THINK OF THESE LITTLE THINGS BEFOREHAND
Buy a few things and have everything right. Think of all of your wardrobe at one time. Be sure that everything goes together agreeably. Take care to keep every part of your clothing in good repair and immaculately clean. Every woman can gain a reputation for being well dressed if she remembers not to be haphazard in buying, wearing, and caring for her clothes. If you have any of these habits, come, let us talk them over confidentially, because I, too, have had to learn by sheer necessity to overcome, one by one, these very expensive, annoying tendencies, and the only way I succeeded was to learn, as a matter of habit, to hang things up carefully when I took them off, to make sure that dress shields were in place, and to take special care to have everything in right shape when it was time to dress.
Take very special pains to have all supporters securely fastened, stockings on straight, and each garment rightly in place, for neatness in dress is more essential for us than almost any other thing. In fact, fastidious care of person and clothes is one feature which requires constant vigilance.
Avoid every tendency toward over dress. Don’t trim yourself too much. Modesty, simplicity—intricate simplicity perhaps, but a beautiful simplicity—is a definite part of our program and must be followed out religiously to conceal at all times an extra 30 or 40 pounds.
Be sure that the brassiere and corset overlap at their joining. The brassiere should come over the corset a good 2 inches to insure its holding. If the abdomen is full or stomach high, supporters fastened to the brassiere at the front are an advantage.
Never allow your shoes to squeak or your gloves to pinch in their tightness. Never allow a spot to show on any garment. Be immaculate, work at it, keep at it, for you, you know, have a definite purpose that must be achieved.
CHAPTER IV
FOUNDATIONS THAT SLENDERIZE
Although this is termed the corsetless era, the best dressed women are still wearing corsets and will continue to wear them because they realize the necessity of retaining lovely curves and lines. When the slender woman is careful about her corset, what must the responsibility be of the large woman? It is just this—that she must wear a corset—that she must select it with such care and have it fitted with such perfection that even she can forget it once it is on. No evidence of a corset is ever seen on a correctly dressed woman.