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FASHIONS

FOR

NOVEMBER, 1818.

EXPLANATION OF THE PRINTS OF FASHION.

No. 1.-WALKING DRESS. Garter purple poplin pelisse, ornament. ed with black velvet: Mary Scot bounet of garter purple reps silk, ornamented at the edge with a cordon of purple and black flowers, and surmounted by a full plume of tropic birds' feathers, variegated in black and purple. Fan cornette placed under the bonnet; and Castilian double ruff worn under the black velvet cape of the pelisse. Waterloo half-boots of garter purple and black; and lemon-coloured kid gloves.

No. 2.-BALL DRESS.

of Kent, in St. James's-street: and without farther remarks on that uurivalled taste she has ever displayed in the different articles of female attire, we shall briefly lay before our readers a few new inventions to be seen at her repository.

And first, for out-door costume, we beg leave to present to our readers the description of a most elegant carriage pelisse of amaranth-coloured velvet, with a standing up collar; this pelisse is beautifully ornamented with a facing and bordering of the Aix-la-Chapelle trimming, in rich and ele gant vandyke puckerings of alternate white and amaranth satin; with this is worn the Aix-la-Chapelle hat, made to correspond, and surmounted by the alliance plume, a beautiful triple ornament of white feathers.

Ceres frock, with a very broad border of wheat ears in straw, worked on tulle, and worn over a white satin slip. Toque turban of tulle, elegantly worked with straw to correspond, with Turkish foldings in front of crape and straw interspersed. Henrietta ruff of fine lace, fixed low, and terminating at the shoulders. White satining costume for November, the spenser. shoes, and white kid gloves.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

ON

FASHION AND DRESS.

THE most eminent and tasteful priestesses of the fashionable toilet are now all preparing to quit their temporary repositories at the different watering-places, and are about to resume their stations in the metropolis, in order to await the arrival of their numerous patronesses of rank and fashion with every auxiliary of taste, invention, and elegance, to aid and, if possible, add grace to the unrivalled forms of Britannia's lovely daughters.

Foremost among those whom genius patronizes, and whom fancy delights in instructing, may be classed the Marchande de Modes of her Royal Highness the Duchess

Velvets in every article of dress promise to be very prevalent this season; already they have made their appearance in that comfortable and highly appropriate walk

In these the colours vary, and are mostly of a light and summer-like hue; fawn colour, with silk cordons of Pomona green, dove colour with blue, and French grey with maiden's blush. At Mrs. Bell's Mayazin de Modes we have seen a Hussar spenser of black velvet, highly and beautifully finished à-la-militaire.

There has been but little alteration in the hats for the promenade; the most approved are of the new shape represented in our Print, and are, for the retired morning walk, generally black. The carriage hats are more various; those of French grey velvet and satin intermingled, with a full plume of feathers of the same colour, are chaste and elegant. Carriage bonnets for morning excursions are large; some of these are of white and coloured satin in quarters, and are finished by a long drooping white feather; others of fancy straw with coloured satin stripes, with a full

plume of white feathers; and a few black velvet hats have already been seen in carriages, surmounted by that elegant appendage a full plume of small white feathers falling, and beautifully playing over the front of the hat, which is partially turned up; to those whose complexions are only tolerably fair this hat is truly becoming; to a belle blonde it is beyond all praise. We have been favoured with the sight

of some black velvet dresses now in

pre

paration for the cold and gloomy days of November. They are chiefly calculated for evening parties, but may be adopted as dinner dresses: their sombre hue is finely relieved by rouleaux of white satin round the border over a broad and superb flounce of white blond of a rich and striking pattern. With these dresses are generally expected to be worn a dress hat of black velvet with white feathers, or of white satin, ornamented with the feathers of the tropic bird, a new and unique article of

taste and value.

Next in estimation to the fine light silk velvet, are poplins and reps silk; which latter article is chiefly in requisition for half dress, while cambrics and India muslin still maintain their station at the breakfast table, and for the receiving of personal morning visits. With the déjeuné costume is worn an elegant cornette of an entire new shape, made of very fine net or cypress tiffany, with lace let simply in, but not in profusion, and its sole ornaments narrow rouleaux of pearl-coloured satin: the Mary Scot cornette is also much worn in undress.

Amongst the other head-dresses is the dinner cornette à-la-Soubrette, with full crown of net and rouleaux of white satin, separated from the head-piece by a wreath of various kinds of flowers: cornettes for friendly visits are smaller, and are crowned on the summit with a full wreath of half blown

moss roses.

There is yet a kind of stagnation in fashion this mouth, till the winter modes become fixed; but we can conclude our observations with the theatrical assurance, that "several novelties are in preparation."

The favourite colours are garter purple, amaranth, a very light shade of fawn-colour, and French grey.

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Cabinet of Taste;

OR MONTHLY COMPENDIUM OF FOREIGN COSTUME.

By a Parisian Correspondent.

COSTUME OF PARIS.

WHEN you bade me adieu a few days since, after passing an unpleasant fortnight in Paris, you seemed half to repent your having taken a trip to this capital at the unpropitious season of short and rainy days; you have, however, you say, considerably enlarged your correspondence on the Continent;-tant mieux. I shall proceed then to perform the part which you have alloted to me, and with which you highly gratified me by saying you were pleased, as your own ocular demonstration made you find my fashionable intelligence to be correct. I will now proceed to state to you what few alterations have taken place since your departure.

You were an eye witness that our French ladies of the present day are very unlike those at the latter end of the last century; they brave the cold; nor are they retarded even by a keen north wind from taking the wholesome exercise of walking: among these our hardy belles, pelisses of coating are preparing, and are expected to be very general for the walking costume this winter. At present the pelisses are made of twilled sarsnet, with capes and lapels, of a different colour to the pelisse, which buttons down the front with straps the same colour as the lapels, each strap having a handsome ornamental button: the sleeves are slashed with satin at the top à l'Espagnole. The pelerine tippets, which you said fatigued your eyes by their sameness in the walks of the Thuilleries, are more in favour than ever, but they have undergone some trifling change; they are now made with long ends, and are generally confined by a broad sash of ribband; these ends are made one longer than the other, and the longest often descends as far as to the hem of the gown border; the sashes are tied before, and the ends hang down with those of the pelerines,

Spensers are made to turn back in front with buttons, and have sashes also worn with them tied before: the sleeves are puckered full at the top, and are often

ornamented all the way to the wrists with broidered with silks of different colours, puffings.

Mantles of kerseymere are among the newest inventions, and promise to be general; they are made like the ancient French capuchin, with arm-holes, and have a double collar, one standing up, and made of velvet, either poppy-colour, amaranth, grey, or black; the other, which falls down, is of the same material as the mantle, which is lined with silk; some ladies, instead of a falling collar, wear a small hood, the same as the mantle; the kerseymere of which is lilac and white, blue and white, dead leaf and white, or plumb-colour and white.

others, with a row of satin cockleshell trimming: but the most costly and elegant gowns are of Cachemire, with a border of large palm leaves. Violet-coloured silk gowns are also much admired; they are made with a pelerine cape, with a very broad border of fluted ribband: some have two or three rows of this bordering; so that the trimming at the bottom of the robe is seldom broader than that on the pelerine, only that on the border are seven or eight rows of this fluted ribband: you are one of the disciples of Taste, and I know you will agree with me that this trimming is as heavy as it is expensive.These violet silk dresses are very much worn at the Thuilleries; I know not whether there is any meaning attached to them. Amongst the other novelties of the day is an apron of richly embroidered muslin, to which is attached a corsage of the same, and the whole is superbly trimmed with fine Mechlin lace with this apron is generally worn a gown of lilac sarsnet, and a bonnet of fine muslin, embroidered with dark-shaded pinks.

Do you recollect the dinner we took to gether at the house of the rich President's lady? How much we admired her desert service of cut crystal! now every thing is changed, and at a dinner of ceremony, every article is served up in the finest china; and only sweetmeats or jellies can be presented in cut crystal. I am sure you have not forgot meeting the same lady's awkward daughters the next morning, in large cambric bounets, which are still very prevalent: gauze bonnets are yet seen, in mild weather, in the public walks; and crape, with Gros de Nuples, for the carriage, adorned with the flowers most in season; but a variety of colours is no longer reck oned tasteful: the lilac silk bonnets worn when you were here, are yet in favour, and are ornamented with daisies of the same colour. Yellow crape hats, with white marabout feathers, are a very favour-horizontal direction: young ladies wear ite head-covering for the carriage; but when these bats are worn in the public walks, or at the theatre, their ornament consists of a bunch of moss roses, or of yellow roses with their leaves. The bonnets that are made of green Gros de Naples, are ornamented with a bunch of daisies of a mazarine blue; the crowns of the bonnets are round, and not quite so low as they were last month.

Gowns of Gros de Naples, with pelerines and flounces of the same, are likely to be very fashionable this winter; there have already appeared some of reps silk, ornamented with puffings of satin; white gowns are, however, very general, and these are ornamented, at the border, with flounces or rows of muslin bouillonés. A few white Merino crapes have appeared; some em

The toques worn at court form a diadem in front, and are there ornamented with a kind of aigrette, made of jewels, gold, or silver, known by the name of esprit : these toques are of crape and silver lama: when ladies go without a cap, the hair is dressed very low; and when crowned with a garland of flowers, the wreath is placed in a

wreaths of roses placed very low on the forehead, while others place them on the summit of the head, like a crown; but this is according to the beauty of the head, or the defect of the forehead. At evening parties, toques of Gros de Naples, or of gauze, are worn, placed very much on one side, aud ornamented with plumes of down feathers, with a full-blown rose at the bottom of the plume. Cornettes à la Marie Stuart are very prevalent in déshabille.

Shag silk promises to be a favourite trimming this winter; it is very much improved in the manufacturing, aud has now the appearance of Swansdown.

The favourite colours are rose-colour and celestial blue; but violet has the pre-emi

nence.

Though the little presents you took to

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