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Show 11 j I clJ( aloxjui 1);::;: :p Mme Simcax is m.crica!s Greatest fj::::!j 1 MM DesiSfex and Creator of Fashion, ppl! I E3E::i COPYVZfGtfT 9 ' SAfCoX E:::::ij f -T----tl - AMtorf iot r ; : : : ; i II sl many arc the varia-I varia-I Cy ons which appear I from day to dny in I fc lon that' f0r 1116 I wTtI greater number of I women.it isalinost I icrjS Impossible to keep I JBp pace wltn tuo sul I " . tie differences that I Uf adontecl with I of good results. It Is I Jy f the TiQveltics and I trifles that can be I ' I applied to the as-I as-I mired fashions in a way that offers I added variety and interest And has . there ever been a time when wc have I had such a niixup of periods and na-I na-I tloual modes as at the present mo- . ment? We have Watteau hats, Pompadour Pompa-dour cretons, Egyptian scarabs, Roman Ro-man striped silks, Japanese bows, not to mention a revival of the futurist linings lin-ings and Post Impressionist effects. "What the exact significance of all this conglomeration will be beyond a gen-f gen-f cral bizarre license for eccentric novelty nov-elty "would be hard to define. Still, it -! all adds to the interest of our clothes and encourages a taste for originality. At the same time the so called "artistic" "ar-tistic" woman (always a dangerous personality as far as dressing is concerned) con-cerned) should beware of wall-paper j or pre-hlstorie designs in silks and I cretajis as substitutes for the rare color-(' ! . ings 'and effects -in which the favore'd,, rich' can indulge without giving 'of- fensc. One of the commonest mistakes In dressing Is to copy in cheap materials koiiic eccentric mode that can only justify Its existence when everything connected with it is beyond criticism. Fashionablo Spring Fabrics. The alert" brains of the manufacturing manufactur-ing world have devised all manner of delectable fabrics for Spring wear. The most fashionable materials for the moment for afternoon gowns and tailored tail-ored suits and trimmings are silk duve-tyn, duve-tyn, chiffon taffeta In Persian effects, Roman stripe moires, crepe poplins, Irish poplins in clan tartans, ripple crepes in silk and wool, gabardine and I golfine. With the tunic styles foremost the fashionable fabric must necessarily bo that which drapes gracefully, clings closely to the figure, IIs necessary, and at the same time be fairly durable, for "with the thes dnnsanic that are all the vogue the afternoon gown must not be too. Iragile. As silk crepe fulfills so perfectly these requirements it will undoubtedly enjoy tremendous popularity. popu-larity. Several new weaves have appeared ap-peared which are of interest. Pebble crepe, "which I have used for several of my new models, is delightfully supple sup-ple and pliable, with an added lustre which makes It quite irresistible. It can be easily manipulated and falls naturally Into graceful folds. Chiffon tiff eta makes up into extremely ex-tremely smart looking gowns and taffeta, taf-feta, cither plain, check or striped, Is very fashionable at the time of writing and undoubtedly will continue to be. The most supple, softest weave, of course, is the taffeta of the moment Some of the French couturieres say that they find even that somewhat stiff for the prevailing modes, but personally person-ally I have found that It can be easily draped to form the niches, frills and panniers that arc features of the Spring styles. A unique position is held by golfine. It Is an excellent understudy for corduroy, cor-duroy, and like corduroy will outwear the majority of materials, for In the best qualities the fabric is pure and not chemically treated to give it a finish. Perhaps it owes a great deal of its success to the particularly good colors in which it has been developed. An exquisite shade of chamois, the new Argentine yellow and flamingo, are all deftly brought out In this material. ma-terial. For sport coats and golf capes golfine supercedes all others. Stripe materials are very popular again, but they are outrivaled by the plaids and checks, which are extremely smart this spring. The favored color combinations combina-tions are shown blue and green, blue and white, brown and blue, and it goes without saying that black and white is In evidence, My French correspondent writes me that, although black hats were conspicuous con-spicuous at the Auteuil race?, the gowns were in the brightest colors and the most vivid plaids were used as trimmings on the tailored suits. One costume that created quite a sensation was .worn by Mile. Yvonne Brellot, the young comedienne. The suit was of gabadlne in bright Russian green; the skirt was made with box pleats and was quite short; her underskirt, under-skirt, which came a 'few inches below her dress, was of green and blue tartan tar-tan plaid silk: the little collarless bolero, bo-lero, with the same plaid on the revcrs, opened over a whittj cloth waistcoat which fastened in a trig manner down the front with a row of oxidized silver buttons, the genuine Scotch buttons bearing tt thistle. ITer hat was a Scotch herd, with an ochre colored upstanding up-standing quill. Over I his costume was thrown a long green Neapolitan cape lined with white si) tin. The cape was cut with the fashionable point at the back and fell in ample folds, which enabled en-abled the wearer to throw the end over her shoulder in true cavalier fashion, fash-ion, Tho cape, like most of these new Neapolitan wraps, had a large hood lined with silk. This kind of cape recalls re-calls the golf cape of ten years ago; It Is extremely full and is cut circular. Some of the models come down as far as the hem of the dress. Many white waistcoats and black and while vests arc worn with tho French frocks. An instance of this is shown in the model illustrated (Fig. 1.) Tho costume, showing a smart combination of two materials, is In black moire taffeta and a deep Thespian blue satin-cloth. satin-cloth. The little coat which Is much seen in Paris is semi-fitting and fastens In a novel manner with straps over tho vest, which is of thick white silk, striped strip-ed with black, with a row of blue and black enamel buttons. The fish-wife Vlrapery forming the upper part of tho skirt Is of the moire taffeta. The cloth of which the underskirt Is made and which Is employed for the facings of the coat is in that exquisite rich shade of blue that has recently cropped up with such avidity. This, blue has a purplish tinge in it in some of Its tones, while in othors it is uncompromisingly blue in varying depths. It looks its best in the finest face cloths and poplin cloths. And it has this advantage (for those wise women who do not try to save on material that it cannot be successfully suc-cessfully reproduced in cheap fabrics'. Thespian blue Is only for those who buy good material. With such a costume cos-tume as the one under discussion, a little white crushed straw toque, with two full black pompons standing sheer out at the sides as in the sketch, la extremely smart French Frocks I Have Imported. I have now on exhibition some new frocks from the French capital which show the general trend of style abroad as completely as it can he shown when all the notable Paris couturieres seem to be bent on more Individual developments develop-ments than were Characteristic in former for-mer years. There Is, however, a decided decid-ed leaning toward a balloon effect below be-low the hips, again arrested at the knees, as exemplified in Fjg. 2, where two rather wide bouffant ruffles again contract the fullness of the gathered skirt: A rather butterfly effect is to be observed on the front draping, of the gown body, while the loose long sleeves have turned back cuffs of a most piquant pi-quant shape. Dark blue, called by the pretty name of hlitc tic nuit, Is a favorite among the colors of Spring costumes. One attractive attrac-tive model in this deep color Is dovel-' dovel-' oped in chiffon and taffeta, combined with a rare cream lace arranged in alternate al-ternate irregular circles around the figure. .A note of oddity is added by a unique gilt necklace, which encircles the throat in a single strand and falls with pendant tassels over the bust A tightly grouped bunch of dull red moss rosebuds Is tucked in at the belt. Another dark blue street costume of light weight serge has charmcusc ruffles ruf-fles about eight inches in depth running run-ning in diagonal lines from the wnlst-Une. wnlst-Une. It Js . brightened by a red-gold chiffon bodice, hand embroidered with green and orange floss silk. A bunch of varl-colored cherries decorates the girdle. The gown on Fig. 3 Is a creation of my own, and I have used a dusky, gray tussor, almost the color of smoke, for my medium. Its somber lone is livened liv-ened with a modified Gabrielle d'Es-trces d'Es-trces collar, who, history tells us, was . the "heart-queen" of Henry the Fourth. The color of this quaint feature of the jacket is a peasant's pink, striped with green. The material employed Is a ben-galino ben-galino of unresisting quality unlike tho lady from which the collar is named! The box pleated front slants toward the back in graceful, undulating undulat-ing folds. Fringed ends, buttons and braid ornaments feature on the front of the jacket, and an oddly-shaped buckle of gray .wood adds much to Its elegance. Two of the most delicately lovely models I have on view arc a radiant blue and gold shot silk and a pale beige moire of the softest quality imaginable. imag-inable. The first mentioned has a celn-ture celn-ture draped high In the back over a bodice of transparent blue chiffon, beneath be-neath which glimmers a faint suggestion sugges-tion of a gold corset cover. The neck opens boldly over a filling of mallncs and a strangely shaped loose collar-much collar-much like a rough rider's kerchief-shows kerchief-shows on the back of the neck. A little apron adds to the coquetry of the cotsumc. Tho beige moire has loose tucked sleeves of tho self-toned chiffon which hang limply below the elbow. The suave drapery of the skirt swirls below be-low a short double tunic, and a pcpluin of chiffon, embroidered with Copenhagen Copen-hagen blue in a non-committal geometrical geomet-rical design, serves its decorative purpose. pur-pose. This appears in similar figuring figur-ing on the waist, which is further em bellished with a high girdle finishing in two Incisive points curved upwards to the breast A narrow blue velvet ribbon outlines the opening of the neck, which is filled in with llcrre lace. This same lace also shows Illusively under the blouscd bodice in the back. Charming, Indeed, is a dashing little hat which I judged suitable to blend with this costume. It had a brim of the Copenhagen blue In hemp straw, narrow in the front, but spreading broadly toward the back. It was un- m exit dcrlined with a silk in soft Persian design de-sign and the same silk composed the rounded crown. Stiff little bunches of flowers in the Identical hues of the East were set primly around the brim and poised on the back was a flat bow of neutral-tinted brown velvet Hat trimmings, for the most partr seem to be put on at a more oblique angle that ever, and whether adjusted at the front or rear give the silhouette a decidedly flamboyant appearance when outlined against the background of some smartly subdued drawing-room wall; but. as long as they follow the I correct line of proportion, wo do not need to feel that they are' an offense against artistic ethics. New Features In Bags. Among the new bags I find; many decided de-cided innovations. Their shapes are manifold, but most of them are long and narrow rather than short and broad, as formerly. They are, besides, all more or less ornate in style, even the tailored models In leather being gathered or pleated into mountings of gun-metal, steel or silver. Some of the newer designs, carried out in leather, open to show a half-moon mirror cunningly cun-ningly Inserted in the top, which, with the fittings that many of them now boast, does away with the necessity for a vanity bag. One of the most delightful de-lightful appearing opera-bags I have seen Is a melon-shaped affair of cloth of silver, heavily fringed on the edges. It Is mounted in platinum, and a platinum plati-num watch is inset near the base. The lining is of rompadour silk in plum colored tones, soft and delicate to the eye, while the interior when opened gives forth a delicious and refreshing odor of old lavender, a scent which, by the way, is again assuming a dominant role among the more pungent perfumes and which brings back .to'us the days . A "when grandmamma was young!" ""tC - Ribbons.- ym With the increased popularity of I sashes, used sometimes on an ultra-quiet ultra-quiet gown to give it the one brilliant mote of fantastic color, the vivid tones (of ribbons have struck a still more (Vigorous .chord than those used on the robes of 1S72. from which many of them are copied. jKot .i few of the rib- 1 bbn sashes are shot with gilt or silver and on aow.hlte gown blossom in conventional con-ventional designs-stiff rows of pansles and roses in shades not conceivable to I the natural process of floral evolution 1 but only to the genius of a master- 1 wizard such as Luther Burbank. When I our cye3 tire of- bizarre effects, how- 1 ever, we find a haunting charm and I loveliness about some of the softer I blurred designs, such as a faint rose In 1 irregular motifs against a background 1 of ash-gray. So much, however, of a. 1 color combination's effectiveness do- ? ..ponds upon the personam v 0f the wear- & er. fbr there are moonlight as well as 'i sunlight types of women-even though l' until their sensibilities are trained', they .may fnll to.recognlzo this fact 'jM well known-as it Is to artists! vT?' Phaoes of the Coaching Parasol. Coaching, as we all. know, is one of ? the chief delights of early spring, and h the coaching parasol, or snn-umbrclla ?j as it is sometimes designated, is in jj class .quite by itself. It is built on lines V much sturdier than the ordinary affair j and has a Xnr heavier frame to resist ) ' the high winds which strike us with j ' so much greater force when we are ( perched on Jhd top of a coach. This I coaching phruphtif generally boasts a stout handle of wood, carved, in most 1 cases, with a sporting head of some 1 characteristic description, such as a 1 horse pr Dalmatian coach dog; while H the silk employed should be of the J heaviest quality obtainable to be of 1 any lasting value. One that struck me ll as being the acme of suitability was If' made with a handle of warmly-toned l Bermuda cedar, a wood which has a ' delicious fragrance as well as heauti- (? ful natural markings. The' handle was lit carved in the semblance of a devil-fish. V and the silk used'ran the gamut of the yellows, from a burnt umber to a vivid i gojd as sunny In effect as a summer I . day. f . Still another sun-umbrella was a study in reds as glowing as the pic- (? lure, "The Study In Reds." that the jl artist William .Chase designed. Who will ever forget that famous picture of his 1 In which the various shades of the same ft tone-color seem to melt Into each other. (J, blended and j-et distinct! The head of the handlc-of this particular umbrella was that of n gay tropical perroquct. J while the handle itself was of the man- ' zanitn wood, which meets its- lino; J growth in California. Two tones oj. crimson fought for supremacy in the ' fabric, and flic whole effect was as j porgeops as .that of a Royal Poiusettb in fullest bloom. , j MMBiiMMiMMMMizzzzzzz" . , , ..LL |