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Vol. XLIV PHILADELPHIA, NOVEMBER, 1863 No.5. |
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We think we may say, justly, that part of this success is owing to the fact that the promises made in our Prospectus are always kept, no matter at what cost. In 1863,this was the only Magazine that did not raise its price either to clubs, or to agents, which all the others, in consequence of the advance in the price of paper, did. But we had advertised to give a certain number of pages at a certain price to clubs, and we did it, although we had to pay nearly twice as much for paper as in 1862. The fashion department is admitted, by all conversant with such matters, to excel that of any cotemporary. The arrangements for "Peterson" are such that all patterns are received in advance. Other magazines continually publish fashions as new which we have published months before. The latest Paris, London, Philadelphia, and New York fashions are faithfully reported: "Peterson" never descends to be a merely advertising medium for this or that dealer in millinery, cloaks, etc., etc. More attention than ever will be paid, in 1864, to the literary department. The original stories in "Peterson" have been considered, for years, superior to those to be found in other ladies' magazines. While retaining the best of our contributors, all new writers of acknowledged ability are added, thus keeping "Peterson" always fresh. The cheapness of this Magazinre is a point to which we wish particularly to direct attention. Everything that is to be had in a three dollar magazine can be had here for two dollars, and much of it, as the newspaper press universally declares, of a higher quality than elsewhere. Now is the time to get up clubs! Everybody will subscribe for "Peterson," if its claims are fully presented, unless a promise has been given to take some other magazine. Be, therefore, the first in the field. A specimen will be sent, gratis, if written for, to show to acquaintances, so that you need not injure your own copy. Don't lose a moment! A NEW COLOR. -- At last we are to have a new color, and we have not the least doubt but that it will be warmly welcomed, for who is not tired of the cuir (leather) color with which every article of ladies' outer garments appears to have been dyed during the late spring and summer. It has met our eye in all crowded assemblages in fifty different shades, and we have heard it called by more than a dozen different names. It has long been known by "the new color" leather, coffee, hazel brown, tiger, a golden brown, cigar, havane, etc., etc.; and although we do not think that any one of its divers names exactly corresponds with the shade, yet we all recognize it when we see it. One of the great advantages it possesses is, that it is a durable color, and not being a delicate one, it does not soil quickly; it also looks well when trimmed with black, which is ever the most distinguished of all trimmings. This fact has most probably been remarked by silk manufacturers for many of the newest silks have golden leather-colored grounds with black spots upon them. But the leather color has had its day and a very long one too, and the tourterelle (turtle-dove) shade is to reign in its stead. It is lighter than the cuir, and many would reject it as being Quakerish, but for all that, a great success is prophesied for it. Only the other day we saw a dress made with it, destined for the traveling costume of a very youthful and wealthy bride. Dress, circular cape trimmed with chenille fringe of the same color, boots, gloves, and parasol, were all of the tourterelle shade, and a very ladylike and distinguished toilet it formed. ELABORATELY ARRANGED heads of hair are fashionable for evening; and, in addition, a rose or butterfly is placed in the center of the forehead, with the hair clustering around and above it. The ornament, be it flower, fly, or bird, should be fastened in such a manner as to present the appearance of being embedded in the hair. Natural butterflies have been much-coveted ornaments in Paris during the last six months, consequently these have attained to fabulous prices, twenty-five dollars being frequently paid for one of them. DRESSING JACKETS are very popular made of white jaconet, percale, or brilliante, and trimmed with bands of self-colored cambric; these bands should not be more than one inch and a half wide, and should be edged with narrow white braid at each side. The bands should be placed down the fronts and around the bottom of the jacket and sleeves. As trimmings they have much to recommend them, as they do not require to be removed when the jacket is consigned to the washerwoman's hands. THE LATEST FASHIONS. -- "If the ladies want a fashionable magazine," says the Keosaqua (Iowa) News, "which is always up to time, Peterson is the one. You can get the latest fashions from two to three weeks sooner in this book than in any other." WIFE OR SWEETHEART. -- Says the Monticello (Ind.) Herald: -- "If there is a cloud on your wife's brow, or you have had a difficulty with your sweetheart, and wish to avoid a like calamity in future, subscribe for Peterson." Wise words! SHAPES OF PETTICOATS AGAIN. -- We have had manuy letters of late from our readers and subscribers on the subject of the shape of petticoats, inquiring whether the breadths should be gored, or whether the seams should be left intact. What we said last month, we now repeat: The greater number of dress-makers are goring the skirts of dresses, with the object of diminishing the quantity of gathers about the hips, and making the figure as flat at the waist as possible. Now, this object can be more easily attained if the petticoats are gored likewise, and those who object to the gored breadths as being liable to be pulled out of shape at the wash, can overcome the difficulty by inserting a piping when sewing up the breadths. This piping or cording will sustain and strengthen the seams, and effectually prevent any loss of shape at the wash. The cage-crinoline should be covered mid-way with the same color as the petticoat which is worn above it; if white, a white cover or case should be worn, and if buff, then a buff case, as the sight which so frequently meets the eye at the present day, when the skirt is raised to cross a muddy street, of a white petticoat with a red one underneath, is not a pleasing one. The stockings should match, as nearly as possible, both in color and style with the petticoat, as harmony in the toilet, even in its minutest details, is now more than ever considered.
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GLOVES.
-- Many ladies wear gloves which match precisely with the color of their
dress. The Empress of the French (always a great authority in matters
pertaining to the toilet) is generally to be seen with apricot-colored
kid gloves. The newest style in Paris, and the one most generally
adopted, is a light glove with the three lines down the back stitched in
black, the remainder of the glove being sewn with silk to match the kid.
IN REMITTING, write legibly, at the top of your letter, the name of your post-office, county, and state. If possible, procure a draft, deducting the exchange: if a draft cannot be had, send U.S. notes, or notes of solvent banks. Pay the postage on your letter. The U.S. postage currency, but no other, taken for fractions of a dollar. CHEAPEST OF ALL. -- The Sidney (O.) Democrat says: -- "Peterson's is unquestionably the cheapest Magazine in the country." And so say all our exchanges. The Light and Dark of the Rebellion, 1 vol., 12 mo. Philada: G.W. Childs.-- Quite a vivacious book, and evidently from a first-rate hand. We suspect some person, high in position at Washingtion, to be the anonymous author. There is more or less personal characterization, which gives spice to the pages, and relieves the rhetoric. The book is very handsomely printed. IN THE MAKE OF ORDINARY DRESSES there is absolutely nothing new to chronicle; all efforts seem to be directed to the trimming of the skirts. The most fashionable style is decidedly the gored skirt, with trimming upon each breadth. Sometimes it consists of a simple cording, either a precise match or a decided contrast in color to the material; sometimes black lace, lined with white, placed in zig-zags up the seams; while others have wide box-plaitings, of a contrasting color, upon each breadth. As for the trimmings, which are arranged round the bottom of skirts, there is no end to the variety -- no two dress-makers trim in the same style. The newest are the chenille fringes, which are difficult to obtain, and when obtained are very costly. The box-plaited flounces are decidedly the most popular. The ready-made skirts of mohair or alpaca, of an undecided cloudy shade, are mostly arranged with three narrow flounces, bound at each side with bright blue, mauve, or green silk. They are plaited on with a heading, and the roll which conceals the stitching is of the same color as the binding. Moire antiques are likewise trimmed with box-plaited black or white lace flounces. In these cases the flounces are narrow rather than wide, and are arranged with the plaits wide apart, so that the pattern o f the lace may be seen. The other trimmings are various, as we said before: ruches placed in the form of the tree sides of a square; black lace over white silk, placed in festoons, fastened together with a bow and long ends, all described by the trimming, which is laid flat on the skirt; lozenges, in either black velvet or silk; interlaced rings, made of ruches of two colors, placed at each breadth; rows of black lace flowers and leaves; the silk girdle-cord twirled or festooned: these, and a variety of other ornaments, are all used for the skirts of dresses. BUT TYRANNY IN FASHION exists no longer; a lady can dress herself according to her own individual taste; she can choose her colors to suit her complexion and the shade of her hair; her dress can be cut in accordance with the style of her figure, and provided her toilet is selected with taste, she will be found fashionable. If we were asked how bodices are made, we should find the question difficult to answer categorically, for they are made to suit the style and requirements of the figure, so that at no period have taste and judgment necessary to make a good selection been so requisite as they are at the present moment. Pretty slight figures do well to adopt the sash, especially if it be a long one, for the wide sashes shorten the figure. Short, dumpy figures should, on the contrary, adopt the bodice with the lancers' basque at the back, and with two small points in the front. Young married ladies acopt the chemixe Russe in white foulard, embroidered with silk and finished off with the hussar sash, which is newer than the Swiss band. Many ladies, as if tired with the excess of trimming lately disposed over all their dresses, wear now no trimming at all, their dresses being made quite plain, but with an immense train, the skirts and bodices being entirely unornamented. This has a particularly good effect with glace silks, which are again coming into fashion, pearl-gray shot with lilac being the greatest novelty.
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THE
GENERAL STYLE OF CUTTING BOTH MORNING AND DRESSING-GOWNS is now in one
piece; that is to say, the front breadths and the front of the bodice are
not cut at the waist and then joined together, but are cut each side in
one length and sloped out so as to fall into the figure; it is an exceedingly
graceful form, but one which requires all the petticoats that are worn
underneath it to be gored. A row of buttons is generally sewn all
down the front, and occasionally down the gores. White cashmere morning
dresses bound with black velvet, and trimmed with black velvet buttons,
are now very popular. Sometimes black lace insertion is used, but
this is not appropriate.
TARTANS are very popular for dresses. The dress is cut in the Grabrielle form (the bodice and skirt in one piece in front), with a paletot or circular cape to match; the Rob Roy and the Forty-second being the favorite plaids. TALMAS,CIRCULARS, PALETOTS, of every style are worn. In fact, almost anything in the way of a covering for the shoulders is fashionable. THE PALETOT has undergone some modification; instead of the fronts being cut straight, they slant gradually as they decend, being joined only at the throat where they are fastened. They are now cut as nearly as possible to fall in to the waist without being quite tight. Tassels and gimp ornaments are much employed for ornamenting these paletots. The material of which they are made is unually the same as the dress, and they are trimmed round to correspond with the skirt. For autumn wear the black silk circular cape will be very popular; it is made of gros grain or gros royal, and should be cut to fall some four inches below the waist. The best trimming for it, when it is destined for a married lady, is two rows of deep black lace. The first row of black lace is sewn on round the edge of the cape, and is headed with a thick black silk ruche; the second row is first joined to a piece of black Brussels net the same depth as the lace, and this is joined also on the cloak underneath the first row, the two rows of lace hanging separate from each other. A black silk ruche is arranged up the front and round the throat. This forms a very elegant and at the same time is a simply made autumnal covering, but the lace should be deep, otherwise the effect will not be good. BONNETS do not stand quite as formerly, and although the decided Marie Stuart shape is not very much worn, still in its modified style it is very popular. These bonnets are not so very large, are more flat or square across the top than those which have been worn. The colored crepe caps are now much more general than the white tulle ones, and in many cases they prove more becoming. White tulle veils ruched all round with white, or with a colored ribbon inside the hem, are worn over the face; these do not set closely to it like a mask as formerly, but hang from it rather more loosely. IN COLLARS AND CUFFS an improvement has been introduced by trimming the plain stitched linen with Maltese lace insertion and edgings. Under-sleeves are now cut in the same shape as those of dresses, and made with very deep cuffs, no longer turned back, but straight. These cuffs often consist of alternate bands of stitched linen and insertions of Maltese lace; a deep lace is carried round the edge of the wrist, and turns up on one side the length of six or seven inches, to correspond with the trimming of the sleeves of the dress. The under-sleeve is often also open half-way, the opening being edged with a band of stitched linen and a fall of Maltese lace. When this is not the case, and the wrist is narrower, a few puffings of muslin are made in the lower part of the sleeve. The collars are straight, and made in the same style. THE COL. CAVALIER is still much worn; it is straight at the back, and the corners are turned back in front; the sleeves are made to match, with a double point, which is also turned back. CHEMISETTES, which are so much worn just now, are made in cambric, with narrow fluted pleats, divided by insertions of lace or embroidery, with a narrow edge round the neck; they are often rather under-bodies than chemisettes, coming down as far as the waist, and with the sleeves made on to them. COLORED COLLARS and sleeves are popular; these are made either of self-colored cambric, such as mauve, or with a white ground spotted and striped with a gay color. The collar is worn in two ways, either very narrow and straight round the throat, or turned down with points in front -- the wristbands either falling upon the hands as a gentleman's cuff, or turned back from four to five inches deep. These are either fastened with round linen buttons, or with three large silver or gold studs, the initials being engraved on them. The black ribbon velvet which secures the locket and is tied at the back, is worn wider than formerly. For afternoon wear white muslin under-sleeves are cut almost close to the arm and left open at the wrist; they are ornamented with application of cambric, which is stitched on in a pattern around Valenciennes insertion. A frill of Valenciennes lace falls on to the wrist and is carried up as far as the elbow at the outside of the arm. MORNING CAPS are made of a round shape, with a trimming of lace or blonde all round, and a few bows of ribbon. The newest style is that known as the Catalane. The back piece is square, and falls loosely behind; it is only joined at the top to the front. The front piece is rounded off on each side of the face, and trimmed as usual; a ribbon is sewn on under this front piece and tied behind the head; the hair shows a little between the front and back piece. The latter resembles the veil worn by Italian women; it is generally made of net, and trimmed round with lace. FOR MORNING WEAR, the nets which are so generally worn are all trimmed with a bow at the top of the head. This is an improvement upon the elastic which, when visible, was not a pretty object to contemplate; the unformal bow now completely conceals the elastic. The loops should run along the top, and the ribbon should be of the same color as the net, and not wide.
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