The Cloak or Cape for a Tall Woman.
The long circular cloak is another graceful garment that can be worn with charming effect by the woman of classic height, but should never be in the wardrobe of a very tall woman except for use at the opera, when its service is chiefly required in the carriage, or when its wearer is sitting. It is so obvious, in sketch No. 40, that the vertical lines the folds of the cloak naturally fall into give a steeple-like appearance to the tall woman it enfolds, that it is scarcely necessary to comment upon it.
That her judicious selection should have been the short cape, which comes, as all capes should, to be artistic, well below the elbows, is clearly illustrated in picture No. 41. The horizontal trimming very becomingly plays its part in the generally improving effect.
The one who can wear the long cloak in an unchallengeable manner is the short, stout woman, shown in sketch No. 42.
By wearing the short cape with circular, fluffy collarette, sketched in No. 43, she gives herself the look of a smothered, affrighted Cochin China chicken; or, as an imaginative school-girl remarked of her mother who wore a cape of similar style, "she looks as if her neck were encircled by bunches of asparagus."
The military dignity she acquires by wearing the long cape is becoming to a degree, and gives her distinction in form.
By remembering that horizontal trimmings apparently decrease the height, and that vertical lines add to it, those who desire to appear at their best will use discernment in dividing their basques with yokes, or corsage mountings at the bust-line or frills at the hip-line.