Page:The Strand Magazine (Volume 4).djvu/233

 lady is also attired in a curious old-fashioned style of dress, not altogether unlike the Russian tunic of to-day. It is a straight scanty gown of white lawn, and resembles nightdress with a flounce at the bottom. Over it there is a sort of paletot reaching below the knees, which fastens in front and has a frill round the bottom, and a sash of white ribbon confining the waist. It is curious and quaint, and has an old-world air (80), but it must be confessed it belongs to the kingdom of dowdyism, and looks odd amongst the pointed bodices and full skirts of the smarter Court dames.

A beautifully robed grande dame (the part of Court milliner being played by the Princess) is Lady Shrewsbury (50), in white silk with a magenta satin train from the shoulder, and a Medici collar of Spanish lace with pearl ornaments. A crimson plush turban adorned with pearls surmounts her temples, and gives her a majestic and awe-inspiring appearance.

Another superb is Catherine Countess of Claremont (91), whose cloak of pink satin edged with ermine, and having a deep pelerine of the same fur, is of the most costly description. The sumptuousness of her toilette is increased by a long pink satin train embroidered in silver, and an elaborate headdress of white net, lace, and gold flowers. Several of the ladies (probably those of maturer age, as the fashion for young married ladies to wear caps was rather earlier) wear becoming caps of net and ribbons with their evening toilettes; and one cannot help wishing that modern elderly ladies adopted the practice, for what could be more becoming than the one that graces