The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 29, 1902, Page 10

Selendid Gowns From the THE SUNDAY CA Days When War and LOVve Were Rbroad in the ] X EEE u of the sixties t s ar and love were 3 n the land. It bel to L) y Gracey of Oakland s contrived to keep it se s i= a marvel. Other g ave long ago gone s g bags. But-th sts of Mrs. Grac- time perfumes, < as they appear to-day, worn enry Gracey, the prese bea the ons of six- mily. The fask be read from them. hing was if as splendid for a re- c n gown as the black sflk. In fact as a sort of halo hanging over the hose days. It was taken riously than ermine wouid and generation re was some reason for this, as you you take into account \ey was harder to spend in way; @ doliar was a dozen s it is pow. In the light of the gros grain silk of that $4 a yard nk of w at that meant ers and dmothers. Bless earts, how they must have e without sugar for their tea and tea for their sugar. They must have saved weeks ahead. They must have made over ail their other gowns to save enougn he new biack silk For at the rate of 3 a yard it took a ry mo sum to cover the price of a gown. The gowns were alarmingly big— avagantly big, as the bousehoid pro- r looked at it. They measured count- yards around the skirt, for they had big enough to surround the hoops iod. And the sleeves were huge flowed out and down and back —any way o that they flowed. se black silk of the pictured wardrobe rm to-day as it ever was. That is ¢ the most wonderful things about garments of this precious trousseau; ics of that period were 50 sub- good that they bave endured st unbroken through all these years. What will our present day gowns be as y vears hence? Even those of the als wear and fade on our children and grandchildren the relics of them fit for their quiits and nothing else. The 1 be in ribbons, the smart tallor of swagger cloths 'will have dimities and organdies will ted -Eway. But this black silk of a yester season s by itself to-day as firmly as it [ @id. It is rich and gleaming in its 1 and sound in its breadths. It is aidly, glitteringly jetty black, too, ie dyes of that day were & vest deal than ours. gown is made with & train about ng @s that of the average gown of The fuliness of the skirt is ridic- gathered In & great bunch of the back. The front of the ex tiaily gaihers at skirt is sioped outward in & way that ccms absurd enough to us to-day. It f he flaring outline of the hoop, sloping directly out from the walst to the feet med with & curved band quit similar in outifhe to those of the resent day Below this are long pointed Ihe curved band is of the same material s the trimming of the basque. It is an ¥ white silk that shines through the ane black lace stitched with delicate grandmotherly stitches over it. The trim- on b ming sque appears upon the basque itself is made to fit as «s the modern tailor-made, and is elegant with its row of black but- ng up the middle of the front. t, there not a line of the whole that would comproinise on a bad sternly kand. figure. The build of it is severe and the ken I ruffles and rib! < ~frous. ulder s rur wn arms, as tie s 1 did then. From the r >p the sleeves begin tc U and continue t flare more and more until the white T ap- e lace collar finishes t ¥ ect of its kind as &ll the lace wear of that time was. It would have been 2 disgrace for any one to have worn cotton lace. “The first time I had a bit of cotcon lace on one of my garments I felt as dis- graced as if I had been sent to ja'l,” s. Gracey says. “I thought cotton lace meant for It had never oc curred to me tha ite lady, one of ‘the quality,’ could wear it until o my friends, & woman who had alw: heen extremely fa was quite ous, took to it ang wear and tear it on a garment, but i 1 ble. I fancied that e street was locking at me and whis- pering, ‘Cotton lace! " Feal lace: wi S0 preclous people had-much of it but went further toward decor than yards of daint Gracey ha collars of old-time Lox that breathes out a whiff of laven- der &nd vanilla when its lid is The one that goes with this gown simu- a choice tion laid away in an opéned. lates a square neck in shape. It is made of fine little bands of real lace and em- broidery laid in alternate stripes, The hair ornament that goes with this gown is a simple band of black velvet wrought in pearls. It passes twice around the hedd, crossing under the hair, which is worn low in the back of the neck. Besides this the wonderful old ivory comb is worn sometimes. To a black-haired beauty it is the most bec ing thing that can possible be found. The taffeta house gown has withstood the ravages of time in a wonderful way. Any modern taffeta would have split {uto a thousand ribbons long ago. It is of a delicate lavender and white stripe. The beauty of it is the #affeta trimming, which corresponds perfectly with it. The colors of the silk are carried out in the trimming. Whether the ladies of war times called such garments pattern gowns, as we do nowadays, is not report- ed, but we have nothing that is a bit smarter of its kind. m- This house gown fastens up the front, skirt and all, although it is made in two pieces. The figured border follows the bottom of the skirt all the way around iis huge hem and then it follows on up the front, clear to the neck, with a row of charming round lavender buttons to close it. These buttens, by the way, are & pretty kind that we consider ourselves too advanced for in this day, but we can't replace them with anything pret- tier. They are made upon wooden button molds—don't you remember how our blessed mothers and grandmothers used 1o cut out wee round bits of the cloth of which the new gown was being made, Tun a draw string around each bit and pucker it up over the round, hard mold untll it was &s smooth as machines can make it nowadays? The basque of this gown is the drollest thing in the back. It dips in a ridiculous long point that i= edged with the figured border. A eilk cord of lavender and white ropes twisted together is tied around the waist and knotted in front. The sleeves are drooping on the shoul- der, as they all had to be to be recog- nized socially. Where the shoulder seam stops & puff begins, and a ruffe fol- lows that. The sleeve below Is tight. A dainty lttle lace collar folding in the same line as a shawl finishes the neci of this gown. The collar is clasped with 8 big brooch at the throat. The falr ones of that day had a very prim way of wearing their jewelry—no pins clasped at the side, peeping out jauntily from un- der a pink ear, as nowadays, But they had plenty of fads in jewelry, for all that. Goldstone was one of these fads. It was a composition that looked like gold- flecked sealing wax. The splendid gold- stone bracelet of this old trousseau had bands of gold, and surmounting these ‘was & great ornament of goldstone. It was the day of pairs—a pair of vases, a pair of water colors, & pair of bracelets. So the belle of then who was lucky enough to possess a goldstone bracelet was sure to have two of them, and 1t could be counted on that she would keep them; for the girls of that day were not the harum-scarum damsels that they are now. It was the period of demure- ness, as the very fold of the hands shows. A funny little breakfast cap that goes with this 18 & scrap of lace and ribbon, as bewitchingly flyaway as its wearer was demure. The wrapper, is another taffeta that is sound and whole after all the years it has spent between lying in trunks and being masqueraded in. It is a blue and white stripe, trimmed with nothing but rows of blue buttons. tucks in the sleeves; they are studded closely up the front. A lace collar that ends In two flaring points is pinned at the throat. The organdie gown is the dalntiest, fiuflest, starchiest gown that & belle could demand. The summer girl of the sixtles was as alry fairy as the summer &irl of to-day. Sprays of green and blue are dashed over the white ground here and there. The green is bright—apple bright. Bands of the same cool summery green outline a yoke for the gown and finish the neck and slecves. The absurd little Spanish bodice that is worn with this or a white gown is a high pointed beit laced up the front and finished with three little tabs down the back. It is'most fancifully trimmed with tassels and countless buttons. ‘What the gowns of the day lacked in coquetry the hats made up. - The big, flaring bonnets with a peeping rose un- der the brim—they speak for themselves, They are proof positive that our moth- ers—whisper it—flirted! They follow the —_—— The fickleness of fortune, especially at cards, says the New York World, is well {llustrated in this story, told in a new book by Count de la Garde-Chambonas, which is attracting great attention abroad: “Prince Galitzin, one of the richest of Russian nobles, was playing on one occa- sion with the most persistent bad luck. Estates, serfs, revenues, town houses, furniture, jewels, everything had been swallowed up. He had nothing left but his carriage. That was walting for him outside; he staked it and lost that in a few throws of the dice. A few minutes afterward the horses were also gone. “‘T 41d not stake the harness,’ he said. ‘It is all in silver and has just come from St. Petersburg.’ “‘His adversary nodded and a game was begun for the harness. At that moment, though. the luck turned as completely in the Prince’s favor as a few moments pre- viously it had been against him. In a few hours he not only won back the horses, the carrlage and the family jew- els, but everything else he had lost so rapidly, and that, thanks to the harness, which literally seemed to be attached to the wheel of fortuna ™