Red in all shades was also much worn. In some cases it was quite a bright scarlet; but I did not think the idea a happy one. I looked very carefully at the numberless so-called tailor-made suits, and, after all, admired the wearers—neat, trim and tidy—the most. They were of all materials—ladies’ cloth, cheviot, homespun, and undyed Shetland cloth. Many of them were suitable for any season of the year, as, indeed, the true tailor-made gown should always be. The newest thing in them that I saw was a skirt put on in three immense box-pleats, so big that one formed the front, and the two others were enough for the back and sides, the skirt itself being quite plain and free from any ornament whatever. The newest muffs seemed to be those made of the material of the dress. The trimming was of fur, plush, or jet passementerie. Amongst the few changes in fashions I must mention that the basques to bodices for everyday wear seem to be longer, and in some cases they are put on separately to the bodice. Polonaises also are becoming very general, and, no doubt, in the spring we may see a great return to them—certainly the most becoming and useful of any of our dresses. The polonaise that was illustrated in our dress article with the pleated bodice will be much in vogue, and also a smockfrock polonaise that is very pretty and becoming, but, of course, would need the smocking performed in the first style of that difficult art. This makes it rather expensive, and the houses who make a speciality of the work find it far from easy to get good workers, and, consequently, these smocks are expensive. This winter there has been so much choice in the matter of styles and shapes that nothing can be called “old-fashioned,” and I am looking forward with hope to the long wished-for day when our own individual thought will, in a great measure, rule our fashions, and make us much happier in having less to worry ourselves with, if our gowns prove not exactly like Mrs. A.’s or Mrs. B.’s; and that they bear the mark of last year, or even of the year before. So long as they suit us personally, it really ought not to matter. [Illustration: PRINCESS DRESSING GOWN.] This year mantles have been either very large or very small, and bonnets have been both remarkably high and almost hoodlike in shape. Hats, too, have been small and close-fitting, or large and spreading. As to our dresses, we have worn polonaises, pointed bodices, and jacket-bodices quite indiscriminately. Norfolk blouses have been also much worn, and they promise also to continue in favour, as they are most useful for young and old. The same may be said of the jersey bodice, and the so-called garibaldi skirts. In regard to out-of-door jackets, I should think the same tight-fitting, jaunty-looking jackets will rule such as we have worn for the last two seasons. They are too useful to be discarded as permanent occupants of our wardrobes.