The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 7, 1903, Page 10

10 Ehe Will Forsake the Heavy Satins Worn by Her Easter Sis- and Will Go to the Altar in Softest Crepe de Chine, in Delicate Silks of China and India, and in the Light, Trans- parent Fabrics Which Mark the Summertime—Bridal Shoes and How to Trim Them, Bridal Seshes and How to Wear Them, Brids] Hosiery, the Bfidai Stock and the Bridal Jewels. ter gown of the June bride will dif- very materially from that of her sister who has traveled the rame road before her. ne bridal gown has hanged e season, and where all was or and shimmering all is ow Beht ransparent. The sat- n and the panne, the corded silks and he brec of winter are succgeded by e thinner silkier stuffs of summer. To the nevice this change from satin to mull, and from panne velvet to crepe d « e t seem like economy But t ne ated, the change from one fabric another means nothing but extrava- gance For what the bride saves on her e de chine she makes up in buying its E which is the ac- Easter, costs a But when you had 1 had paid the prin- he white satin dress cepted bridal robe of great deal of money. bought the satin 3 cipal price nings were not neces- sarily large, nor did the trimmings count up to very much. Indeed, the plain satin wae £6 handsome that you wanted noth- ng more. The plainer the gown the bet- ter and the prettie The same with the corded and gros grain silks and with the Ottoman weaves #nd with the panne velvets. You needed no trimming to decorate the gorgeous fab- ric. And as for the,lining, it was all a matter of conscience. The bride could use exquisitely finished silk, or she could use a little plain t2 or even a nice light white muslin lining Should the bride of June cling to the tradition of her ancestors and go4n for satin let her realize that she can take her ehoice of linings. She can use either 2 silk or & thin muslin. for both are pret- tv, ané one is considered just as nice and just as good as the other. The Crepe de Chine Bride. But the bride of June probably will pre- fer to look like a June bride, and as such will want the fabrics of the season and after looking over them all she will pick out the ene that is lightest and softest and most in keeping with the opening of summer. And of all fabrics, what so nicely comes up to the standard as crepe de chine? There is a milk white crepe de chine that makes a lively .ridal gown. Tt is very clinging and very silky, and there is almost a luster upon it. It is not very eavy in texture, and so is not crushable, while to the fingers it is very light and pleasant. A gown of this material can be made up with a train. But the train should not be the immensely long one of winter. The bride of early summer will want what known as a half train. The half train fies npon the floor for more than half a yard and its length from the waist dow» to tne tip of the train is half as long again as the bride-elect. But it Is not the very ponderous, cumbersome, helplessly inert train of the winter wed- ding dress. The bride can line this crepe de chine oughout with sflk; and for the selec- tion of the silk she must consult her taste and her pocketbook. She can spend a great deal If it g0 pleases her, or she can invest in a pretty taffeta glace, which an- swers every purpose and which affords a nice rustle as the bride walks. About the wedding dress there must positively be a rustie. The gown, If satin, will give its own rustle. But if it be of some soft summer fabric the rustle must lie in the lining. This must be of the kind of silk which has a “cry” and the tone myst be a distinct one. Very many silks are now made without the “cry.” But women of taste, the smart dressers, insist upon it as a necessity of fine dress- Tke Bride’s Trimmings. The gown of crepe de chine can be made in rather fancy fashion. The shirred ps are very good for the reason that the mate: shirrs o well and because it gives fullness to the skirt, taking away that clinging line around the hips which is not always good in an altar gown. As for the skirt, it must be trimmed with lace and one of the prettiest fashions shows rows of lace insertion with rows of tucks set in between. Medallions of lace are used for panels and there are medallions at the top of the flounce. A flounce is not a necessity, but it makes the skirt set very nicely around the foot If the flounce is done away with then the Yoot of the skirt can be tregted to rows of lace and to tucking to little fancy stitchings. ey have a way now of trimming pretty dresses by using rows of hem- stitching upon them. The hemstitching is placed in such a way as te alternate with ws of tucks and then with rows of Where there are so many rows of hem- stitching and so many rows of lace and little fancy shirrings and tuckings the art of the dressmaker is given full opportun- ity to exert itself. The work of making the gown is a long and most tedious one and the stitches must be put in by hand from day to day, as the gown goes on in its mareh toward completion. The bride who wants to make her own gown can very easily do so; and if the wedding is set for late in June or the middle of summer, she has ample oppor- tunity to get up something very nice. The materials from which she can choese are numerous and from at least twenty shes can make a choice, with a chance of hit- ting it right in any case, The India and China silks and the new white silk of the Orient are very good. And even the little old plain China silk so familiar to every one is now very pop- ular for wedding wear. Making Her Own Gown. Remember, in putting together the bride’s dress that it is all a matter of handiwork after all and any material that is delicate, pretty and fashionable will make up well, so long as it be treated nicely And here is demonstrated the great util- ity of lace. Lace comes in all varieties and in all grades. You can get the pre- cious laces and the semi-precious. You can get the real and. the mock laces. And you can get fine, filmy, webby laces, or laces that are coarse and heavy. It is popularly supposed that the heavy laces are not as elegant as the fine ones. But such is not the case. There have been some recent examples of coarse lace, lace that is heavy and durable, which comes at a price as high as any that was ever made with filmy texture. And some of the new heavy laces are costly masses of interwoven threads. So it is all a matter of choice and of taste, and the bride can select a fine lace, or one that shows off upon the gown, a thing which the rose point laces do not always do, Of one thing she may be sure, that the heavy laces do not bear the imprint of cheapness and that she can in- vest in a showy Italian, or a great heavy Russian lace, without marking her gown with the stamp of mediocrity. The filet laces are used upon wedding dresses and, really, they look very nice indeed. All of the darned laces show off well, and if used for panelings or as headings for flounces, the result is sur- prisingly good. A French wedding dress had a very wide band of filet lace at the head of a flounce of Bruges lace. .The contrast be- tween the two was most conspicuous, but very good. The wide band of filet, which was applled to the skirt perfectly flat and plain, only seryed. to set off the other lace to good advantage. THE SUNDAY CALL. ‘And g0 the bride can take her chofce. §he can select this lace or that lace and lection may be, the result will be good providing she uses the lace with good taste, An Ingenious Bride. One very ingenious bride there will be this June. This bride is a young woman who will walk to the altar dressed in a gown of peau de sole. The material, while goed, is by no means elegant, but the gown will be characterized by a certain style which will recommend it to all be- holders. Its main feature will be its lace. The lace will be profusely displayed and the gown will be largely covered with it. But the noticeable feature of the lace is its confusion, if one may so describg it. Itis a studied confusion, ‘though, "and the young woman has worked upon it many days with the assistance of a seamstress. The beginning of the lace was found in an old family chest, out of which was brought a Spanish lace flounce. Out of this flounce the figures were ruthlessly cut, and then they were applied to lengths of old net lace, which was also a family treasure. Finally there came some pieces of Valenciennes lace, out of which were made the trimmings for stock, neck, yoke and sleeves, and for flounces, ruf- fles and all the smaller parts of the dress. Three kinds of lace, used judiciously, in combination upon one gown make a very pretty showing and this bride’s gown is one of the handsomest of the spring. PR e always display a exefston or two in the shape of an old lace shawl, or a lace flounce, or a lace jabot or a lace yoke, so the bride of the summer can always be sure of lace for her gown, if nothing else. The trouble in using odds and ends that they do not look well befors using and the bride-to-be will throw them aside in discouragement, afraid to go on lest £he spoil her material and her gown. But if the laces be cleaned tn flour, or in chalk, or treated to soap bark and water, or if they be sent to a cleaner, then they will turn out as good as new and the re- sult will be something to surprise the bride and all her friends. Making the Stock. The neck of the wedding gown is sure to afford a troublesome problem to the bride. She cannot go deeollete to the al- tar, yet how can she make a high necked gown that will be becoming? In the case of a noonday wedding the difficulty is obviated, for none of the guests wear low necked gowns and all come in what might be called afternoon attire. But with an evening wedding it is dif- ferent: then the guests dress decollete, and the bride finds her gown looking awk ward around the neck and often positive- ly unbecoming, just witen she wants it to be graceful and pretty. A French modiste solved the problem for one of her clients by making a wed- ding gown with a lace yvoke and stock. The stock was so very fine that it showed the texture and shape of the throat. and the yoke was also of exceedingly delicate construction. Thus a light, soft, pretty look was given to the stock and to the yoke which would not have been obtained by using a heavier lace or a heavier ma- terial. To make a lace stock for a bridal gown one requires only just sufficlent lace to make a standing band around the throat. This band should be very tall and should be edged with scallops of lace. Tf possi- ble let it be cut out of lace which has a scalloped edge; and let the scallops come up under the chin and ears and up the back of the neck. Let it be-very high, a regular choker of lace. But do not line it or stiffen it in any way. It should show the throat in all its delicacy. A Gown to Wear but Once. In making her bridal gown the bride ehould always bear In mind that it is a gown to be worn only once. And in this matter a great many modistes make a mistake. They build the gown substanti- ally and with a finish and strength which would insure it for wear for a whole life- time. A gown of the durable description was delivered to a bride the other day. On examination it was found that the stock was wired and interlined: the bodice, which needed no lining, was boned and lined; the skirt was faced with white vel- vet and made strong in the seams, and around the belt and even the sleeves had certain durable qualities them. It looked as though the gown were to be worn evenings for a lifetime. As a matter of fact, the bride seldom wears her wedding dress more than two or three times a season; and often she does not weéar it a dozen times during its entire existencg. Then it4S ripped up and used in various more useful ways. Even if preserved compléte it is laid away in a cedar chest to await the time when it shall go to the altar again upon a younger and falrer generation. In bullding a wedding dress let the ‘bride remember that all should look light apd delicate. The stock, which is mads There are always pieces of lace in every of lace, needs no wiring, and it needs no she can feel that, no matter what her se- family chest and the family closet can lining, for both of these things tend to troduced into | make the throat look larger. Nor does the wedding blouse, unless 1t be a princess, need a lining, for it is far better to have the soft, stralght folds of the material revealing at times the deli- cate texture of the laces beneath rather than the stiff and prosadc silk interlining. which mars so many bridal gowns. And through all the making of the gown or should strive for effect rather than dur- ability The London modistes have carried the delicacy of the bridal gown to an ex- treme, for over there they alm to make it as frall as possible; and when the daugh- ter of Lord Rosebery was married a few weeks ago her gown was literally sewed upon her. It was cut in princess shape and the modiste took stitch after stitch in it after it was put on the young woman. Paneis of lace were stitched down the back of the gown from the back of the neck to the ‘tip of the train; and there wers lace medallions applied to the shoulders and to'the hips. All were put In place while the bride was being arrayed for the altar. After the ceremony the gown was ripped off her while her traveling garb was put on. The Bride's Sleeves. It is a wise bride—and all brides are ‘wise nowadays—who makes her sleeves so that they can be removed. She is wiser still if she makes the yoke adjustable. This means that when the reception day come the bride can take the yoke out of her gown and the sleeves out of her dress and have a decollete gown for an ev ng function. A sleeve that lends itself very nicely to this is the fan sleeve. To make a fan sleeve one should first make an elbow sleeve, and should trim 1t at the elbow with a ruffle of lace. Below this ruffls of lace there can be set a big fan of silk This fan’can fall to the very wrist and can be “tacked” as to its plaits so that it does mot leave the arm exposed A fan sleeve to be worn by a bride of June is made with a tignt fitting upper part ending with a rume of lace at the elbow. Then comes a big fan of white taffeta lald in side plaits and extending all the way around the arm. The fan is only a side plaited flounce set in the ve at the elbow and deep enough to fall to the wrist. Inside this there is & little undersleeve of white chiffon Such pretty sleeves as come for wed- ding dresses! Onme of these has a pillow case bag at the wrist, which is gathered into a cuff of lace. The cuff is deep and falls over the hand. Tnen there is the sleeve which is tucked at the top. with the tucks released at tha elbow, and the whole finished with a deep funnel of lace which comes down over the knuckles. In sleeves there are endless varieties, ‘and one of these shows a big bag of lace, an immense bag, falling very long at the bac® of the arm. At the elbow ‘M.' bag is shirred into a directoire cuff. while the top of the sleeve is perfectly plain. The small things of a_ bride’s costums keep her quite as busy as the larger onea. Fashion does not now sanction the wear- ing of gloves at the ceremony. though the bride can do so-if she pleases. Nor does Dame Fashion insist that she wear mitts or any hand covering whatever. The bare-handed Juve bride is at great advantage over her sisters of the winter, for she can handle her bouquet or her prayer book and recetve the ring with much more confidence than though she were hampered by gloves. Gloves, while pretty and be¢oming to the hands, must be ripped open as far as the ring finger is concerned, and the bride is sube jected often to a not inconsiderable s= noyance. N