Today's Fashions July 1903 - Summer Styles
In the Summer styles long, flowing lines, sloping shoulder effects, quaint collars and berthas are extremely picturesque, and never before have materials lent themselves with such grace to the fashionable modes.
The changes are most conspicuous, perhaps, in skirts. Some are straight and full, being shirred into the belt and falling full from that point or from a hip yoke that is the result of shirring, while others merely show a suggestion of fullness.
Hip yokes or empiecements, front panels, folds, flounces, plaits, tucks, and gores are all employed, as best suits the wearer and the material used. One of the features of the season is the extraordinary diversity of skirt designs.
Faggoting or any fancy stitch may be introduced at the seams of a seven-gored flare skirt that is tucked at the center of each tore to flounce depth; in another mode a cluster of lengthwise tucks conceals the seams.
A front panel of antique or Cluny lace would lend distinction to either a linen or soft wool or silk fabric fashioned into a skirt that falls full below a hip yoke formed by shirrings. Another cluster of shirrings might be introduced just above the knee.
The street and pedestrian skirts have kept their trim lines, and, as a rule, have a wide flare at the bottom. "Just to escape the ground" is the edict of Fashion regarding the proper length of these skirts.
A box-plaited flounce lengthening a five-gored upper part makes a new mode unusually attractive, while a graduated tuck at each seam lends variety to a seven-gored walking skirt that is alike suitable for rough woolen goods and for heavy linens.
The shirt-waist and separate blouse show some pretty new designs. They are made of sheerest lawns and mulls, of heavy vesting and silky linens and also of light-weight cloth and plain and figured woolens; and each may be fashioned in a style adapted to the texture of the fabric.
Severe or tailored effects, the result of stitched plaits or tucks, are used for the heavier materials, while shirrings or tucks alternating with insertion and all-over lace, are introduced in the more dressy modes of silk and sheer stuffs.
There is unusual grace in the cape collar, in round or pointed outline or suggesting the sailor modes, which supplements a bodice that may have a high or open neck and full or three-quarter length bishop sleeves. Lace banding and medallions are suggested to trim this pretty bodice.
The Victorian style is quaintly reproduced in a bodice, the distinctive feature of which is the shaped bertha with stole ends. A soft silk or wool fabric and all-over lace combine charmingly in this mode, which is alike suited to be worn with a separate skirt or one made of the same material.
Comfort as well as style is considered in the Summer blouse that is made of thin, soft goods. The open neck is wonderfully becoming, too, to the woman whose throat is full and round.
A Rubens or sailor collar either pointed or straight over the shoulders gives a pretty neck-finish, and three-quarter length bishop sleeves lend further grace to the mode, the closing of which may be in duchess or plait effect.
A new fashion is a negligée shawl cape. One fashioned from a soft, inexpensive silk, such as China or India, in either a flowered pattern with border of the plain or the plain with a fancy ribbon border, would delight the most practical of women, for next to dainty lingerie, feminine fancy runs to picturesque effects in lounging garments.
If there is but one new feature in the bodice or wrap it must be in the sleeves. All sorts of possibilities are offered for the association of contrasting and harmonizing fabrics; all over lace and chiffon or mousseline, or a plain material, lace trimmed, are wise suggestions.
A two-piece tailored costume is included in every well-appointed wardrobe, and the variety of fabrics suitable for development is sufficient to satisfy every taste.
Both long jackets-those of Louis XV style-and short, jaunty Etons are worn, and the skirt of such a costume may be in walking length or made with a sweep. The new linens lend themselves admirably to such modes, and braid, buttons and machine stitching give them decorative touches.
The ruff or cape in stole shape is a desirable addition to the toilette not only because of its practical use but because it adds just the finish necessary to a modish appearance. All sorts of fabrics are used to make these accessories, chiffon, mousseline, net, Liberty silk, lace, and even artificial flowers.
"Fashions of To-day" in The Delineator: An Illustrated Magazine of Literature and Fashion, New York: The Butterick Publishing Company, Ltd., Volume LXII, No. 1, July 1903, Page 49