In woollen fabrics, and with the exception of serge and limousine, women preferred “chiné” fancy mixtures, or striped materials of two shades. Steel was again fashionable. Stomachers, berthes, and “Louis XV. casaques” were much worn; and the waterproof, so long the very tomb of elegance and grace, but the most convenient of garments, underwent such improved “treatment,” that no woman, old or young, need any longer object to shelter herself beneath it. White bonnets, that had been absolutely proscribed for many years, came into fashion again for visiting dress. The “Estelle” bonnet was in cream felt, or in stiff white tulle, edged with white jet. An expensive checked material, which cost fifteen to eighteen francs the yard, was used for gowns; and with these were worn apron tunics in Scotch plaid, and small “Louis XIII.” waistcoats with pockets. “Flora” bonnets in beige chip of two shades; “Chevalier” bonnets made of jet; “Trianon” bonnets in black chip, with a double bordering of Italian straw; and, lastly, maroon straw bonnets trimmed with showy “François I.” ribbon, were among the favourite shapes. Some of these bonnets looked like real flower-beds, with their harmoniously blended heath, clematis, poppies, and daisies. Cuirass bodices did not long remain in favour; they were succeeded by bodices with straight waist-bands, and armour bodices cut low and square, and laced at the back. These bodices were embroidered, and edged with Mechlin lace. “Montespan” sleeves were worn as a reminiscence of the seventeenth century; the material of which they were made was embroidered, and they ended at the elbow in two deep falls of Mechlin lace, with frills of crape lisse on the inside. At home, ladies wore muslin “peignoirs” of a shape called “mobile;” or “saut-du-lit” (jump out of bed), an equally becoming garment, in fine nansook. For morning dress they selected “Samoyède,” or polar cloth; “Livonienne,” or snow-flaked or gravelled cloth. Costumes made of these were trimmed with a wide braid to match, or with a band of velvet, and the skirts were trimmed apron-fashion in front. This was a step towards the revival of plain dresses. Among other evolutions of fashion in 1875, the change in shoes was noticeable. Those shoes “à la poulaine,” which I described when treating of the Middle Ages, were partially imitated by the new mode. Up to this time shoes had been made square at the toes; they were now made pointed; and some boots were made with the points curling upwards, in the same ridiculous fashion as under the Valois. This retrospective caprice did not, fortunately, last long. Gowns continued to be made with trains, with tight-fitting basques, and with large pockets called “ridicules,” “aumônières,” and “bonnes-femmes.” A muslin flounce was placed inside the bottom of the skirt, coming a little below it; and the “balayeuse,” as it was called, frequently excited the mirth of the passers-by in the streets.