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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 1902)
Preparing to Greet Childhood's Patron Saint Pictures from Photographs Made hv a Hoc Staff Artist line : " ""''i i - " " "' 1 """""" I'Vi'.'v I . m A , 1 t - ) HEADV TO START FOR SANTA CLAUS' HOME. WRITING HER LETTER TO SANTA CLAUS. WILLING TO CO WITH BROTHER. 77, H-U:,ii Hv ;'! ? h i- u - 'I Will -A WATCHING FOR THE COMING OF "SOMEONE.' "THE NIGHT I1EFORE CHRISTMAS.' o y v - - A. B . v L A 1 WHAT DID SANTA BRING BABY 7 WILLING TO GIVE OLD SANTA CLAUS A LIFT. Problem of Dressing for the Christmas Festivities us- OR one thing at least the American society woman may give thanks. She is 1 88 hampered than lv r sisters across the water. Kdk Ush and German women do them- an injustice in their gown never striving after the at idcal. French women cheapen Viennese selves ing by tractive themselves by their artificiality women overload themselves with trim mings and ornaments. The fashionable women of America, having no traditions to follow, look for the best each bazaar has to offer and combine the most attractive spe cialties of other nations. With her each costume must be a finished picture, and her personality must give It atmosphere. If she is an artist In clothes, she will em phasize her best features. To Idealize the real woman Is the highest perfection In dressing. Comparatively few women appreciate the secret of artistic gowning, but the stand ard Is getting always higher. Indeed, not a few American women deserve credit for displaying their very bes points, in know ing what really suits them. Mrs. Jonn jacob Astor, for example, knows that her patrician, cameo-like beauty will bear a gown of plain white satin that would make another woman look hideous, and she always wears It whenever possi ble. Mrs. Oliver Harrlman knows that black best suits her gorgeous oriental style, and she Is seldom seen In anything else. The little Countees Castellane has been transformed by modistes from an almost plain girl into a very smart and extremely well gowned woman. Mrs. Clarence Mackay has learned that a certain eccentricity is her charm, and she accentuates that quality In everything she wears. Exaggeration is her forte, and yet she keeps within the boundary I!ne of fitness. The duchess of Marlborough's wistful fare and lithe figure look best in simple, quaint clothes, and one gets the Impression that her things suit her perfectly. Mrs. Curzon, who was Mary Letter, wears a regal style of gowns and garniture that make her look the thoroughly queenly type of woman that she la. Occasionally there are women who ought to know better, yet who are grotesque In their dressing. They dress like market women, not like the aristocrats they really are. Usually one such woman is to be found In every social clique. Their pe culiarities in dress, however, do not seem to affect their popularity. The Christmas holidays give a better opportunity for showing off one's ward robe to advantage than almost any other time, for it marks the very height of the season, following, In New York, the horse show, the opera and the largest events of the society year, when the display la to bril liant that only those gowns that have char, aeter count. The trappings for gaslight wear are a simple problem as compared with the diffi cult question of simple daytime gowns. The regulation garb of people who live on the golf links or In the saddle Is easily disposed of. But for the person who goes about town the question of raiment Is not so nonchalantly dismissed. Apparel for many differ) nt occasions has to be con sideredfor ordinary visiting, daytime en tertainments, shopping, walking, driving, foot ball games, Christmas outings and family parties, church festivals and all the events that come with the season, and do not have to be considered at any other time. For all these a woman must have a complete set, not only of smart, but par ticularly serviceable day gowns, hats and wraps. A black hat, which may be draped with a black and white gauze veil, completes a costume that dresses a woman for any occasion, short of an elaborate luncheon, reception or other entertainment. A visiting gown recently made up for a smartly-dressed woman would answer for a reception, for driving, tea, luncheon or church wedding. It is made of champagne colored French broadcloth, with very sharp outlines in black velvet ribbon and silver braid. The skirt Is laid In fine pleats, stitched like tucks, but allowed to stand out from the skirt. Stars of embroidery, in black and white, ornament the bottom of the skirt, and black Is much used about the Jacket. The shape Is a combination of blouse and bolero, the latter being of the cloth to match the skirt, while the full part of the Jacket is of white silk, heavily embroidered in pink and blue. The upper half of the sleeve Is of cloth, with the usual full lower sleeve of black chiffon. The collar is of baby lamb, which also forms a yoke. The hat of baby lamb is elaborately trimmed with tulle.