Walking Dresses.—Silks of every color and texture are now to be seen for afternoon toilet. We may cite the following as the most general form in which they are made: First, a dress of green silk or velvet, the skirt made perfectly plain and very full; three-quarters high body, fitting close to the figure, and ornamented with nœuds of velvet, to which are attached three small drops of fancy buttons, put on at regular distances, and reaching from the top of the corsage to the lower edge of the skirt. Loose sleeves, made open up to the elbow at the back, and rounded, trimmed with a double frilling of narrow velvet. Chemisette and full sleeves of white cambric. Bonnet of a deep lilac velours épinglé. Across the centre of the front is worked a wreath in tambour work, the edge of the front finished with a narrow fulling. The curtain is bordered to match the front, the interior of which is decorated with loops of ribbon, with brides to match. Such is the costume represented on the right in Figure 1.
Another beautiful walking dress is of green silk, the skirt trimmed with three deep flounces, the upper one descending from the waist, and each encircled with three narrow galons, put on so as to represent square vandykes; high body, closing at the back, and ornamented in front of the chest with five nœuds papillons, and on either side three galons, forming revers. Pagoda sleeves, rather short, and finished with two frillings decorated with galons white sleeves of embroidered muslin, having three frillings of Valenciennes lace. Another pretty style is composed of moire antique of a dark blue and black ground, broché in light blue, and trimmed with a chenille lace of a dark blue color. Changeable, lilac, pale blue, and corn-color silks are now becoming fashionable for walking dresses.
Evening Costume.—Every variety of color is now fashionable for evening costume. The most favorite colors are mauve, amber, pink, lilac, blue, and peach. The centre figure in our first illustration exhibits a very elegant evening costume. A dress of pale pink satin, trimmed upon each side of the skirt with a broad lappet of the same, edged with a flat row of blonde, and confined at two distances with a nœud of satin and two ostrich feathers shaded pink, the lower part being rounded. The centre of the pointed corsage is formed of two rows of lace, divided with fullings of satin; the cape is composed of two rows of lace, headed with a fulling of ribbon. The cap is composed of white lace and decorated with pink ribbons and feathers.
Fig. 2.—Coiffure.
Coiffures.—There is a great variety of head dresses, many of them extremely rich and elegant. They are composed of light fabrics, and flowers of the rarest kind. The latter are generally intermixed with fancy ribbons, combining the most vivid hues with threads of gold or silver, while others are varied with nœuds and streamers of ribbon velvet. Figure 2 represents a neat style of head dress for an evening party, showing the arrangement of the back hair. An elegant style of coiffure is composed of the white thistle, intermixed with small clusters of gold berries and white gauze ribbon, richly embroidered with gold. Those formed of ivy leaves, interspersed with tips of white marabout sables d'or, and attached with bows of green and gold ribbon, are extremely elegant.
Fig. 3.—Bonnet.
