IF YOU MUST PRACTICE ECONOMY
If I could have but one dress, I should choose soft, brown Canton crêpe with a satin side to use as trimming. If I could have just two dresses, one would be blue cloth and the other brown crêpe because both are becoming. I say they are becoming despite the fact that a prominent color specialist says that black, blue, and brown are heavy colors and not the best for large figures. But the use of such a simple accessory as a scarf of lace or chiffon can lift out of the ordinary a brown crêpe dress and can in the quality of its beautiful, smart lines, prove doubly effective. And fine white linen or piqué collars and cuffs can do wonders to a simple, correct-fitting one-piece dress of blue cloth.
I know of a certain manufacturer of a very excellent line of dresses for stouts. Expensive? Certainly, but worth the price, for following the rules of optical illusion is practically a religion with him. He uses only navy blue—the darkest navy—in heavy faille, crêpe silks, Poiret twill, and charmeen. Some are trimmed in white linen or piqué, a few with net, but the majority are untrimmed, tailored, and pressed “to a turn,” even when made of silk. Dresses of this type are of a quality which will permit of one remodeling at least, so that the maximum of wear may be had from them. When this is possible the material can be really “worn out” because it was conservative in the first place and did not lose its style value too rapidly.
The feeling of satisfaction you get from such a costume, even when you discard the outfit, is much to be preferred to an attempt to wring the last drop of usefulness from your clothes by wearing them in the home. Never do this. Rip up, renovate, and make over, but don’t be shabby at home. There is too much to lose if you do. The stout woman just must get into the habit of looking smart at all times. Once acquired, it is a habit that brings with it a sense of pride, pleasure, and self-reliance very much worth cultivating.
CHAPTER VIII
COLORS THAT SLENDERIZE
In Chapter II we found that certain uses of lines cause objects to appear larger or smaller than they really are. This same principle of optical illusion applies to colors. Whether you realize it or not, the color of an object always seems to affect its size.
In general, dark colors make objects appear to be smaller; light colors make them seem larger. This is often demonstrated by a woman with large feet. If she dresses those feet in a pair of white shoes they appear to be much larger than they really are, whereas shod in a pair of well-made dull black or dark brown pumps or oxfords, they appear much smaller than they really are.
Take equal amounts of black crêpe and yellow satin as examples. The black recedes, while the yellow stands out, fills the eye more completely, and as a result seems larger.
Look at blue cornflowers and orange poppies in a field. It takes twice as many of the blue flowers to attract your attention as it does of the orange, because the latter make a more definite impression on the eye.
If you intend to take your rightful place among well-dressed women you must watch carefully the color of your dress and hold, in the main, to the quiet colors or shades, such as seal brown, midnight blue, bottle green, dull black, blackberry purple, the grays, and the deep tans. These make outline less definite, help your observers to lose sight of bulk and thereby make your size inconspicuous. Besides, they are always smarter than the more conspicuous colors. And this isn’t such a sacrifice, after all, when you realize how few women there are who are vivacious, alert, agile enough or clear enough of skin to compete with active color. Bright colors are suitable chiefly to the great outdoors, for gala decoration, or for trimming—and the latter you may use if you do it wisely and discreetly.