| Show i MRSBURNETTIS > CLOTHES 1 HOW 3mS AUTHORESS = EXPRESSES EXPRES-SES HER STJBROTJlTiDINGS What She Illustrates In Her Heroines < I She Practices EHerself i I Few writers are more sensitive to their environment than is Mrs Frances Hodgson Burnett and whether in her I Washington or London home in hotel summer cottage or on boaid ship sh6 is J always surrounded by an atmosphere or refined luxury Call upon her within dn hour or two after her arrival at a house I viere she is to remain for only a few days and you will find that already II care bits of1 tapestry have been faun and pictures arranged that numerous cushions comfortably disposed irivite I to rest and that the omnipresence of new magazines and fresh flowers Sias I put tu night the unwelcome sense 6 f hotel splendor Nor are her swathings the least salient feature of this necessary neces-sary entourage Gowns have always been with Mrs Burnett a distinct expression ex-pression of her mentality and have ttea made to play no insignificant role in a harmonious whoie It is not go much what they may mean to others as their reflex influence upon herself Perhaps no character in her novels I has so strong a flavor of Mrs Burnetts personality as Bertha Amory in Through One Administration and I one cannot have failed to observe the dominant of Berthas wns note o a s gowns throughout the story Indeed we find her one day confiding to her husband I am not really pretty or clever atal and it has been the object of my life to prevent its being detected S You know how particular I am about my gowns Well this is my secret I havent an attraction really but my gowns and my spirit and my speciousness specious-ness The solitary thing I do feel I have reason to pride myself on is that I am bold enough to adapt my gowns in sum a way as to persuade you that I am physically responsible for the color and shape of them You fancy you are pleased with me when you are simply pleased with some color of which I exist on the reflection or glow In nine cases out of ten it is merely a matter of pale blue or pink andsilk or crepe or cashmere And later in one of her mocking moods she says to Tredennis Do you see how her sleeves fit It was her sleeves which first attracted my attention t I saw them at a luncheon lun-cheon in New York and they gave me new theories of life When a woman can accomplish sleeves like those society so-ciety need ask nothing further of tier In moments of rashness and folly I have occasionally been betrayed into being proud of my sleeves but now I realize that the feeling was simply impious im-pious JHOUlrs Burnett was born with as pronounced pro-nounced an instinct for inventing gowns as inventing stories and it developed veloped at as early an age Paere was never anything of the proverbial literary liter-ary slouch about her In her very poor days as in those of her early successes she made diligent use of her fingers as well as brains in tihe creation of pretty costumes A curious proof of their effectiveness came to her but recently when she was addressed as Queen of Hearts by one who had not seen her since she masqueraded in this costume when only 17 years old She then lived in a little southern town where it was difficult to obtain anything desirable I even if one had money and hermeans were exceedingly limited On this par 1 ticular occasion however with a simple sim-ple bit of white muslin and a few sheets of gilt paper she succeededJin making as it appears a nevertobeforgotten impression Over the skirt of her costume I cos-tume she had scattered myriads of little lit-tle hearts and for the remainder toad ingeniously devised heartshaped overskirt over-skirt short sleeves and bodice She gilded her own little boots and finding nothing that could be made to serve as a necklace with infinite patience cut out tiny pasteboard hearts which she pasted over with gilt paper and mounted on gold braid A large gilded I heart shone resplendent in her red brown hair and in her hands she carried car-ried a gilded stick surmounted by a i heart I The young authoress really brought as great earnestness of purpose to the I I concocting of this unique little costume which by the way won her the first I prize as to her next story for Peter sons Magazine and doubtless viewed r he result with equal satisfaction I With the coming of affluence Mrs i Burnett did not cease to invent her gowns Like Beau Brummel she hasher has-her failures which fact however is not a half bad thing for her friends as she holds that a woman who wears a gown J unbecoming to herself that might become be-come some one else is guilty of a double crime rather than so jeopardize i her soul she turns over the most expensive ex-pensive experiment to the first chance comer to which it belongs by divine I i right of fitness The carrying out of her designs is t now however a matter of easy delegation delega-tion as she always retains a maid who is at the same time a skilled dressmaker I dressma-ker and who is kept constantly employed em-ployed making altering and remoSel ing for Mrs Burnett requires unlimited change of costume never indeed wearing wear-ing the same gown twice at the same place Even at her own at homes she t does not wish to appear twice alike throughout the season S4ie says simply 1 that the thought of putting on the same frock over and over again tires her and takes away all sense of mental I freshness In each of her homes there I Core she is obliged to devote a good sized room to the exclusive keeping of j her numerous toilets Mrs Burnett in her costumes affects almost wholly long lines and soft fabrics fab-rics using quantities of crepe de chine liberty silks gauzes brocades etc She is also extremely fond of lace seldorj being seen without garnishings of this delicate ma rial in one form or another an-other Her underwear is always of the I finest muslin sumptuously trimmed with laces Once when very ill she said I quite pathetically to a friend who came to see her You may kmw how HI I I have been when I tell you that I have been indifferent to my ribbons and laces She has also a great liking for rare and beautiful furs Indeed so pronounced is her penchant for all soft and fluffy effects that it is responsible r for the very name by which she is I known among her intimate friends J I While at work Mrs Burnett wears a pretty negligee usually of India silk that falls from the shoulders to the I floor entirely unconfined at the waist and ends in a long train These charming charm-ing little confections abound in falls of lace and are always of black white or violet as since the death of her oldest son Mrs Burnett has never worn colors I She cares nothing whatever for jewelry and though she has had many valuable j and interesting pieces presented her j never wears anything in the way of ornament or-nament but a rather ugly moonstone ring given her several years ago by the t daughter of Mrs Harriet Beecher j Stowe The stone was never of pretty 1 shape and has now become almost i lusterless but nothing would induce Mrs Burnett to be without it for a t single day so strong is her superstition I regarding its influence upon the fates It was givea her just beflore the enormous enorm-ous success of Fauntleroy and dur I ing the only time she ever allowed it to f be off her finger occurred the carriage accident which resulted in her long jll f I ness from a concussion of the brain Most of her jewels have picturesque f srtories connected with them that of a beautiful diamond ring which she possesses I pos-sesses being indeed quite a thrilling tale as the ring was given her in memory mem-ory of having saved a mans life while 1 baJtiiing at Long Branch at considerable I consider-able risk to her own w I The Story has been the dominant I 1 influence in Mrs Burnetts life from the beginning an4 she isv jfever str I I happyas when tryjng to malce some i I airyswrY materialize in fine life of c1J j i 1 i I 1 > < > friend even to the third and fourth generation She has already laid the foundation for the most enchanting real fairytale in the life of some faraway far-away great granddaughter Eight years ormbre ago just before receiving receiv-ing SSie cable telling her of her sons illness Mrs Burnett had been to Paris and had a Dumber of magnificent cos tumesngjnade for the coming London seoson jSThey had hardly arrived at her London home before the tragic rews came and the splendid creations were < destined never to toe worn In a cedar chest COO years old they lie packed away at Poraland place stiff brocade and soffi crepe in shades of pink yellow violet blue and ashes of roses embroidered over with pearls silk and gold A beautiful opera cloak c yellow brocade lined with hello tripe saifn and trimmed with be irrarubeau completes the fairy outfit which will not see the light of day for another generation or two One may imagine with what interest some fair daughter of the twentieth century will open the old chest and listen to the sad story of iiow the light went out of her illustrious grandmas life so that she never again cared for bright xl orS and always wore her garbs of mourning In planning the decioument Mrs Bur nctits emotions are divided between her story telling and maternal instincts in-stincts For the best interests of the story this charming descendant must be very poor and fall unexpectedly upon the olU chest at some great crisis in her life where her clothes play an important part asAvhen do hey not for that matter Yet how deliberately consign pnes great granddaughter to poverty to serve even so picturesque a j purpose MARIAN DEPEW = |
