224 WOMAN'S DRESS Conducted by the Editress of " Fashions for All " In ihis important section of EvKRY Woman's En'cyclop.*:dia every aspect of dress will be dealt with by practical and experienced writers. The history of dress from earliest times will be told, and practical and useful information will be given in : Home Dressmaking IIo-cv to Cut Patterns Home Tailoring Methods of Self- measure- Representative Fashions „,cut Fancy Dress Colour Contrasts Alteration of Clothes, etc. Boots and Shoes i Furs Choiec Choice I/mv to A'eep in Good Condition Hoiv to Preserve, etc. Hmv to Soften Leather, etc. I Hoiv to Detect Frauds Millinery Lessons in Hat Trimming ILoiu to Make a Shape How to Curl Feathers Flozvers, Hat-pins, Colours, etc. Gloves Choice Cleaning, etc. Jewellery, etc. FI^ACTICAL CHOICE or THE By The Hon. Mrs. FITZROY STEWART Continued from page 7S, Part I No. 2.— FOX The Characteristics and Markings of the Various Species of Fox— the Price and Value of Different Furs— The Fur Market and the Fur Trade A MONO the most precious of furs must be ^* reckoned those of the silver and blue fox. The silver, or, as it is sometimes called, black, fox. is found in Alaska, Columbia, and the Hudson Bay Territory. The best skins come from Labrador, and many of the finest find their way into the London market. The silver fox has black legs, a thick, bushy tail, and is smaller than its European relations. Its feet are peculiar. Richard- son says : " The black and silver foxes have the soles of their feet thickly covered with wool in the winter ; no callous spots arc then visible." Silver Fox Silver fox fur is rare, but for softness and firmness it has no equal. As regards colour, it is a beautiful rich, glossy black, and the longer and outer hairs are silvery white. This contrast in shade is most attractive. The neck of the silver fox is black, and this black fur extends behind the shoulders and down the back, sometimes almost to the quarters. A single skin of fine silver fox is worth
- ^i50, and one of great beauty will fetch at
least iioo. A muff of the best silver fox fur would cost i^S^, and a long stole about
- ^3oo ; indeed, the price of the latter might
run even to £600 or £'joo. Silver fox is a fur which seems to har- monise with everything, and this, no doubt, is one of the reasons for its popularity among Parisians. Black Fox Natural black fox of the best quality is a fur of almost fabulous value. A good black skin, with only the characteristic white tip at the end of the tail, will fetch a fancy price in the fur markets. This precious fur is much worn by the Russian nobility, and of late years the best skins have been sold less freely in London and Paris than in St. Petersburg — that is, if any fur can be said to sell " freely " at prices ranging for a single skin from £300 to £800. This latter price is said by a leading expert to have been given for one skin of extreme beauty and blackness. The late Emperor Alexander II. of Russia wore, when in London, a coat made of the necks of black fox, which was then valued at
- ^3,50o. And the price of fur has risen so
much of late years that a coat which con- tained the same number gf skiiis of a like
