7 February 1880 - 'The Dress of the Month'

The return to favour of velveteen has placed great possibilities in the hands of our girls of pretty and stylish dress, which, without being expensive, is rich-looking, very warm, and suitable  for the day time and the evening. The new velveteens of the season are distinguished for their improved texture and their excellent colour. In black they are especially good, and many experienced people fail to discover that the velvet dress, which they have so much admired and the purchase of which they perhaps called extravagant, was only a good velveteen after all.

The "Louis" velveteen, which is one of the best kinds, varies in price from 1s 6 1/2d, to 2s 11 1/2d per yard, but the prices between these are quite good enough; that at nearly 3s will probably be thought too expensive for ordinary use, though it should be remembered that velveteen cleans, dyes and wears out at least three ordinary dresses; so that the purchase of a good one is really an economy in the end. Velveteen is, of course, a "best dress"; that is to say, it is suitable for church, visits, afternoon teas, luncheons, and quiet dinners - in fact, for all the occasions when a young girl must look her best and brightest - the festal days and seasons of her life.

There are many methods of making it. In many cases it will be found useful to have two bodices made at first for the skirt - a plain long-basqued one for the day, and the other rather more trimmed, and with elbow sleeves, or cut square, for dress occasions. Now, that short dresses are worn in the evening by everyone, we can take advantage of the fashion, and save our material. As a rule, coloured velveteens are not very good, and, although they are more expensive at first to purchase, they are less to be relied on for lasting wear, and they grow so remarkable that all your friends recognise them, and know them far too well before they are worn out. Our illustration this month shows a charming costume of velveteen, mixed with a camel-hair cloth, a serge, a diagonal, or indeed with any one of that numerous array of materials brought out each season by the best Welsh manufactures and sent by them to any part of England or even the Continent.

The dress of the figure on the chair shown in the picture has a short all-round skirt of velveteen, with a flounce laid on underneath its edge, which is deeper in front than at the back. The over-dress is a short draped polonaise, of cloth, diagonal, or serge, which buttons at the back, and has velvet sleeves. For out-of-door wear there is a jacket of the material, without sleeves, with revers and collar of velvet. It is tight-fitting and double-breasted, and,  for the sake of warmth, should be lined either with flannel, or wadded, and lined with alpaca. The hat or bonnet is of felt, of the colour of the dress, the feather being laid round it in cavalier fashion.

Of course this description may be much modified in every way, but, as represented, it is a costume of very moderate price. The cost would be increased by making it entirely of velveteen, but it would become at the same time more dressy. Plain velveteen would require a trimming, and black brocade is preferable to either fur or jet trimmings; fur bands being more used and more suitable to cloth and serge costumes. The brocade is not expensive, although it sounds so; I have seen it as low as 3s per yard at about 23 inches wide. This short polonaise above described may be worn over any kind of skirt this winter, for we have again returned to that useful and delightful fashion of wearing a different skirt with any bodice we may have.

For this costume, those girls who are not fortune enough to have furs may make muffs and capes to match for themselves. These are now quite as stylish and newer when made of velvet, satin or plush. The cape is quite a plain round one, in shape like the fur and cloth coachmen's capes which we have worn so long. It is generally wadded and lined, but this must be done most carefully, so as to avoid making it at all bunchy. It may be plainly corded with satin to match the colour, or have the edges turned up and the lining hemmed down over it. Of course the stitches must not be taken through to the right side. A small round collar may be placed at the neck. The muff is gathered in puffs underneath, on the wrong side; three gatherings inclusive of those at the edges being enough. The lining should be of silk, and those who have never before attempted to make one should study a fur one, and the method in which it is put together. The amount of silk and velvet needed is very small - half a yard of each being enough for those long skating muffs, which reach up at the wrists, like cuffs, and are larger in the centre, and is far too much  for the tiny muffs in vogue. The muff only requires an edging of black lace, if that be available, or else a yard of corded ribbon which is put through it, and tied in a large bow and ends up on the top.

The Pompadour velveteens, as they are called, have dark blue, green or brown grounds, covered with floral patterns, such as little roses, little forget-me-nots, or the smallest of pinks, in their natural colours, with sprays of green foliage. In short, they are the same things in velveteen that were worn as chintzes last summer. The same idea has been carried out in flannels, and both are charmingly pretty, either for small children, or their older sisters. One thing must, however, be remembered about them, and that is that they are cheap, and represent at best an ephemeral fashion, so that next winter our best dress of this year would look particular, and be easily marked as a fashion of last year. This is, as I have said before, very undesirable, and must always be avoided by every girl who wishes to dress unobtrusively, as well as prettily. So these new introductions will be more wisely used as trimmings for last year's dresses, and in that capacity they will be most useful. They will make pretty new cuffs, bands for trimmings, and plastrons  for the front, and, as everybody's dresses always show wear first at the sleeves and in the front, their adaptation in this way will make an elegant and fashionable costume.

A very pretty new style of under-skirt has just been brought out, made of dark flannel  or serge, trimmed with fine kiltings of the same, while on the kiltings and above them in plain bands is sewn some of the dark imitation Indian cashmeres, or "Paisley shawlings" as they are sometimes called. This makes a dark, yet bright skirt, and it may easily be manufactured at home with the aid of the sewing machine.

Even though writing in February, it is useless to think of warmer days, with all the experience of the past before us, and March is certainly a more bitter month as regards winds than the present; so I have kept the winter steadily in view, in addition to which, nearly everything about which I write is so novel at present that, even next winter, it will not be demodee, or passee. The casaquin, or long cuirass bodice, of Paisley or Indian imitation material, is rather more spring-like perhaps. As illustrated in the other figure in our picture, it appears as a house costume, but in Paris last autumn it was constantly used in walking, and made in exactly the same shape as represented.  The same material is used for a gathered plastron down the front of the skirt, but this is not needful, as any skirt can be worn with it, short or long, so that it accords in its hue with the general colour of the casaquin. In the evening it is very popular, but then it is made of a rich and expensive Indian stuff, generally interwoven with gold thread, through its patterns of palm-leaves or scroll-work. But the imitation Paisleys are to be obtained at prices ranging from 2s to 4s per yard, and these are quite good enough, I think. It will easily be seen how an old black cashmere or silk skirt can be turned into a fashionable costume, with the addition of a novel casaquin bodice, such as the illustration represents. The other day I saw a small toque hat worn with one, edged with a gathered band of velvet, and the loose crown of it was made of the material of the casaquin. The whole costume was so pretty and simple that it is worth describing. The skirt was a kilted brown cashmere, with a brown velvet scarf; the casaquin was of a reddish brown, the pattern through it being "old gold" and the hat, as I Have said combined the two, and so did the small muff.

There is nothing that the home dressmaker has more trouble in doing than in trimming the sleeves when made. It is difficult to avoid giving a kind of home-made look in finishing them, which always ruins the effect. In reality, there is no great secret in the art, and any trouble arises from want of common care and neatness, and the lack of sufficient turnings, which soon causes the home-made trimmings to look untidy and even ugly. The two which are have illustrated are of the latest fashion and are both so simple that a little attention will enable anyone to comprehend them.

Fig.1 is a plain bias piece of the figured material, over which is laid, as a revers, a bias piece of the plain stuff, turning it towards the hand. On it is placed as a trimming a flat gallon or braid. The three straps at the other side are also of the plain stuff, and should be cut out and lined with tarlatan, or lining muslin, to hold them firmly. They should be all made before being sewn on.

Fig.2 is also cut on the bias, and is put on round the wrist. The plain part is confined to the top half of the sleeve, the wide part being joined into the seam of the sleeve when it is sewn up.

The small Henri III ruff, as it is called in Paris, is most fashionably worn at present, and is within the power of every girl to make for herself. It consists of two lengths of lace, gathered separately, and arranged in shell-shaped patterns on a band of muslin. The front is finished by a rose and ends of ribbon, which may be of pale blue, or of black velvet if the rose be a pink one. Six yards of lace will be sufficient if it be desired to have the ruffle very full, and the lace should be purchased of a sufficiently good quality to be washed and done up several times.

Fig.4 is an example of one of the new bows, which are called after Louis XIV. They are a very considerable size, some of them large enough to cover the front of the dress. The lace used is the kilted Breton, which can be procured of all widths ready kilted. The lace is sewn upon muslin, which can then be placed as shown in the sketch; a small, square, double foundation being first made by which to pin it to the dress. The ribbon is of some pretty colour to match, or contrast, with the rest of the dress.

10 January 1880 - 'Winter Clothes and How to Make Them' by Dora de Blaquiere

This is the first of Dora de Blaquiere's pieces for the G.O.P. Whilst the paper certainly had some purely aspirational content, especially to do with fashion and dress, its principal demographic was middle-class girls who were expected to shift for themselves to a certain extent, and make themselves useful. The rich girls might be able to purchase all their garments from the finest dress-makers and shops, or only approach DIY dressmaking as a hobby, but here's to everyone else, making do. 

I like to see everyone looking nice, especially girls, and am of opinion that no small part of their future happiness depends upon their complete understanding of the whole "Art of Dress". The subject is indeed a wide one, from the choice of the materials to the right methods of cutting out and making them up for use. Economy, wearing-qualities, colour, suitability, and last, but not least, that which we have only lately begun to study, the hygienic principles of dress - should all form part of the education which fits a young girl for her battle with life.

This winter Dame Fashion favours those who have to make the best of half-worn garments,  for the jackets, mantles, and paletots worn differ but little from those that were fashionable last season, and the universal adoption of short walking-dresses is an admirable assistance in renovating and remodelling old ones. But I must begin, I think with the

HAT OR BONNET,

And here we are fortunate to the,  for the "poke" bonnet - the favourite shape of the last spring and summer - will be quite fashionable this winter, and those amongst "our girls" who had them in black straw can use them, re-trimmed, throughout the next season. They are now most generally lined with a coloured satin, and are trimmed on the outside with black velvet, or satin, or else with a scarf of coloured Indian-looking material, in various rich hues. Half a yard of this is enough to drape round the bonnet in folds, with a small tie. Strings need not be added, as they are more worn by elderly ladies than girls. Even, if the "poke" bonnet be white, it is not necessary to despair, as it will dye very nicely. The only difference in the shape this winter is that the front is wider and more flaring. The handkerchief-crowned hats, with gathered velvet rims, are still worn very much, and they are exceedingly pretty when made of the same stuff as the dress. Almost any girl could manage to make one of them if she purchased the foundation, which only costs 6d. The first thing to do is to bind the rim with velvet cut on the bias, slightly gathering it at each edge. This velvet may be had cut from the piece on the bias, and I think half a yard should be found enough, cut into two lengths and joined. The lining of the hat is put in next, and for this, if great economy be desired, old silk will answer as well as new. Lastly, the head-covering should be put on, and this should be cut into an oval shape and larger than necessary. The gathered or puckered effect of the top is easily produced by taking a few irregular stitches on the wrong side, and drawing them lightly together. A little observation will enable a girl to make a very pretty hat out of cheap materials, if she have the determination to succeed.

I have commenced with the hat, as a principal part of the winter cloths, because it is sometimes one of the young girl's greatest difficulties, but it is one which may be surmounted, just at present, with more ease than usual, as the fashions worn are simple and easily understood. The out-of-door garment is much more troublesome, and I think that a wise and prudent maiden will first try her "'prentice hand" upon the alteration or turning of an old

JACKET OR MANTLE.

By this simple means she will learn the proper method of making-up cloth. She will find the seams, after being sewn, were flattened with a hot iron on the wrong side, and afterwards laid over with a narrow galloon hemmed down on either side. The edges are also generally finished with this narrow galloon, which is the best and neatest method of treating all seams that are intended to be durable. Black linen-thread should be used for sewing all thick and dark materials - not cotton, which cuts and wears rusty. For stitching seams, which are intended to be seen, and also for button-holes, tailor's silk twist must be procured. This is sold by the yard, in all colours, as well as black. Buttonholes are a sad trouble to most amateur workpeople; but I hope that my readers have already passed through a complete course of careful instruction, and that as regards these tailor's buttonholes, experience will soon teach them the right method of making them strongly. They are cut in the shape of an elongated  . ^ , the wide end at the outside edge, to allow of its lying flat when buttoned, and to give room  for the shank of a large button. The quantity needed to make an ordinary jacket of tweed, for a girl of fifteen, would be one yard and a quarter, three yards of serge or linsey, and a little more of diagonal or coarse frieze.

PAPER PATTERNS.

One of the things which must be learnt by all girls who desire to be comfortably dressed on small allowances, is cutting-out and this seems to me not nearly so difficult a matter as people are inclined to make out. A few experiments should be first tried with newspapers, in the following manner. Take three or four sheets of it and paste the ends together in a long length of several yards, the whole length to be, say, 24 inches wide. Then lay your paper patterns down on this, remembering that all backs, fronts, sleeves and skirts run up and down the selvage, and that any deviation from this settled rule will spoil your dress or jacket. The right and wrong side of the stuff must also be remembered, as well as the pattern, and if it runs up or down.

It would be difficult to mention a single article of dress of which a paper pattern may not be procured in the present day, at prices which vary from sixpence to a shilling. I remember a little girl of my acquaintance, some years ago, being fired with the ambition of making a dress for herself. She bought out of her own pocket-money, 8 or 9 yards of print for 4s., and after arduous study of her own dresses, she managed one day to produce, to her mother's astonishment, a dress for herself, which could only be regarded as wonderful for a maiden of 13! She had received no help from anyone over it, and the cutting-out and making had been entirely her own work. I am inclined to think that many girls might be induced to attempt dressmaking for themselves if some small prize were held out, by either father or mother, as a reward.

THE DRESS.

The three materials most suitable  for the ordinary every day dress of a girl are tweed, serge and French merino. The latter, which has just returned to fashion, is more suitable for best dresses, perhaps; but it is, without exception, one of the most durable and charming of materials, and bears hard usage, washing, dyeing, and turning, as long as it can hold together. Tweed has the great drawback of being frequently mixed with cotton; but when quite pure, all wool, and not too fine in texture, it is also interminable in its wear. Serge is open to the same objection and, in addition, is sometimes so badly dyed that the hands are embued with a blue hue as long as the dress lasts. It is also liable to fade, and wears white; and when torn it makes such an ugly jagged hole, which the wearer will find most difficult to darn. It should always be bought at a good shop, and, if possible, the cheaper kinds should be avoided, as unsuitable to those who have little money to spend, and must have that money's worth. The large loose-grained serges are said to be the best, and the prices range from one shilling to five or six per yard. From five to seven yards, fifty-four inches in width are needed for a skirt-bodice and jacket. The most suitable trimming is flat mohair braid of good quality, and wooden buttons. The skirt is generally made with a keep-kilted flounce, which is unlined, the kiltings being kept in place by two tapes, to which each kilt is sewn in their due order. The bodice is shaped with a plain long basque, and to hide the meeting of the skirt and bodice a folded scarf is tied round the hips. The out-of-door jacket to this serge suit, if nicely made, and well cut, should answer for other dresses, and any extra warmth can be added by putting a small knitted woollen waistcoat underneath.

CAPES

The present mode of wearing coachmen's capes is a very pretty and a very economical one, especially to young girls, as they can manage with a lighter and, perhaps, an older jacket  for the winter, when they have secured the additional warmth of the pretty and becoming fur cape. They are not expensive either, and are quite within the reach of a small allowance. The best to choose are, I think, those of black fox, though, of course, the coney skins are the cheapest. The drawback to the latter is that they will not bear wetting, and that the hairs are very easily plucked off in tufts, leaving an ugly bare place.

SHOES AND STOCKINGS

It is a peculiarly good thing for those who must think of how to spend their money to the best advantage, that nearly every fashion of this year tends to assist the thrifty. Shoes, for example, which are so much worn, are far cheaper than boots; and a good strong and nice-looking pair can be purchased for five or six shillings, where equally good boots would have cost ten. Black stockings, too, are both becoming and economical, and the pretty deep-red ones are very much affected by young girls, who, with a morsel of red in the hat, thus contrive to lighten an entirely black costume. It is singular how opinions change. A few years ago it was considered quite an unheard-of thing for a young girl to wear a black dress or bonnet.

And now, having disposed of the hat, bonnet, jacket, dress and shoes, for walking purposes, we must return to the indoor raiment. And here it is that I must especially charge my readers to endeavour to be neatly and prettily dressed - tidy hair, shining from the constant care bestowed on it, clean cuffs and collars, and, above all, neat shoes and stockings, are none of them too expensive luxuries for girls to aspire to possess. But perhaps even as you read these words there may be some shabby old dress which seems hopelessly "done for" staring you in the face. Even of this you need not despair, with the present pretty fashion of aprons and pinafores to help you hide all defects. Your own fancy may also be called into play to invent something which shall be inexpensive, and yet pretty and quite original. I saw such an elegant pinafore-apron the other day, made by a young girl to hide her old winter dress. The material was a cheap sateen, of a dark pink shade, decorated with little flowers, and trimmed all round the edge with a cheap embroidery. The bill was triumphantly produced for my inspection, and amounted to two shillings and tenpence halfpenny! The cheap cottons, with blue or pink stripes, are very pretty for the making of these winter pinafores; or, if these should be thought too cold, or their washing too expensive, there are so many pretty flowered Pompadour-like materials, that no difficulty will be found in selecting something pretty and inexpensive.

And now I am going to conclude my chat on Winter Clothes with a few explanations, and a little advice about purchases, and the cutting-out of

MATERIALS.

It may be thought that I have suggested a very short list of materials from which to select a winter dress. To tell the truth, the essential part of economical dressing, both for young and old, is to choose good all-wool, and quite unremarkable materials, avoiding mixed fabrics of wool and silk, or wool and cotton. So with this view I have left out all such combinations from the list for your choice. Everything pronounce in style, or at all peculiar in shape, must be avoided, and for two reasons - that it shows the date of its purchase, and the true lady should be neither dowdy, nor antiquated. All peculiarities of dress are sure to be commented upon, and however good-natured our friends may be, we should endeavour in this way to avoid giving them subjects for either, that no difficulty will be found in selecting something pretty and inexpensive.

And now I am going to conclude my chat on Winter Clothes with a few explanations, and a little advice about purchases, and the cutting-out of

MATERIALS.

It may be thought that I have suggested a very short list of materials from which to select a winter dress. To tell the truth, the essential part of economical dressing, both for young and old, is to choose good all-wool, and quite unremarkable materials, avoiding mixed fabrics of wool and silk, or wool and cotton. So with this view I have left out all such combinations from the list for your choice. Everything pronounce in style, or at all peculiar in shape, must be avoided, and for two reasons - that it shows the date of its purchase, and the true lady should be neither dowdy, nor antiquated. All peculiarities of dress are sure to be commented upon, and however good-natured our friends may be, we should endeavour in this way to avoid giving them subjects for either discussion or caricature.

CUTTING-OUT.

In cutting-out a costume, first cut out the skirt, then the bodice and over-skirt. With the aid of a little ingenuity, the under portions of the sleeves will probably come out of the pieces .Leave the trimmings to the last, at any rate, and use up the scraps for it. It will frequently be found that, by facing the fronts, instead of turning down the hems, of jackets and bodices, and by adding small pieces where they will not be seen under the arms, both the fronts may be cut from the same width of material. The safest way of proceeding is to lay all the pieces of a pattern on the material at once, as it will then be possible to judge of the most advantageous method of cutting it out. When it is a striped material, try to place a perfect stripe in the middle of the front, and in the centre of the back, if there be no seam. But, in any case, be sure that the stripes, or checks, match, and that those of the two sides correspond.

The straight part of the sleeves should come above the elbow, and the bias part below. Whenever anything has to be cut on the "bias" be sure to do so exactly, or it will not hang nor sit nicely. In cutting out a skirt, the front sides of the gores must always be straight, and the sloped or bias sides towards the back, carefully avoiding a seam either down the back or the front breadths.

In cutting materials that are figured, or that have a nap, be very careful to have all the parts of the pattern cut the same way of the material, that is, with the figures placed all the same way, the nap of the cloth running downwards, and the pile of velvet running either all up, or all down, as may be preferred.

And in conclusion remember three things: - that, to be really well dressed we must select such clothes as will be suitable wear when we pursue our daily avocations; that we must be comfortable, both in and out of doors, and that we must always strive to look exactly what we are; as true and upright girls, without silly vanity or foolish finery.

26 March 1881 - 'Seasonable Dress, and How to Make It'

Say NO! to the crinoline, people.

We fear that in the spring we shall all be obliged to make a stand, firm and bold, against the invasion of that most inconvenient and needless incumbrance, the crinoline. All through the winter at the extremely fashionable modistes, the "dress improver" has been dangling before our eyes, but very few even of the most outré dressers have adopted it. We hope the same right feeling will continue in the spring. It is the duty of us all as individuals to make a resolute stand, and prevent a foolish and atrociously ugly fashion from enslaving us again. So we shall look to the readers of THE GIRL'S OWN PAPER, as warm and hearty auxiliaries in the matter, as to them we are always endeavouring to show a duty in all things, small and great; so that even in their dress, as well as in their demeanour, they may display to the world the highest possible ideal of a fair and Christian womanhood, and a girlhood so thoughtful in spirit and so beautiful in taste, that it could not stoop to extremes of dress or to the adoption of unseemly and monstrous fashions.

Happily for us of late, we English women have become much emancipated from the control of French fashions, and we are not so much afraid of displaying a little individuality in our dress. For this change we are indebted in a great measure to the high-art votaries or aesthetes, who, in spite of extravagance, amounting even to foolishness, have done good service in many ways. There is something dreadfully degrading to our womanhood in the accounts given lately of a Polish countess in Paris, who surprised the world by a harlequin dress, the skirt of which was composed of diamond-shaped pieces of satin and velvet sewn together; and of the eccentric foreigner who created "immense excitement" by a parti-coloured costume - pink on the left, blue on the right, from the crown of her head to the tip of her shoes.

Large and small bonnets are flourishing together in London, so that no one can feel out of date with either one or the other. Plain white straw hats are beginning to show themselves again, and are warmed up with soft crushed-looking poppies, and red strings or trimmings to match. This may be a useful idea to some of our readers who have white straw bonnets of last summer lying by them. They should have them cleaned and re-blocked, and then line them with black velvet, and trim them outside as before directed. The velvet lining should be put in on the bias, and velvet used  for the purpose can be obtained, cut in that way in the shops, at less than 2s per yard. Half a yard should suffice.

 

The popular flower  for the spring is the humble little violet, we are glad to say, as we do not like any fashion which introduces large and gaudy flowers. Mixed with violets we sometimes see a tuft of yellow cowslips or tender buttercups, just as they sometimes grow beside each other in the hedges. These violets are greatly used on the small black straw princess bonnets, to cover the front in a wreath-like form, and with them are used violet velvet or silk strings, a simple and pretty method of trimming our winter bonnets.

The favourite colours  for the spring for every-day and walking dress are grey and brown in all shades, from dark to light. Very few plaids are to be seen, and they will be mainly used for trimmings, being placed on dresses of a quiet uni-colour, such as brown, in flat bias bands, sewn on by the machine. They are also let in down the front of the bodice in a pointed shape, and also as yoke-shaped pieces on the shoulders. The new plaids are in very quiet tones of colour, and where brighter hues are introduced it is only in stripes of pale and delicate tints. A great many striped fabrics are amongst the new spring materials, the width of the generality of the stripes being one inch, both contrasting stripes of even width. The colours are quiet, grey and brown, grey and dark blue, brown and old gold, and grey and tan colour.

For those who are obliged to consider the cost of their clothes, and dress on £10 to £15 per annum, the custom of wearing brown is very good; indeed, brown is the colour par excellence of the economical, not a washed-out ugly shade, a rich, warm, old-fashioned brown, never found save in fairly good materials and never-failing dyes. This brown, whether in cashmere, cloth, serge or silk, can always be matched and remade, and it never looks out of place at any season of the year. It shows very few spots or stains and, if of good quality, should not fade or become rusty. The best materials are those which are all wool, such as cashmeres and merinos, beiges, or vigognes; they do not easily crush, and they will make and remake any number of times. Mixtures of silk and wool and wool and cotton are all objectionable, and should be avoided. A French lady gives it as an axiom that the fewer dresses, mantles and bonnets purchased the better, as the quality of them will then be vastly superior to what it would be were the same amount of money spread out over a quantity of cheap dresses - thin mantles and poor finery. The drawback to this good advice is that very few girls, or "grown-ups" either, take sufficient care of their clothes, and in this matter I fear that French women are superior to us.

Our illustrations this month give, amongst other things, two delightful models of hats, the one turning up at the side, the other turning down all round. The first is of black straw, chip, or felt; the brim is lined with velvet, and a fold of the same is lightly arranged round the crown, while a handsome ostrich feather falls over the side. The second is an entirely new shape, which has just appeared this spring. It may be of black or white straw - in the model illustrated it was black, with white lace turned up over the edge. Black Spanish lace is placed round the crown, and forms the strings, while a feature of small size decorates the side, the colour of which is decided by the dress of the individual wearing the hat.

The five figures composing our large picture represent some of our girls in their pretty home costumes, one only wearing the neat double-breasted tailor-made jacket - the favourite out-of-door dress of our neat English maiden. The one in question is of tweed, with velvet collar, and a flat braid laid on round the edge. The hat is of straw, bound with velvet and a small upright wing in front. The skirt of the dress might be of tweed to match the jacket.

The sitting figure at the piano wears one of the new season materials, of wool, flecked with colour, in a sort of chine pattern all over its surface. The bodice has revers in front, and is pointed both at the back and front of the long basque, a belt being worn round the waist The over-skirt is plain, and draped in folds, while the skirt has two kilted flounces, and a row of pointed tabs over the top of the lower one. The next standing figure has a skirt wholly kilted, with two tiny flounces at the edge. The long bodice is buttoned down the front, and the over-skirt is draped at the edge, so as to hide the union of the bodice and skirt. The large collar and cuffs are of coloured plush, edged with lace. The sitting figure at the extreme right has a striped polonaise, with a plastron deeply pointed in front, of velveteen. The polonaise is edged with fringe and draped up very high on the hips, and the skirt is of plain velveteen. The young lady at the extreme left, who is buried in a reverie - which seems a delightful one, whatever the subject may be - is attired in a cashmere dress, of a light colour, trimmed with velveteen. The bodice is pointed, the deep kiltings underneath extending to the back, where they meet the points as they do in front. The front is opened, and a folded plastron so introduced. The cuffs are of velvet; the skirt is plain, and edged with two narrow kiltings of the same, and the trimmings at the side consist of a band of velvet and cords to match it in colour.

The new materials of this season are remarkable both for their cheapness and their goodness.  Amongst the best of the novelties are those materials which have a border for trimming running along one side of the piece, which is sometimes figured, and sometimes plain. We very much admired a pretty dark prune-coloured beige, and we thought how pretty it would be with silver buttons to match. But we cannot say how these pretty tinsel materials will wear.

25 April 1885 - 'Dress, in Season and in Reason'

 The changes in dress-making and draping this spring are seen more in small details than in any general outlines of absolutely new creations.  The full effect of the back drapery is increased, but no dress improvers nor crinolettes are worn by well-dressed people, and the full appearance seems only the clever effect of drapery much bunched-up.  But where this effect is not liked it seems equally good style to allow the tunic to hang straight and bag-like in the same way that it did last year.  The basques are short and cut quite round, about two inches below the waist, with no back-trimmings nor folds in many cases.  The edges of the whole bodice, when cut in this way, are often edged with bead passementerie, or a kind of silk bead, which is a Parisian novelty this year.  The front darts are now cut very high indeed.

Flounces are still used; most of them have four or five tucks run in at the edge, and they are kilted in various ways in wide and narrow plaits, and these are fastened down flatly, so as to prevent their giving the least bouffant or full effect.  In dresses made for young people flounces are less used, and all kinds of flat trimmings are in vogue – folds, tucks, braiding, and also the new woollen yak laces, which are so plentifully used for every description of dress.  These laces will form one of the very distinguishing marks of all year’s fashions.  They appear to wear very well, so far as can yet be seen, when used with care, and they are not more expensive than the different kinds of imitation laces that have been so much employed during the last two or three years.

All skirts of dresses, costumes, etc., follow the same styles, having plain foundations over which the tunics and draperies are arranged in long folds, the puffy ones being reserved for the back.  Young ladies’ summer dresses will very probably be made with narrow flounces to the waist, with perhaps small panier-like overskirts, or only back drapery.

Two or even more materials will continue to be used for all dresses to be worn on all occasions.  In an ordinary gown the bodice and tunic are of the same material, and the cuffs, collar, and front plastron would match the skirt.  If there be a jacket, it would match the upper skirt, while a waistcoat would be like the lower.  Tunics are worn very long, and nearly all are arranged so as to hang on one side of the dress.  A very generally used model has a shawl point in front, or rather at the side front, and very full folds at one side, while at the right the end of the drapery is caught by an ornament of passementerie and jet.  Some of the new tunics hang quite straight, without any folds, and are open on one side quite to the waist, showing the under-petticoat its entire length.

The perfectly plain, or “housemaid” skirt, is still favoured by the young and very slight in figure, but it is undoubtedly hard in effect, and trying, and has been worn by persons to whom it was eminently unsuitable.  The other day I met a widow lady, of not much under fifty summers, who had made herself a perfect guy by adopting a rough foule dress, with a “housemaid skirt”, a style which would have suited her daughter, aged seventeen, but which was a most ungraceful garment on the mother.  After all, dress consists not half so much in its richness as in its suitability to the wearer, and also to the time and place in which it is to be worn.  I hold each day more firmly to my ancient belief that the really well-dressed woman or girl will aspire to have as few dresses as possible, and to wear them out, as far as she can, before making fresh purchases.  Three dresses for an ordinary woman’s use seems quite enough; in having more she only runs the risk of having a sorry-looking collection of old and useless garments, difficult to wear out.

The great material for the present season is, without contradiction, “canvaserie”, or canvas-cloth, as it is called by some people.  It is what may be described as semi-transparent, and is made up over coloured silk or satin skirts, viz: a dark blue over scarlet satin, brown over yellow or red, and black over red also; the red showing through it, particularly on the bodice.  There are several descriptions of canvas-cloth, variously named. Some have the appearance of being plaited, others are woven in plain and fancy stripes, and others are plain, with very coarse meshes; all, however, being of wool, give fair promise of good wear, so doubtless they well deserve their popularity.  The skirts made up in these semi-thin materials are all wider than they have yet been worn, some of them measuring as much as three yards round.  The canvas-cloth is always loosely draped over the foundation, and from all I can see, the favourite colour will be ecru, or rather a light shade, that will go well with the favourite red with which it is so often mixed.  These thin black canvas-cloths will be a very useful and economical addition to the dress of this year, as they will make up over old silk and satin skirts, and even over sateens and cashmere foundations.

Black, the favourite colour of the Englishwoman, will be more worn than ever, but it will generally be relieved with some colour.  Black silks will be more popular than they have been for some time back.  They are trimmed with velvet, and much ornamented with beads, not only in the form of fringes and passementerie, but in elaborate designs carried out in very fine cut bugles on net, which is then laid over velvet and satin, and the net becoming invisible the designs have the appearance of being carried out on the richer material.  Black and white too have become popular, and black lace and insertion is now frequently laid over a white foundation of white silk or satin as the trimmings of black dresses.  Black and white “Pekins”, in stripes of varying breadths, will also be popular again; in fact stripes are quite the order of the season, as spotted materials were last year.  Sometimes the striped materials are made to run horizontally instead of vertically, a change which is not becoming to the wearer.

I cannot say that I much admire the striped wincey skirtings, which it is so fashionable to turn into underskirts at present, made quite plainly, the over-tunic and bodices being of some unpatterned woollen material such as serge of vigogne.  I have recently seen one in the street, the stripes being two inches wide, of black and yellow, and the black bodice having a waistcoat of the same, but I did not like the effect; it seemed staring – too gaudily bright.  It seems likely, however, that this style will be very much used for making up sateens and zephyrs when the season is more advanced.

Many gay striped patterns are amongst the new materials, some of them in canvas-cloth; and as yet they are made up in entire dresses, without any relief from the admixture of other materials.  The stripes are of coarse lines or threads thrown up to the surface.  I do not know whether this plan of making up will last, nor do I know how the quantities of Roman sash-like materials will be used – probably for sashes and trimmings.  Ginghams and zephyrs will be both striped and embroidered; and a new material will probably replace nun’s veiling in public favour.  It is called “oriental crepe” by some houses, by others only “crepe”, but all these crinkled crepe materials are made in woollen and cotton under many names, and are one of the season’s novelties.  Silk is very much mixed with all the woollen materials of the year; and even Scotch tweeds, when striped, have a glistening thread running through them, which makes them look lighter and more glossy.

So far as colours go, very pale and delicate are the hats as yet produced for the washing dresses of summer – pale blues, greens, buffs, and pinks, the patterns being small, and pretty Watteau-like flowers and bouquets.  We shall see many combinations of colours, such as scarlet and blue, yellow braiding on blues and browns, and blue and white in stripes.  Yellow and black also promises to be a favourite mixture.  The popular shades, so far as we have yet advanced, are Noisette, almond, cafe, chamois, tan and ripe corn.  These, as my readers will see, are all of the same family of yellowish wood-colours, and they promise to be more used than anything else for the early days of spring.  They are economical, too, for they do not show the dirty very much, although they may be considered light.  Meerschaum, chaudron, and two greys called “smoke” and “elephant” are also new colours, and to my surprised eyes a whole family of reds are visible, of the dark handsome Pompeian or Venetian order.  Terra-cotta, too, and dark browns are all to be seen, and also an ugly idea, which has been invented by someone without taste, to my mind, viz., that of trimming them each and all with black yak lace.  In satins and silks all the last hues I have named will be popular.

The new spring mantles do not show much change, but are only the mantles we have latterly been wearing; in the “Visite” and “Dolman” shapes all the newest ones are very short in the back, with long fronts and high shoulders.  The backs are certainly less ornate, less full and bunched up, and have fewer ornaments added to them.  Coloured mantles of cloths, plushes, and velvets are very much worn; in plush, I think grey is the popular hue.  I cloth, red seems preferred, the cloth being thick and coarse-looking.  I imagine from this that later in the season we shall have a majority of coloured mantles; but I fear that people to whom economy is an object will have to confine themselves to brown, and not stray into the more inviting pastures of red or grey, bothof which are too remarkable for the adoption of those who have only one mantle, or at most two, during the year.  It is never wise to choose any article of dress that is fashionable enough to show age within the year.  This is especially the case with mantles, which have to be selected with great care.  The one chosen should always be of the latest style, but should never be of a kind or shape to be remarked for its special peculiarities.  To do this requires a very observant eye, and the expenditure of some thought.  This thought the more conscientious of my readers, if they agree with me, will not object to give, always bearing in mind that the right and honest expenditure of money is a duty, that much of our rightful share of personal influence in this world is derived from our outward appearance, and that here is one, at least, of our duties to our neighbour.

I must not leave the subject of outer garments without a mention of the small Zouave, Corsair, Spanish, Prussian and Giaour jackets, which promise to be much worn, and also to be rather a useful addition to our dress.  I have put down all the list of names, for they seem to be called almost indiscriminately by all, and, indeed, in most instances they really do form a part of the national dress of the country named. They are made without sleeves, are fastened at the throat, and are either cut round at the corners at the waist, or else fall over it in square corners.  Some of them have hanging sleeves, but the majority have none. They are edged with beads, and lined with a colour, and they are sometimes very richly embroidered and braided.

The stiff ungraceful bouquet of many years’ duration will be soon superseded by the Elizabethan posy, and at the March drawing-rooms ladies were seen with natural flowers in bunches, just as they were gathered.  The true posy has no wires, and spreads out its leaves and flowers at its own sweet will.  The stems, as of old, are tied with ribbon, a bunch of daffodils, with daffodil-coloured ribbon, and white lilacs with pale green.  Being thus very simply prepared, they are easily carried in the hand, and their scent and beauty can be really enjoyed and admired.  Real flowers will be used instead of artificial ones to decorate Court dresses this year, and one cannot help rejoicing at every change that brings so charming an industry as gardening into requisition, for it is one that ladies, young and old, can follow; and it is, moreover, remunerative and not too fatiguing.

Our illustrations this month represent the private view of a separate picture and the public view of a large London picture gallery.  The gowns shown are suitable for the spring days before the warmer ones come in.  Velveteen, serge, and Scotch tweed are the general materials, and they are made up with the straight cut tunics, simply draped and trimmed, which we have endeavoured to illustrate.  The bonnets shown in the larger illustration are both of the same order, jetted fronts and lace backs, the lace being laid over a colour, the pompon of feathers matching it, the strings being of black velvet.  For the paper pattern this month the pattern of the black velvet bodice worn by the figure with her back toward us will be given.  Though made in velvet it will be suitable for any material or dress.  The front is pointed and buttoned up plainly, but one of the many plastrons illustrated may be worn with it.

9 May 1891 - 'A Servant's Wedding Outfit' by Maude Robinson

I am not certain whether this article is genuinely how Maude Robinson, a servant, budgeted for setting up as a married woman. In the article she refers to herself as Ellen, so it could be one of the GOP's "life advice in form of a short story" pieces.

We have had plenty of good hints in the Girl’s Own Paper for the outfits of girls who need evening dresses and white satin wedding gowns; but so many of the readers are working girls, that perhaps it will not be amiss to explain to them how I managed to get such a comfortable outfit when Richard and I settled down in our cottage home.

When I came to consider what I needed, I found that I had more than £50 in the Post Office Savings Bank.  That seems a great deal for a girl of twenty-six, whose wages have never been more than £16 a year, but I will tell you how I managed.

I always had an idea of saving, since a poor old lady, a cousin of our next door neighbour’s, who came out of the workhouse on visiting days, used to tell me her story.

She had been a very good cook, taking her £20 or £25 a year for many years, until rheumatic fever came, and crippled her poor hands so that she could not even tie her bonnet-strings, or lift her tea-cup for herself.  She had no home to go to, and only £3 or £4 in hand, so that at thirty-five there was nothing before her but the workhouse infirmary for the rest of her life.

“But what did you do with so much money?” I asked her once, for £20 sounded like a fortune to my childish ears.

“I just squandered it away, my dear,” she said sadly, “on pretty clothes, and treats, and excursions, for myself and my friends.  My fellow-servants always praised me for being so open-handed, but not one of them ever comes to see me now.  If ever you go to service, Ellen, be sure and put by a bit for a rainy day,” and her eyes would fill with tears.

I have been fortunate in having no call to spend my savings.  My health has always been good, so that I have had no doctor’s stuff to pay for.  My parents are not old, and father has good, regular work as a gardener, so that I have never needed to help them, though many a useful garment for the little ones have I made with my sewing machine of an evening out of my own clothes, which were no longer fit for use in service, to save my mother’s yees, which are weak, and she has plenty of mending to do without making.

These quiet opportunities for needlework have been a great saving to me.  In each place I have had, I have found time to make all of my clothes except my very best dresses; and having been well drilled in needlework, both at school and at home, it is no trouble to me.

“My places have all been in my native town, so little money has gone for travelling, although I have always gone the summer-trips of our Temperance Society, which is generally to the sea-side thirty miles away. 

I do not mind confessing that another motive for saving has been that I always thought a good outfit was such a nice thing for a girl if she got married, especially since I helped our Miss Ethel make and pack her pretty trousseau when she left us for a new home in the north of England.

Since Richard and I made up our minds, two years ago, I have actually saved nearly £24, by careful repairing and contriving, in order to have plenty to spend when the important time came.

Mistress has always given each of us a black merino dress each Christmas, and I must say that the visitors have been very liberal to me, although I am sure that I have never put myself forward to get their “tips”, as some ill-mannered servants do.

I was not quite thirteen when I first went to service.  I had done well at school, and there were plenty of mouths to feed at home without a great hungry growing girl as I was then.

So mother fitted me out as well as she could, and I started in life as a maid-of-all-work as M Shaw, the greengrocer’s, at the other end of the town, for the small wage of a shilling a week.

My mistress, who had several children, was very strict and particular.  She had been in good service herself, and knew just how things ought to be done.  She as kind, too, in her way, and took pains to teach me my work, and to keep my clothes mended up of an evening.

But it was my master whom I remember with most gratitude.  He was a cheerful, jovial sort of man, and often softened even his fault-finding with a joke.  It was he who put me in the way of the Post Office Savings Bank.

On my thirteenth birthday, my mother, who thought I should be feeling homesick, sent me a little parcel, with some apples and lardy cakes, a pair of woollen gloves, and a sixpenny story-book.  How pleased I was, to be sure!  When Mr Shaw saw me with them he said, with one of his merry twinkles, “You have been a good girl this three months, Nellie, so I think we must give you a book too. You shall come with me and get it after tea, if the missus can spare you for five minutes.”

I thanked him heartily, privately thinking that five minutes was not much to allow for a visit to the bookseller’s.  But when the time came, he led me into the Post Office next door, put down half-a-crown, and before I understood what was being done, an account was opened in the name of Ellen Williams, and the thin, buff-coloured book was handed to me.  I was so pleased, for I knew that father wanted me to begin to save as soon as possible.  The account being opened on my birthday, has made it easy for me to remember to send my book to be made up, as you have to do on each anniversary.

It was not much that I managed to put by in that place, although Mrs Shaw soon raised my wages to two shillings a week, for, like most girls of my age, I grew out of my clothes and wore out my shoes terribly fast; but at the end of two years I had added seven-and-sixpence to my good master’s “nest egg”.

When her eldest daughter left school, Mrs Shaw gave up keeping a servant, and she got me a place with Mrs White, a widow lady with a large family, where I was to have £7 a year.  I was the only servant there too, but no one was idle in that house.  All the family were in business, or at school, but they all lent a hand to the necessary work.  Even the little girls made their own bed before totting off to school, and the young gentlemen were not a bit above blacking their own boots of an evening in the privacy of the scullery, and yet I am sure they were real gentlefolks, both in birth and manners.

When they were fairly started for the day, Mrs White and I were very busy.  She always worked with me, and taught me what I did not know, and to be sure there was plenty for us to do, cooking and cleaning, washing and ironing, mending and making – there seemed no end to it; and yet we always did get through comfortably by Saturday night.

My mistress was a clever, managing woman, and now that I have a home of my own, I am thankful that I had those five years with her, and especially to have learnt her thrifty ways, and tasty, inexpensive cooking.  She gave me a rise each year up to £10, to beyond which her small income did not allow her to go; but I managed in those five years to bring my banking account up to a little over £11.  £3 of this i withdrew, when I was about nineteen, and with my mistress’s approval bought a good lockstitch hand sewing-machine.  She had taught me to use hers, and often had allowed me to do the longer seams of my own garments upon it, so I thought best to buy myself one of the same sort.  I was so proud of that machine when it was new!  It has proved a good friend to me, and must have done miles of stitching in the seven years I have had it.

When I was just twenty, Mrs White decided to take all her family to Australia.  She had relatives in Adelaide, who promised the young people better prospects than they had here, and they were all eager to go.  So my mistress disposed of her furniture, packed her boxes, and started on the long voyage, leaving me very sorrowful at parting from as true a friend.

But she did not forget me among all her business, for before she left she procured for me an excellent place as house and parlour-maid with a cousin of her own, Mrs Leslie, at “The Cedars”.

I had £14 a year from the first, which was liberal of my new mistress, considering that so much was new to me – the waiting at table, the plate and lamp cleaning, and the care of so much handsome furniture.

When I had been there three years, my wages were raised to £16, and then I treated myself to a nice little silver watch, a thing I had long wished for.

When we decided last Easter that we would look to being married in September, we talked over ways and means.  Richard had savings enough to pay for all the main furnishings, and being a carpenter, he made many useful things.

He said if he paid ready money down he should get a good discount – “No hire system for him, making you pay far more than the goods are worth, and having the weekly payments hanging over your head like a nightmare!”

I said I would undertake all the house-linen and crockery for my share, and began, with mother’s help, to make lists of all that I would need.  I did not mean to spend all my savings – “rainy days” may yet come; and if it please God to grant us little ones, the money will come in handy for the extra expenses which they bring.

I had a grand time for getting on with my shopping and work, for my master’s family were away the whole of July and August; and the mistress, knowing what I had in hand, usually gave me leave to go out as much as I liked.

One of my first visits was to my friend, Lizzie Brown, a member of our Bible Class, who supports her invalid mother by dress-making.

I took up a piece of oversewing to help her while we talked.  I told her that I had decided to get two good stuff dresses to begin with, and she said at once, “I tell you what, Nellie, if you can get them soon, I will make them at leisure times, and only charge you five shillings for each of them.  I wish I could afford to make them for nothing, but the lower price is all I can give you by way of a wedding present, for we have had so many extra expenses lately”.

So we settled that I should get a nice grey cashmere for a wedding dress, which would do for Sundays next summer, and a grey bonnet to match.  I have a fancy for bonnets, being tall, and broadly-built hats are not becoming to me.  Lizzie made me the bonnet, and put some bows of narrow pink velvet in it, and made one for the neck of the dress.  This, with grey silk gloves, and the white flowers which our young ladies brought me, made as pretty a set-out as nay bride in my station in life could desire.

For the second dress, which was my Sunday one for the coming winter, I chose a blue serge, which kind Lizzie took the trouble to braid for me, and I bought an excellent cloth ulster for 18s. 6d. at a sale.

I had two very good stuff dresses by me, and four cotton ones; but these were very light, and I thought, through the winter, when drying was bad, I should not want one of them added to the necessary washing every week; so I put them by for summer wear, and bought an every-day dress of old-fashioned brown linsey.  This only cost 10s and I made it myself, with full sleeves and wrist-bands.  There was a loop inside these, and a little button on each shoulder, so that I could fasten them right up when at work, and yet they would come down in a moment for meals, and to answer the door.

I made the skirt short, to avoid getting draggled when I was in and out of the garden feeding the fowls or hanging out the clothes.  I cannot tell you what a comfort that warm substantial dress  has been to me already.

I did not need a good jacket – indeed I Had a very good stock of half-worn clothes to go on with.  A hat I brought last winter only needed a shilling’s worth of ribbon to make it nice for every day, and I got a black fancy straw bonnet, lined it with a piece of velvet which I once had on a hat, and trimmed it with a handsome scarlet and black ribbon, for Richard likes to see something bright and cheerful.

The new things which I needed were the following.

Grey cashmere dress - £1 3s 6d
Grey bonnet – 5s 6d
Serge dress – 17s
Dressmaking – 10s
Linsey dress – 10s
Ulster – 18s 6d
Winter petticoat – 6s
Six nightdresses – 12s 9d
Six combinations – 9s
Two flannel petticoats – 6s
Three flannel vests – 6s
Three flannelette vests – 3s
Four large aprons – 3s
Two pairs of stays – 6s 6d
Six pairs of stocking at 1s 6d – 9s
Twelve handkerchiefs – 5s 9d
One pair of boots – 10s 6d
One pair of shoes – 7s 6d
Bonnet and hat trimming – 4s 3d
Two pairs of gloves – 3s 4d
Collars and necktie – 2x 3d
Cottons, tapes, etc – 8d
Total - £9

My clothes finished, I turned my attention to the house linen, and with the help of my good sewing-machine soon made it all more strongly and neatly than any shop-made things.  We had only two bedrooms to furnish, and I bought two gay-striped Austrian blankets to lay over the beds in winter.

Two pairs of blankets at 15s - £1 10s
One small pair of ditto – 8s 6d
Two Austrian blankets – 15s
Two counterpanes - £1 1s
Four pairs of sheets - £2
Two tablecloths at 10s - £1
Two ditto at 5s – 10s
Twelve pillow cases – 6s 6d
Twelve huckaback towels – 9s
Six Turkish towels – 4s 6d
Four toilet covers at 1s 3d – 5s
Kitchen and pudding clothes – 4s 6d
Window blinds – 2s 6d
Two pairs of white curtains – 10s
Two red tablecloths – 6s 6d
Total - £9 17s 6d

These prices are by no means the cheapest at which the different articles might be had, but I had seen in my places of service how much more satisfactory is the wear of eally good material, so I resolved to buy only such.

Besides these things, I made up many useful odds and ends out of scraps I had by me – iron-holders and dusters out of pieces of print, oven-cloths from the best parts of worn-out working aprons, and a couple of house-flannels from a very thin old petticoat quilted together.

When it came to choosing the crockery, I had two pleasant surprises.  Master and mistress said they must give me something after six years of faithful service, and chose a dinner set.  It is a real beauty, with a brown pattern on a cream-coloured ground, and such a number of plates and dishes.

Then the cook, who is a quiet middle-aged person, insisted on spending 14s on a lovely pink tea-set for me.  I protested that it was far too much, but she only laughed and said she should feel free to come and dink tea out of it very often, as she has no relations in our parts to go to on her Sunday out.

These presents saved me so much that I felt justified in buying what I had longed for, but had felt I ought not to afford, namely, a small mangle and wringer combined, which saves so much work on washing day.

But the tea-set was far too pretty for daily use, so I bought six strong blue cups and saucers, some plates and dishes, a brown earthenware teapot, six different-sized jugs, some basins and pie-dishes, kitchen tins, knives, spoons and forks.  Two sets of bedroom china cost me 15s, and I brought sets of blacking and black-lead brushes, brooms, a good scrubbing brush, some tin candlesticks, and a strong double-burner lamp.

I had little need to spend on ornamental things, for our young ladies gave me some framed pictures, and the little boys a pair of vases; master’s old aunt sent me a plated teapot, and my Bible Class teacher a nice little clock, besides smaller gifts from my relations, and from Richard’s brothers and sisters.

I bought and trimmed a new brown bonnet for my mother, and gave my little twin sisters new pale pink gingham frocks, white sailor hats, and white cotton gloves; and with their long fair hair (which they generally wear in pigtails) all brushed out, they made as pretty a pair of little bridesmaids as you could wish to see, and very proud they were of their office.

After all this, I still had £20 in the Saving Bank, which gives one a very comfortable feeling in looking forward to the future; and I have the satisfaction of knowing that for years to come I shall need next to nothing from Richard’s earnings for my personal needs, and that many of the household goods which I have bought will, with careful using, be comforts all my life.

Easter Egg: an advertisement for Webb Williams & Co Ladies' Tailors c. 1900

Opened vol.22 (1900-1901) and this advertisement fell out. My copy of vol.22 once belonged to a lady by the name of Julia Gambrill, Sandwich. 

 

6 January, 1900 - 'Breadwinning at Home: Doll-Making' by Margaret Bateson

Dolls are creepy. But someone has to make them. For a pittance.

"It is very pretty work," said a worn-out little woman, gazing around her with manifest pride. Her gaze was directed towards some bundles of dolls' bodies and arms, a box of sawdust, and a heap of wood shavings. Otherwise, indeed, there was little enough upon which the eye could rest. The window looked out upon a dull off-street in Shoreditch. No carpet covered the bare boards of the room, and there was scarcely any furniture except the bed. Here the doll-maker, a widow, lived quite alone, with nothing to read, nothing to look at, and nothing else to do save to go on persistently stuffing dolls.