OCR Text |
Show I Of 7ttterst to Eadp Readers j i zz FLAMING RED FOB, HIDSUIOIEB USE. The Trick of Combining Colors is One Which the "Wise "Woman Leaves to an Artist Gilt and Gold Coming in Gorgeous Gowns "Worn by Mrs. Potter Palmer, and Others in the Gala Days of Paris. Paris, June 20. The city is recklessly : gay! The subdued hues of spring are now outshone by the brilliant tones of summer, and where brown and pale green once hung high over the heads' of the gay crowds in the Bois de Bo-logne Bo-logne thre is a background of the most gorgeous green, intensified by the rich bronze of the tree trunks. In the Bois, upon the boulevards, at the Exposition, everywhere there are gay crowds, brilliant in coloring and shimmering in the soft glossy silks and cambrics of the season. The question now of color is a vital ; one. Few women choose colors well; only half of the women choose tli-m even acceptably. '; One of the American girl exhibitors at the Salon this spring makes a pretty '; penny every season selecting colors for fashionable women to wear. She looks her woman over, tries the shades, and finally gives her a written list of the colors she may wear. Besides knowing the plain tones that are" becoming to ; her, she is furnished with the color combinations guaranteed to look well with her hair and complexion. Few women in the actual world of I fashion trust themselves to choose their own colors. Better, they .say. to employ a professional, who will make no mlsl!il-iij Nor is the matter of color a simple one this season, when the modes run to a combination of colors marly of a shade. The blues and greens are placed 1 side by side and one on top of the f other. The browns and the russets. the yellows and the pinks, are so ;.ir- t ranged that they must combine re- j markably well or they will clash. ;; COLOi: SHADES. J The trick of finding the olor shades j is one that belongs to an artist, for it j is only the artistic eye that can discern ' the tones and arrange ihcm so as to I show off to the best advantage the woman who is wearing them. i '. In every woman's lace there is a I : touch of green, so the artists tell us, j and if the green which harmonizes with : this can be found it will be immensely j becoming. So with blue, for there is a bluish tinge, if not in the eyes, directly di-rectly under them: and if the proper shade of blue is found the eyes are j- prettier and deeper. Yellows are becoming to sallow faces and to pink ones; in fact, becoming to all. if the correct shades are found, and especially when combined with purple, for the two colors match well together. When the artist who has selected the colors has finished with her work the wise woman of fashion will take the combination t of the modiste and allow her to pick it out with black. Black here or there will accentuate the bright tones and make them brighter, actually actual-ly bringing them out. For this reason a rosette of black silk with a bodice of velvet, choux rosettes of tulle, a stock, even a black silk rose which j you will see upon many of the new i . Bummer hats gives the completing ; touch to it all. In this respect black is a wonderful thing; it supplies the note which is called chic by the French. ; In the summer's color array there ' must be white. If pink is the song. ' white is the keynote black the minor ! chord to give expression. White must be present; not in littles, but en masse. An entire white blouse and tunic over a slip of daffodil silk: a white dotted blouse over a body of turquoise: white, white everywhere; that is the pretty note in the summer's dress. IX THE TOWER. Thousands of Parisians who have never visited the Eiffel Tower until this season are taking it in now; and sonic of the handsoniesc toilettes of the year can be sketched there any fine day. It is the dress resort of fashionable wo-' wo-' men; and never a summer watering place that boasted prettier or more elaborate gowns. An Eiffel Tower dress was of silk gauze in a sapphire hue. The short tunic had a pointed front, trimmed . around the lower edge with a, broad : band of Chantilly lace, while panels of j the same lace extended from the belt I downward. Xothing could have been i plainer thar. this tunic, for there was I not a particle of fulness in it; not as much as a looping. The skirt was composed entirely of j ' panels of the lace joined by the nar- ; rowest bands of sapphire ribbon. A broad band of this . lace extended around the skirt, below which were two very full ruffles of sapphire gauze, each edged with its narrow ruching of gauze. The bodice was made of the sapphire gauze, built over a foundation of white taffeta. A bolero front was composed of lace, joined with ribbons and trimmed with bands of fine Chantilly. Across the front there were bands of white satin ribbon crossed to form a very pretty trimming. The belt matched the ribbons on the breast. Such a gown is undeniably expensive and none but the woman of expensive purse can attempt it, though some very pretty things are possible with substitutes. substi-tutes. PRETTY CHEAP LACES. In place of the silk gauze there may be used tulle or chiffon and even mull, or coarse canvas, while a cheaper lace can always be used in place of the rare lace. They make so many inexpensive laces this year that one is. never at a loss to rind one that is not dear. In place of the silk lining they are using linings of lawn but these are not cheap, as two and three thicknesses are required. Under a skirt of gauze there mus,t be one of chiffen lalling over one of lawn, and if the effect is not sufficiently soft there is another of mull er tulle. Skirt after skirt falls in long soft curves nearly to the ground when all must cascade around the feet. The tendency in skirts is toward the long lines and, in many of the very newest gowns, there is no curve at the waist line in front, the back, however, is beautifully curved. This gives the classic outline, though it certainly adds two inches to the waist line, if not more. An attempt at a narrow belt is carried around the waist, very low in front, to describe a deep curve, but there is no belted waist any more. All waists are barge, and the little, slender one is hard to find. Jn the street dress you see many novelties, one being the skirt that is I Jnug at the hips, but full around the foot. This is managed in many ways, one of them being the little box plait which is set in the skirt at intervals of eighteen inches all the way around. This tiny box is set underneath in such a way that the skirt flares, like a fan when the wearer moves. Such exquisite gowns are being made for London. In anticipation of the victorious vic-torious return home of the troops English En-glish women are ordering Paris gowns ' as freely as they pick roses in June, i one 'of these, designed for Miss Muriel Wilson, the belle of all the pretty Wil-I Wil-I son girls, is of that ever useful ma-I ma-I terial, foulard, with white printed de-j de-j signs over its surface. A little bolero j of emerald taffeta is bordered with the tiniest ruching of gray chiffon while i stock and girdle are of gray velvet. These three colors, platinum gray, emerald green and standard blue form 1 the color scheme of the gown and are repeated again and again. The foulard tunic falls over a skirt of emerald taffeta, taf-feta, around the foot of which there are deep chiffon ruffles that cascade and fall upon the ground in a foam of tlnv billows. An exquisite combination is formed by these three shades, but let the woman wo-man who is not sure of her artistic instincts in-stincts beware for It takes an artist to select the exact hues. In many of the finest shops the salesman will drape a figure with the colors as to be sure of the proper selection. It is not an uncommon sight along the Rue de la Paix to find a group of shoppers, comfortably seated in one of the tiny salesrooms, while a neat young woman drapes and undrapes a figure until the colors suit. Piece after piece of silk is drawn over the body of the dummy woman and being In lengths for the skirt; over this is thrown mous-seline mous-seline de sole, or gauze, or other diaphanous di-aphanous substance, and, finally, over everything comes the trimming which is caught here and there to give the effect. The rage for gold continues. Galloon, passamenterie and small buttons are used everywhere, and so are the gold laces and the very fine trimmings in gold, studded with semi-precious gems. Mrs. Potter Palmer, in a gown that I resembled cloth of gold, attended a diplomatic reception a few days ago; I and Mrs. William Astor, that venerable matron who holds her own as a society leader, wore a dress of black gauze spangled with gold over a gown of ; white satin. If these facts stand forth in dazzling daz-zling array there are others more comforting. com-forting. For instance, the stamped muslins were never so pretty and are sold for a song; so are silky linings, the glossy plain cambrics taking the place of the more expensive satins, taffetas taf-fetas and brocades. The thrifty French women do not spend as much upon their gowns as Americans, though they have, perhaps, a greater number, but you will find them wearing the substitutes substi-tutes and searching for the quality called chic, instead of the expensive patterns. rrTTnv AND LACE BRIDAL GOWN. MADE OVER A BODY OF WHITE SILIC A COMPLETE GOWN OP WHITE TAFFETA IS CLOSELY I VriD AND OVER IT 13 DRAPED TULLE. M0D5- ' SELINE DE SOIE OR CHIFFON. - Each week sees a new color on the horizon. Last week it might have been pink; this week there were hundreds of gowns that wavered between a lovely love-ly sea blue and a sea green; the fade tones are combined and soft are the results. re-sults. They are wearing lace shawls again, folded square across the soldiers, and falling nearly to the ground, in front. For summer evenings you see a shawl thrown around the shoulders with one corner caught in the coiffure. |