American Thanks
giving is observed, the custom is to ha\*e
a restaurant dinntr, to which a party of
congenial friends are Invited. ' At a res
taurant dinner the guests were semi-dec
ollete or serr.i-#ver.ing dress, and the gown
can be elaborately made. •
In the smaller cities, where families
have lived for years and are easily rallied
on this day. the subject can be settled
with comparatively little trouble. But In
the large towns, where strangers are in
vited to enter the gates and where the
dinner takes on a pretentious formality.
It Is a thing not to be so lightly set aside.
THIS Thanksgiving dinner gown Is al
ways a thing of more or less un
certainty, involving an hour of anx
ious thought.
How shall one dress for the occa
sion, and shall the gown be a modest one.
as befits the day of sacred memory; or
shall It be gayly splendid, the best gown
In one's wardrobe?
A lovely gown is a dress which Is built
In the harvest home tones. The skirt,
which is In pale brown veiling, or in
something a little heavier, Is made with
a skirt which Is slightly sweep length,
neither too short nor too long. It is trim
med around the bottom with rows of rib
bon two inches wide: and there are six
rows of the riuoon arranged In groups of
But the Thanksgiving hostess, when en
tertaining her near friends, can give her-
Belf more leeway. She can choose any
of the soft tones that are well known to
be appropriate for the house and can
gown herself simply though very taste
fully In them.
A Harvest Home Gown.
The instep skirt is a feature of the res
taurant guwn, as well us of the street
diess. and is also worn for the evening
and for the nicest of occasions. No more
is it preserved for the rainy day skirts
and the trotting costumes, but it will
be brought out on Thanksgiving days, at
the Thanksgiving dances and Thanksgiv
ing dinners, formal and informal.
For the matron who gives a dinner at
home there are gowns that are ideal,
neither too showy nor too plain. And in
this matter the hostess must be- her own
best judge, for she knows her guests and
she must be sure that she never over
dresses nor Is yet too conspicuously plain.
Many New York hostesses adopt the
plan of dressing either in white or in
black; and many draw a still finer line.
The black gown is chosen for day occa
sions at home, when they are to act the
part of hostess, and the white gown for
evening.
A great many evening dresses are cut
in instep length and very pretty they are
and very convenient. Coming just to the
instep, they show the high heeis that are
worn with the dinner gown and the very
graceful arch of the foot. Indeed, it is
due to her vanity and the pretty shoes
of the season that woman wears the in
step skirt.
Queen A.eacandra. who is not necessarily
an extravagant dresser just because sha
is a queen, wore not long ago a black
net trimmed with bands of black satin
ribbon over a dress of black and white
striped silk. The skirt was instep length
and the waist was cut on the shirt waist
plan.
And net has the advantage of variety,
for it can be worn over different colors
and always assumes a new appearance
over its new lining.
Net. while not a substantial goods,
wears very nicely and if of fairly good
quality is highly to be advised for a din
ner gown or for a gown for informal oc
casions. It is much more durable than
it looks, will stand a deal of- wear and
tear without looking shabby and can be
turned, made over and made up in such
a variety of ways that it turns out to be
in the lor.ff run cne of the best Invest
ments a woman ever made.
more than that, are desirable, for the
gown depends upon its color for its beau
ty. Pearl pray and geranium make a
beautiful combination; so also do navy
blue and bright green. In the latter case
the leaves are a soft, velvety, grassy
green, while the gown itself is a deep.
intense blue.
Whet the debutante will
wear, what the matron, what
the young girl and what the
hostess — Gowns for informal
dinners end gowns for more
stately occasions — The dinner
dress of the coming winter and
what it will show in novel feat
ures.
The tulle vest front, with loops and ends
spread out; the tulle chou at the back of
the neck, the tulle bow for the hair and
the little tulle rosettes that are now em
ployed to trim gowns of veiling, gowns of
other house stuffs, and gowns of lace, are
A lovely front for 'an evening waist was
made of pink tulle in a faint shade of
shell. The bows and ends were arranged
In group fashion upon the bust, then
drawn out and pulled down and spread
out with each small bow and each end se
cured with a little pink shell pin. At tha
throat there was a big pink brooch.
Tulle at the back of the neck has be
come a standby of fashion and the tulla
chou. fastening Just at*the nape of the
neck. Is both becoming and necessary In
-certain cases. It fills a gap created by
the high coiffure and lends a soft becom
ingness to the long thin ;, neck which
could not be supplied In positively any
other manner.
The Uses of Tulle.
A gflwn which will be worn Thanksgiv
ing night is made of lace, put together In
very wide strips, tully a third of a yard
in width. These strips are connected with
a network of narrow white velvet ribbon.
This network is interwoven and Interlaced
until it makes a very respectable lattice.
The lace gown should not be a gathered
affair, for the gathers destroy the beauty
and the design of the lace. On the con
trary, it should be extremely plain and
should be litted to the hips and around
the figure, and should be continued in one
long, unbroken line to the end of tha
train. It is hardly possible to make the
lace gown too tight fitting.
The foot of the skirt can be trimmed
with a very deep flounce, and the flounce
can be put on in such a manner that it
lengthens the skirt and looks like a part
of it. instead of serving as a flounce.
The Thanksgiving hostess can do a
great deal with tulle for the full virtues
of this material, as an accessory of dress
and as an ornament, have never been so
fully exploited as now. Take a large
double chou of tulle and fasten It upon
the front of the bodice, drawing it out so
that It reaches from the neck very nearly
to the belt, and a very nice vest-like ef
fect Is created.
For such dinners as are given Thanks
giving evening by the fashionable set
there are marvelous gowns in lace, abun
dantly trimmed with ribbon. The lace,
which Is not of an expensive sort, has Its
pattern supplemented with a ribbon swirL
which is carried all over the gown,
making a very decorative piece of work,
that is at first puzzling, for It does not
show what it la upon it3 face.
Another shows a stiffening of crinoline;
another sleeve is stiffened with a silk In
terlining, which holds it out sharply In
place. The day of the saggy, baggy sleeve
puff has gone out and has been succeeded
by the sleeve puff which Is fully stiffened.
In the Fashionable World.
The grfat and particular feature of tha
fullness Is the manner In which It Is ituff
ed out, for it no longer falls flat and baggy
below the hand. On the contrary. It sets
out in very smart shape, and to keep its
fullness there are employed all sorts of de
vices, one of which is that of stuffing the
fullness with tissue paper after the sleeve
is on.
wherever there is a nice gown. The sleeve
shows the fullness below the elbow, for
it swells out in a great melon-shaped puff.
But the fullness, instead of sagging. Is
so arranged that it bags out in a great
puffy shape, which is sometimes gathered
Into the cuff and sometimes laid In folds.
All the fullness 13 at the back of tha
sleeve, and the fuller it Is the better from
fashion's standpoint.
Tha Thanksgiving hostess can wear
many new features of dress, and ona of
her available novelties Is noticed In tha
lace paneling with which her dress can
be trimmed. Very narrow lace, running
from half an inch to two Inches in width,
can b« extended up and down the skirt
in such a manner as to cover the seams.
There can b« half a dozen panels, or a
dozen, according to the gown.
It Is an era In the fashion 'world when
a great deal of work Is put upon a gown,
not alone when it is being made, but
all during its career. Many handsome
dresses are built in such a manner that
they must be sewed up the back each
time they are put on, for it is now fash
ionable to conceal the opening In tha
w .ist. And the sown can be made to
fasten Invisibly only in tms manner.
The Thanksgiving hostess. If sha wotud
be dressed smartly, must ba wllllag te
go to some trouble,
The sleeves, which are long, are sewed
Into the shoulder seam and are not re
movable. But the yoke can be slipped
out and the vest comes out with It. This
creates a low necked evening gown at
once. When desired tha vest and yoks
can be put back in and the result Is a
day gown, suitable for dinner In the mid
dle of the day If necessary or for any
house occasion by day.
The square evening neck Is another of
the new thine* of the season, for It la a
neck that Is built, not In tha old. conven
tional fashion, but In a decidedly novel
manner, for It is simply cut squara at tha
throat and high over the shoulders and
semi-low In the back of tha neck.
Indeed, so modified is this squara neck
that it cannot be called a low neck at all,
but a neck that is squared out. and as
such It can be worn Just as well for day
as for evening-. A great many of thesa
necks are built entirely for day cowej
and are to be put on when tha sun shines
as well as when It has cone to rest.
This wearing of tha low neck Is a n*w
feature and Is another of* the revivals of
the year. Fifty years ago It was no nov
elty to see an afternoon dress with low
neck, or with the rounded throat. And
again that style has coma In. It Is In to
a greater extent than one would Imagine,
and a great many hostesses are building
their house dresses with necks that are
either prettily curved In round fashion or
are cut down almost to the "salt cellars"
of the neck. Of course, none are decid
edly decollete, but are more on tha
rounding type, or the squara type, cut
away so as to reveal the throat prettily.
And why should not tha gowns be cut
away In this fashion? Thera Is no reason
why the neck should be covered any
more than the face or hands; and tha
new gowns that expose tha throat are
pretty, sensible, becoming and certainly
on the order of novelty, and novelty Is
what every one seeks.
Tha woman who knows anything at all
about economy will so arrange her din
ner town that It can be worn either for
day occasions or for evening. The French
have a very pretty way of making a
gown aa that it* yoke and vest can be
removed.
an numbered amour th* pretty tftfngs e4
the ieuon.
The fancy for tha elbow ¦toeve Is grow
ing and. oh! bo manr housa dresses b*ve
this kind of & •leave. It Is not an abrupt
aleeve. but one that U cut off at the el
bow and finished with a Mil of lao* locg
enough to reach very nearly to tha hand.
Thera are elbow sleeves which are fin
ished at tha elbow, or a little below It.
with a bias ruffle of silk; and there are
elbow sleeves that are completed with &
tulle ruffle over which laca falls la very
becoming fashion.
THE SUNDAY :, CALL.
THE
THANKSGIVING DINNER GOWN
11