Evening gown

“ Similarly, in the afternoon unless the occasion is an elaborate one, when she may wear an elegant reception gown or an informal tea, when she may wear one of the exquisite creations especially designed for such occasions.
There is a semi-evening dress which may be worn to afternoon affairs or to dinner and to all evening entertainments except very elaborate ones. For these a woman's gown should be décolleté and should be of beautiful material. The color and design are at the discretion of the individual but it is well to remember that those which are simplest are most effective. ”

“ This does not mean, however, that the woman whose purse permits only one evening gown, need feel ill at ease or self-conscious at the ball, for simplicity has a delightful attractiveness all its own, and if the gown is well-made of excellent materials, and in a style and color that is becoming, one will be just as effectively dressed as the much-bejeweled dowager. ”

“ She was a lovely girl, and in evening dress she was surprisingly beautiful. The low-cut gown of simple white left bare the exquisite slope of her shoulders. The gleam of her rich brown hair made a jewel-like setting for the perfect oval of her face. ”

“ FLOWERS. A fashionable evening dress trimmed with any flower, and called after it, is the easiest kind of fancy costume; a tulle veil with wreath is often worn with this, and china floral ornaments; a basket of the flowers carried in the hand. Sometimes the flower is imitated; as for example: Blue Belle, blue shoes, stockings, and short skirt cut in Vandykes, yellow bodice, cap like an inverted bell, with green stalk. Sometimes the dress is the colour of the flower, viz., a violet evening gown made up with silver gauze and green leaves for a Violet. ”

“ As a matter of fact, it is well to take two evening dresses, one on the order of a dinner dress with only a slightly low neck, and the other a more elaborate evening gown as there is usually some special occasion for which one needs it. ”

“ Full evening dress demands one's most elaborate gown, made of silk, satin, velvet, lace, or crêpe-de-chine, as costly as one's purse permits, with décolleté effects, gained by either actual cut or the use of lace and chiffon. One should wear delicate shoes, white or light-colored gloves, and appropriate jewels, of which it is not good taste to have too lavish a display.
As hostess at an afternoon reception or luncheon one may wear an elaborate gown of the richest materials, with either long sleeves and high neck, or elbow sleeves and slightly low neck. ”

“ To be clear, we would say, try always to begin a season with one distinguished evening gown, one smart tailor suit, one charming house gown, one tea gown, one negligée and one sport suit. If you are needing many dancing frocks, which have hard wear, get a simple, becoming model, which your little dressmaker, seamstress or maid can copy in inexpensive but becoming colours. You can do this in Summer and Winter alike, and with dancing frocks, tea gowns, negligées and even sport suits. That is, if you have smart, up-to-date models to copy. ”

“ The style is a matter of taste and prevalent fashion. If the wedding takes place at noon in a church, the gown is either sleeveless or with very short sleeves, and it may or may not have a train, according to the taste of the wearer. Like the bride, she wears white gloves and carries flowers.
If the wedding is held in the afternoon or evening, at home, the maid of honor's gown is less formal. It may be a dainty afternoon frock of taffeta or satin, sometimes embroidered georgette dresses are worn—that is, for the afternoon alone. When it is in the evening, a silk gown may be worn. ”

“ For Women.—This may be simple, or as elaborate as one pleases, the only restriction being that it must be high in the neck, and should also be of heavier material than that which may be put into an evening gown.
For afternoon teas, receptions, etc., the hostess wears a high-necked, long-sleeved gown of any rich cloth, velvet or silk, elaborately trimmed, always long in the skirt, and with jewels. No hat should be worn by the hostess or those who are assisting her. White kid gloves are usually worn, unless the affair is exceedingly small and informal. ”

“ For use in company, afternoon teas, evenings, little gatherings of friends at dinner, or any fête to which she is invited, a pretty waist of silk or chiffon and a skirt of silk or fine wool will be appropriate. In packing waists use plenty of soft white tissue-paper, so that they will come out uninjured at the journey's end. Your mother will provide you with a simple evening gown, if she thinks it needful, and a girl never looks sweeter than in simple white muslin or in a white gown of some sort. With the white gown must be white shoes, and house gowns of all kinds need dainty foot-gear. ”

“ Women are indebted to that gentle genius, La Duse, for the suggestion that a veiled throat and bust may charmingly fulfil the requirements of evening dress, and also satisfy that sense of delicacy peculiar to some women who have not inherited from their great-great-grandmothers the certain knowledge that a low-necked gown is absolutely decorous. ”

“ My head-dress was a bugle-band like the border to my gown, and a flower of Mrs. Tilson's. I depended upon hearing something of the evening from Mr. W. K., and am very well satisfied with his notice of me—"A pleasing-looking young woman"—that must do; one cannot pretend to anything better now; thankful to have it continued a few years longer! ”

“ For Women.—Elaborate afternoon and reception gowns are worn at church or house weddings held in the morning or afternoon. Hats are to be worn at the following reception or breakfast, and gloves should be laid aside only while one is eating. For the immediate family of the bride or groom, deep mourning should be left off for the wedding-day, and gray and lilac, or black and purple, be worn instead.
At an evening wedding, full dress may be worn, or else very elaborate high-throated, long-sleeved gowns, without hats, and with white gloves. ”

“ In the gable is a traceried rose, above which is an elaborate cornice with beasts' heads projecting at the angles, shell niches, and floral finial, and at the meeting-point of the ramps a bust of an elderly woman in the costume of the fourteenth century, with hair in curls at each side of the face, a jewelled circlet, pleated gown with tightly fitting sleeves slashed and embroidered, and a border round the neck above a laced under-garment. ”

“ The dames of such as wear the cote-hardie imitate its tightness in the sleeves and bodices of their long gown. A curious fashion which now begins is the sleeveless upper gown whose sides are cut away in curved sweeps from the shoulder to below the waist, the edges of the opening being deeply furred. The strange head-dress with a steeple-horn draped with lawn kerchiefs makes its appearance to shock the moralists. ”

“ An equally elegant Morning Wedding-Dress might consist of a rich, deep-brown frock-coat; waistcoat of black cashmere, with a small violet-colored palm-leaf figure; neck-tie of silk, combining colors of black and cherry, or brown and deep blue; trowsers of delicate drab, or stone-color; gloves primrose, or slate-colored kid.
The usual Evening-Dress is so imperiously insisted on, that it might be almost classed in the category of uniforms, being almost invariably composed of black coat, vest, and trowsers. ”

“ It will be seen that morning and evening dress for gentlemen varies as much as it does for ladies. It is decidedly out of place for a gentleman to wear a dress coat and white tie in the day-time, and when evening dress is desired on ceremonious occasions, the shutters should be closed and the gas or lamps lighted. The true evening costume or full dress suit, accepted as such throughout the world, has firmly established itself in this country ”

“ SUMMER. A white or pink gauze, lisse, or tulle evening dress, liberally trimmed with summer flowers, especially roses; it is sufficient to wear a wreath of the same, but a veil with butterflies is a more decided fancy dress, or a straw hat, with flowers and butterflies. Scattered rose leaves on the skirt add to the effect, interspersed with butterflies and green beetles; a basket of flowers in hand; necklet and earrings of China roses. Or, dress of blue and crimson brocade, with fringes of flowers. July is dressed in the same fashion. ”

“ I shook myself again, and began to dress. And now a happy thought struck me. Glancing at the portrait on the wall, I saw that the fair girl was dressed in green. Was it? Yes, it must be—it was—the very same dress! Quickly, and as neatly as I could, I arranged my hair in two great puffs, with a butterfly knot on the top of my head, in the style of the picture; if only I had the high comb! I slipped on the gown, which fitted me well enough. I put on the slippers, and tied the green ribbons round and round my ankles; then I lighted all the candles, and looked at myself. A perfect guy? ”

“ The perfectly fitting gown revealed the outlines of her well developed and finely proportioned form; its color seemed to enhance the delicacy of her face and the brilliancy of her eyes, while the graceful coiffure showed to good advantage the beautifully shaped head, and added to her dignity. She seemed suddenly to have been transformed from shy, reserved girlhood, to graceful, royal womanhood. ”

“ On Sundays and holidays, and perhaps of afternoons, she changes her black stockings for white, puts on a gown of better texture and fine pattern, sets her cap and her curls jauntily, and lays aside the neck-handkerchief for a high-body, which, by the way, is not half so pretty. ”

“ Dressed in a simple, close-fitting gown of black velvet, without an ornament, her white arms and shoulders gleaming in the soft light from the chandeliers, she was an enticing creature to be admired by men and women alike. ”

“ I never dreamed of such clothes even in my dreams of heaven. But the French are an extravagant race. There was hardly a gown worn last season which was not of the most delicate texture, garnished with chiffon and illusion and tulle—the most crushable, airy, inflammable, unserviceable material one can think of. Now, I am a utilitarian. When I see a white gown I always wonder if it will wash. ”

“ The group of figures which I have called “Two harmonies in black and white,” are two pretty gowns in the two hues which are the most fashionable of all. The figure on the left holding a bird wears a gown of white lace over black satin, which is trimmed with crescent-shaped pieces of silk, shading from black to grey and white. These are laid on in regular sequence of size on the skirt as well as on the bodice. The other dress is of plainer character, and is of black, with a white design. It is, in fact, one of the new satin-faced foulards, the pattern being of small leaves and dots. ”

“ In selecting material for a gown, the fashionable modiste will first consider the eyes of the lady who is to wear it. Though few but the artist realize it, the eyes are the keynote of the entire costume. They determine whether the dress shall be frivolous or demure, gay or somber, vivid or soft. The color of the hair, also, is important in deciding the color of the gown itself. ”

“ Their Gowns be no less famous, some of silk velvet grogram taffety fine cloth of forty shillings a yard. But if the whole gown be not silke or velvet then the same shall be layed with lace two or three fingers broade all over the gowne or the most parte. Or if not so (as Lace is not fine enough sometimes) then it must be garded with great gardes of costly Lace, and as these gowns be of sundry colours so they be of divers fashions changing with the Moon. Some with sleeves hanging down to their skirts, trayling on the ground, and cast over the shoulders like a cow’s tayle. ”

“ The bridemaids’ gowns are walking length, as a rule, and they wear large, picturesque hats, overshadowed with plumes or adorned with flowers, and carry huge bunches, or baskets, of fragrant blossoms. Wealthy brides, who have some special fancy to carry out, often provide the gowns for their maids. Historic styles are frequently chosen, making every gown after the exact mode of the epoch selected, but adopting a different color for each. ”

“ The modern evening dress for men is one of the few conventions—perhaps the only one—not designed to bolster up insignificance by reducing all to the same level of smooth elegance. It is one of the curiosities of the history of manners how such a blunder came to be firmly established as a propriety. In evening dress, as in no other kind of costume or lack of costume, the personality, the individuality, of the wearer obtrudes itself to every eye. ”

“ The exclusive use of white for the bride is supposed to have grown out of an old custom of the Patagonians, who cover the body with white paint on the eve of the wedding ceremony.
To-day the keynote of the wedding gown is simplicity. The days of elaborate gowns with trains so heavy with the weight of precious jewels that eight girls had to carry them, is over. The sensible American bride knows that simplicity is more becoming to the solemn dignity of the occasion than extremely elaborate dress. ”

“ Décolleté is never worn at the afternoon dance. Short sleeves may be worn if Fashion favors them at the time, and the neck of the gown is also cut on the lines that agree with the prevalent mode. But it is extremely bad taste, even for a very celebrated guest of honor, to attend the afternoon dance in a sleeveless, décolleté gown. ”

“ A gown of white muslin, strewn with blue flowers, made with very large sleeves, a pointed body and no belt, shoes with strings crossed on the instep over Scotch thread stockings, showed a charming knowledge of the art of dress. ”

“ In winter two or three padded gowns are added; and in all seasons many persons go bare-footed, bare-legged, and bare-headed. The female garb51 does not differ greatly from the male costume, except that the sash is larger and richer and the gown is made of lighter fabrics. The women powder and paint, oil their hair, and adorn their heads with pretty combs and hairpins. ”