1890's Ladies´ Sporting Clothing

Adapted to all August Sports

Ladies’ Box-plaited shirt waist 7130 and skirt 7124.
        Checked linen showing ecru and blue was chosen for this stylish tennis suit; the collar, cuffs, belt and front decoration of the skirt being made of plain blue. Three box-plaits are laid in the back and three in the front concealing the closing which is made with button and button-holes in a fly. Smooth under-arm gores separate the front from the back which has a pointed yoke. A casing is sewed at the waist line through which tapes are run to regulate the fullness, and the lower portion of the waist is worn beneath the skirt. The turn-down collar that finishes the neck is mounted upon a high neck-band, and can be made removable, if so desired. The sleeves, of moderate width, , are gathered at their upper and lower edges; straight cuffs finishing the wrists openings being made in back of the sleeves that are finished with pointed overlaps closing with link buttons. A narrow belt encircles the waist.
        The skirt is admirable for summer wear., its straight back breadth adapting it specially to wash fabrics. The sides display the fashionable ripple effect on each side of the gored front, the straight back breadth falling in graceful folds from gathers at the top. The placket is finished in centre-back and the top is completed with a straight belt.
        The style, which is an unusually smart one, can be developed in percale, cheviot, duck, dimity or gingham with collar and cuffs to match or of white linen. Blue serge is also suitable for making and the suit can be worn for yachting, shopping or traveling as well as for tennis.
        To make this waist for a lady in the medium size will require three and one- half yards of thirty-six inch material. The skirt will require five and one-half yards of the same width goods. The waist pattern, No. 7130, is cut in sizes for a 32, 34, 36, 38 and 40-inch bust measure. The skirt pattern, No. 7124, is cut in sizes for a 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30-inch waist measure.

Modes,
edited by May Manton,
August 1897

Ladies´ Tennis Costume

For the Midsummer Jaunt.

        No one feature of the season is more notable than the variety of materials offered for the travelers’ wear. Not many years ago choice was limited to a black silk— ordinarily one already partly worn— and to wool. To-day on may wear black silk if she choose, but it will be a fresh one of taffeta or the delicious India, or, failing that, linen, duck, canvas, mohair, or a light-weight serge that is only third cousin to the heavy cloth common a decade ago.
        The old saying that a black silk can always be trusted to be correct is true to- day as it was when first it was uttered, but to-day there are other things to share its popularity, while then it stood alone. Gros-grain, which was the favorite of the past, is somewhat over-warm for travel and has the disadvantage of harboring dust. Taffetas and Indias are both light in weight, and the latter deliciously cool, in addition to which qualities they both shed the dust, which in itself is sufficient commendation. Serge has the advantage of being less liable to crumple, and it or mohair, made with jacket and skirt, embodies the wrap that is essential to comfort. Worn with the shirt waist, it is endurable at high noon, while with the jacket added it is sufficiently warm for the chilly evening which is liable to follow, while the delight of a linen costume upon a warm day is not to be overstated. Which is best, the taste of the individual and the demands of the special journey alone can determine. Each and all are correct, and in that fact alone lies much advantage.
        Whatever the material, the accepted bodice is shirt waist form of cotton, taffeta or India. The latter are dignified by the name of blouse, and are rather more dressy and elaborate than the shirt waist proper. To travel comfortably, one should be equipped with both; for there are occasions upon which nothing is so desirable as the fabric that can be washed, and again there are times when the blouse, with its appearance of slightly more formal dress, enables one to be presentable at the hotel dinner even though the trunk be delayed. As the silks from which they are made do not crumple with folding, one can always be carried in the satchel along with fresh collar and necktie, so that in spite of dust and travel-stain, the traveler can not only look but feel fresh, with very little paraphernalia and the minimum of weight.
        Stocks and collars of all sorts are allowed, the only being in favor of simplicity. A black satin tie and a belt of black leather can always be trusted, and this year the harness buckle takes first place. String ties of chambray are also good, and have the merit of laundering; and stocks worn with narrow turn-over collar of hemstitched linen are almost universally becoming, in spite of being excessively warm. Surest comfort is to be found in a variety, for the ability to make a change is often a luxury, and fresh collar, cuffs and tie mean a smartening of the entire costume.

Modes,
edited by May Manton,
August 1897