Twentieth Century Culture and Deportment / Or the Lady and Gentleman at Home and Abroad; Containing Rules of Etiquette for All Occasions, Including Calls; Invitations; Parties; Weddings; Receptions; Dinners and Teas; Etiquette of the Street; Public Places, Etc., Etc. Forming a Complete Guide to Self-Culture; the Art of Dressing Well; Conversation; Courtship; Etiquette for Children; Letter-Writing; Artistic Home and Interior Decorations, Etc.

by Maud C. Cooke

Combinations of Color.

“A secret of artistic dressing is to match the hair as nearly as possible for day and the eyes for evening.”

“The producing of an all-over effect by drapery, veiling, and headgear of the same shade is most thoroughly artistic.”

These two high art axioms may be given as a safe foundation for the choice of colors, in following which no one can greatly err.

The woman of mezzo-tints, of soft half-tones of complexion, hair and eyes, loses all color and force when she clothes herself with deep, intense hues. Low, warm, unaggressive shades are needed as a background to bring out all her own best points.

“Some people,” says Miss Oakey, “have many possibilities of form and color which may be brought out under special treatment, but most people have only the one possibility which can be improved upon.” Certain women may be dressed in one set of colors that emphasize the whiteness of their skin; and, in still another, that bring out their own color, while others must be content with one certain range of tints.