A ball gown is supposed to be, and really should be, the daintiest of all costumes. If intended for a young girl it need not of necessity be so elaborate in design as to look like a ceremonious state gown, nor should it be so elaborately made nor have so long a train as to interfere with dancing, but it is essentially full dress, and as such permits of a fanciful design to start with, rich trimming, and with much attention paid to what is becoming. Low neck and short sleeves are necessary for a ball gown, and even when a girl's neck is thin she is not supposed to be correctly gowned if she has it and her shoulders covered. If she is very thin there can be folds of lace or soft illusion put around the top of the gown, that will veil the shoulders and hide their defects, and the sleeves may be nearly to the elbow; but the moment a guimpe is worn, that moment must be relegated to half-dress, or demi- toilette, as the French say.
There are more satin gowns being made up all the time to be worn by the young married women as well as the older women, and these gowns are exquisite in both fabric and design. An odd fancy that is very novel is combining chiffon and mousseline de soie with the satin. Black velvet has not been much worn for ball gowns for the last few years, but the chaperones or patronesses of the dances occasionally appear in gowns of that material.
Artificial flowers are much used both for hair ornaments and as trimming on the gown-the largest size roses possible made of silk or velvet in black, white, or different colors with, as has been said, the dewdrop effect of rhinestones or diamonds. The regular ball gowns have all short sleeves, but the gowns worn for small dances have elbow sleeves or long sleeves, with lace or chiffon.
Glace kid gloves are more fashionable for evening wear than suede. The very short-sleeved ball gowns require the gloves to come way above the elbow. The elbow sleeves and the long ones require only a glove that comes a little above the wrist. White is preferred to any color, and under all circumstances. It is even the fad now to wear white gloves with a black gown, but then that is not saying that black gloves are not also very smart with the black gowns.
Patent-leather slippers are much worn with evening gowns, either low-cut, with tiny jewel led buckles or with the high vamp and big, old-fashioned paste buckles of former generations. With the most elaborate ball gowns, however, the correct slipper is of satin or brocade to match the gown itself. With black gowns, and even with some colored ones the slippers are of jetted black satin, and nothing, be it said, makes the foot look so small and graceful as these last. With them are worn the most exquisite of open-work light-colored stockings.
--Harper's Bazar, January 26, 1901
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