One bodice which I have lately seen struck me as being both ugly and peculiar, and it must, I am sure, be a faithful copy of a railway porter’s waistcoat—with its front of corduroy, and its back of linen. In the copy, the fronts are of velvet, fancy or plain plush, and the backs are of plain silk to match it in colour, the sleeves being also of silk. One of the new fancies is to make the dress-sleeves like the waistcoat or plastron, the bodice being of a different stuff, and having a small epaulette on the shoulder. I have been careful to give all these changes in detail, as they will, I know, be very valuable to the home dressmaker, and to those on whom the burden rests of “doing up” half-worn dresses, and making themselves look well and ladylike on small means. Bodices are a great deal trimmed at present. Waistcoats, plastrons, and full or plain plastrons with long _revers_ that extend from shoulder to the point of the bodice, as well as braces, are all forms of trimming. The latter are now put on much higher than they were, and are carried close to the band at the neck, and they sometimes meet in the centre of the back. The sleeves are often trimmed round the shoulder-seams on the bodice—a very useful fashion indeed, as the sides, which are too well worn by the friction of the arms, can be made quite respectable for a longer term of service. There is no change in the way of making dress bodices. The basques are all cut very short on the hips, and are generally ended in a square-cut tail at the back, with a fan of pleats, or even plain, and not with ornaments at all. The darts in front are cut very high, and are straight in form; and there are two side pieces—one quite below the arm; and the seam of the side piece at the back is as straightly cut as possible. The great fancy is still for a narrow and flat back, and all methods of cutting out tried to produce this effect. [Illustration: IN A CORNER OF THE DRAWING-ROOM.]