Show ABOUT TOILET TABLES TIlE DRAPED AXD PADDED HOME CONFECTION Is Xo More to He Seen Xeilliur the aiarlilcToupecl Dressing Case The French Brevier the Plain Oak Titlile or the iicient Chest of Drawers Deck the Bower of Beauty The toilet table of the day like most else in furniture dress and decoration French is cut according to prevailing ideas The most approved style is the low highly polished ornamented with Mar queterie table that requires one to be seated before it in order to get a glimpse into its mirror True it lacks one luxury that most women enjoya multitude of drawers but the woman who is so luxurious as to own a French dresser has usually many closets and wardrobes Again the mirror is quite small but a swinging cheval glass goes as an accessory The best of these French tables come for 350 and few are less than 100 These are built of mahogany with rich elaborate inlays or else of a highly polished metal used for this purpose ornamented with silver A good specimen speci-men of the toilet table of the day is the pride of a brilliant young married woman of the smart set The heavy metal frame is inlaid with silver the mirror has a wide frame of filagreed silver and candelabra of silver flank either side On this table is first spread a strip of chamois to prevent the toilet articles from in any way marring or scratching the brilliant surface sur-face over the chamois is a cover made Ll l Y FOR TIlE BOUDOIR from two fiveinch strips of brocaded satin ribbon with entredeuex and edges of duchess lace The candles in the silver sticks are rosecolored with cielblue shades matching the colors in the brocade cover On the brocade are laid out all the toilet silver so dear to the heart of the latterday woman It is strange that this one small person per-son should require thirtyfive toilet articles ar-ticles to assist her in making her ap pearanc before the world but so it seems I think she possesses everything every-thing that can be devised of silver to suit a separate need But it is the toilet table of an ultrafashionable ultra-fashionable woman one who has a separate bank note to cover each separate sep-arate caprice There are hosts of women who have discovered that to possess a fin de siecle toilet table they need not spend much money For these latest fancies in furniture can be duplicated in many a heritage from a fair womans grandmother grand-mother Stored away in old New York attics covered by dust and scratches were dressing tables that are now the envy of many rich women without grandmothers But let no one suppose that these ancient tables are restored in an amateur ama-teur fashion Only a dealer who thoroughly thor-oughly understands the treatment ot woods is trusted to polish them up At the outset of the craze a large number of tables perfect in shape were ruined by ignorant polishing The French styles are never draped As a usual thing the wood is so exquisitely ex-quisitely inlaid that one would not wish to hide the design Next in mode to this extreme of fashion is the use of some old chest of drawers in handsome wood These are more often obtainable than the French dresser for few are the houses that do not posses an old mahogany set of drawers more or less elegant Such chests with a mirror hung above are furnishing many a smart womans apartments If the chest is devoid of ornament brass handles are bought and attached The large mirror to hang above can be either square or long A lining of satin is put in all the drawers a layer of cotton batting underneath sprinkle with satchet powder When lavender is used the old time effect is complete The ordinary square glass marble topped bureau of five years ago seems to be obsolete The brass dresser too is another style that is rapidly going out Ordinary tables are used as dressers in the place of the bureau A plain work table prettily covered with an oakframed mirror hanging above is considered correct taste These two pieces can be got together for 6 whereas the ordinary pine bureau costs 510 The handsomest toilet articles are not considered out of place on it This plain solid clean style of dresser has taken the place of the home made table of pine covered and draped with muslin i0The latter while Pretty should never have been advised for it was a dift cult matter to keep it clean The least dust ruined its daintiness Many girls had these muslin toilet tables in their rooms as effective furnishings but sa credly guarded them from all use One of the novel devices for a dresser which I saw lately was owned by a New young York decorator of high standing in A mirrored door that had been un swung from a china closet in T an old fashioned house was placed across a corner in the sleeping room its hinges being removed Against it was set a low chest of brasshandled drawers A heavy yellow satin cover was laid over the top of the chest and the tall door was draped with an old fishing net The toilet articles were of burnt ivory This arrangement corresponded with thewindow draping which was of yel low silk with a fish net thrown care lessly over the pole j pRAPING MATERIALS i Mirrors are sometimes draped but not all with silk I i White silk muslin in double width is considered a good draping material The edges are finished with a fourinch accordion pleating of the same The 4 II fi > < 0 u piece is caught at the center above the mirror with a white satin bow and the drapery hangs plainly down by the sides of the table without being caught A cover is made in the same way of the same material and laid over a strip of white canton flannel Most women openly prefer washable covers many use the ever dainty butchers linen with wide hemstitched hems The mistake is now seldom made of draping a plain table around the legs The effect of simplicity is sought Vhere a decorative cover is used it is usually made from satin ribbon and lace The ribbons should be four inches wide and joined with open heavy yellow yel-low lace Three bands are sufficient A cover should not come quite to the edge of the table A ruffle of the lace is put around the whole and a thin protective tective piece of chamois or canton flannel flan-nel placed under Many use pieces of brocade or plain silk with the edges simply turned in not hemmed Frilled white Swiss covers are sometimes some-times used but not with the old orthodox ortho-dox pink or blue linings They may have a satin butterfly bow at one end endChiffon Chiffon is used as a cover for these dainty white mahogany dressers that are so very expensive but so very beautiful beau-tiful With their fair owners the perishable ishable cover is easily replaced A dpuble wjdth piece of right length is creased and ironed down into oneinch folds An accordion pleating of the material is laid all around the four edges and a satin butterfly bow is placed at either end If the room is hung in any light color the chiffon can match it Torchon or platte Valenciennes on covers or hangings is not considered tasteful If the material is Swiss silk muslin or any of the thin wash goods the trimming is made from the same goods If silk or satin is used the rich open laces now in vogue form the trimming trim-ming But invariably if the toilet table is in a room where one lives a great deal the best decorators advise linen hemstitched stitched covers These can go into the wash every week and therefore preserve serve a freshness that silk or Swiss lose after much use AN AVERAGE OUTFIT The toilet articles usually depend on the wealth of the owner or the generosity gen-erosity of her friends Here is the usual outfit Brush comb and nand mirror two cologne bottles glove streichar two powder boxes one for face powder and the other for glove ten manicure implements im-plements these all laid in a tray ring stand pin tray hat and cloth brush watch stand button hook and glove buttoner The silver and jeweled bonbonnieres that have gone out of their normal use to some extent are used by many women to hold the red finger nail salve that is necessary for well cared for hands BEST BRUSHES AND THEIR CARE I asked at a well known Broadway jewelers which was best the yellow or white bristles in selecting finishes I was told that it made no difference except in the looks All ihj best bristles were from the Russian boar In their natural state they are the unpleasant yellow whicn is retained for many brushed But the whitening did not injure them The bristles is split only twie to make stiff hard brushes sevaril times to make them soft The best brushes can be distinguished distin-guished by the little bunches of bustles being placed far apart This h i i pcod I sign to look for also in the matter of keeping them clean as the water passes more easily between All brushes when not in use snould be placed bristles down Once a week brushes should be washed in warm water and household ammonia no soap usaJ Thj should be well shaken and Hid in the sun for a few moments The best results of cleanliness are cbtainnd wnen two brushes are rubbed together in the water If the bristles get discolored a teaspoonful of perocid of hydrogen with ten drops of ijatshorn mixed with a pint of warm water leans them perfectly If the wood of the brush is I of snake wood or any of the fashionable fashion-able varieties care should be taken that the back and handle art n1t vet when the brush is laid ii the sun or they may warp or craclc THE STYLE IN TOILEr AFTICLTS The most fashiooaole ivatentil used for toilet articles is carved burnt ivory But this is within the ream 01 few as a single nail polisher costs JlV Next to this in popularity comes repousse silver sil-ver The plain silver is i tnught entirely for men Celluloid has gone out but the imita tion burnt ivory which costs the same price is used instead This makes lovely toilet articles A brvsh and comb of it costs only 250 a mirror 1 75 These mingled with silver articles look well Some of the extravagant special pieces are made of ojd silver mounted with carved ivory and of gold mOllnt din d-in green jade Many of the colonial dressing tables have a full set of tortoise shell articles but they are too perishable for real use No matter how handsome the case may be that toilet articles come in it should he relegated to the closet r saw a dainty dressing table yesterday at the home of a debutante that was spoiled by having the yellow plush case holding an elaborate silver outfit that had been sent her placed intact in the centre of thp table HARRYDELE HALLMARK |