Dressed For Garden Parties - 1912

Dresses for a Garden Party. Taffeta or Satin Coat with Belt of Same; Fancy Button and Agaric Collar are Special Features; and Over Dress of Mull Over Net with Emboridered Edges. Harper's Bazar, July 1912. GGA Image ID # 16495f75b7

One can no longer procrastinate about the question of midsummer gowns, especially if one's summer consists of only two or three hot months. We have already wearied of the tailored suit and in all probability have enjoyed the unfailing reward of having invested, in early spring, in a satin gown or three-piece costume, such as a taffeta or a charmeuse.

Now we must turn our attention to frocks of a lighter sort, such as lingerie dinner frocks or gowns for afternoon teas and bridge parties. What one needs depends, of course, largely on where one is to spend the summer.

There still remain some few restful places where one feels thoroughly well gowned in a fresh linen skirt and a simple lingerie blouse, no matter what time of day it may be. But even under such ideal conditions, one must prepare for the occasional visit to a house where a more elaborate system obtains.

It is there that an elaborate lingerie gown will be needed. Over this, for teas or driving, is worn a black taffeta coat with its smart-looking back which reaches nearly to the foot of the frock.

The front view of the coat here shown exhibits a gown of eyelet-embroidered flouncing made over a black chiffon slip. The black shows at the bottom for a space of two inches under the scallops and a broad sash of black satin is swathed about the waist with just an edge of the scallops showing below.

These coats may be made in taffeta or satin. They are cut with the utmost simplicity and must curve ever so slightly into the waist-line in order to do away with that ugly thick look which a short waist-line is bound to give if the coat hangs loose from the shoulders.

If a girdle on the gown itself is not desired, it can be made to serve as a waistcoat for the coat and be finished by four buttons of fancy metal. These, with the deep sailor collar, revers, and loose cuffs made of agaric, are the special features of the silk coat.

Another delightfully practical afternoon gown is the third model, made of sheer white mull with embroidered scallops softened by a Valenciennes lace edge.

The under slip is of white net with a skirt ruffle of the same. There are endless possibilities for the revers and girdle. For instance, a soft flesh pink satin with a pleating of lace around the button rosette; or, again, flesh-colored chiffon revers finished with a fine picot edge will be very charming. By using the palest pink, the one-tone monotony of the gown will be greatly relieved.

Ethel Rose, Illustrator, "For Garden Parties," in Harper's Bazar, New York-London: Harper & Brothers, Vol. XLVL, No. 7, July 1912.