A proper decision as to what to wear and what to leave at home helps make the occasion of an opening a source of memorable satisfaction.
The Dinner Party
Such a gathering usually brings together a significant part of one’s personal world. Well chosen jewelry will confirm a woman’s standing in that community, and it will be a source of gratification to her husband and to her hosts if she is tastefully adorned. Wearing one’s best jewelry and finest gown is a gracious way of paying tribute to one’s hostess, as well as doing one’s duty as a guest, to help make the party a success.
At the dinner party a parure, a matching ensemble, is quite attractive. At the opera the more elaborate jewels can be enjoyed from farther away; by most, any one person’s jewels are seen but for a glance or at a distance. But here, there is opportunity to observe the matching of stones or of the balanced jewels in a parure. While one jewel may contain stones of various colors, there should not be such variety from jewel to jewel; to be avoided, for example, are such combinations as a sapphire bracelet with a ruby brooch or an emerald necklace with a turquoise bracelet. And the colors of the jewels, as always, must harmonize with one’s gown and one’s complexion.
The Watch
No woman should wear a leather strap for a wrist watch with an evening gown. It would completely break the spell of elegance. If no watch with matched strap of bejewelled metal is in the treasure chest, the watch should be kept at home or—for sheer utility—in the purse. The watch for evening wear has its functional aspects concealed. Its face is almost hidden in precious stones, or may be so encased that the jewel must be opened. It is worn less as a timepiece than as a bracelet, or perhaps a brooch.
The Cigarette Case
One intrusion on the elegance of a formal dinner is the too frequent practice by men of offering a lady in evening gown a cigarette from a crumpled paper package. One might as well offer candy from a subway stand in its paper container. The hostess has not proffered her food from the grocery bag. It is expected that the food will be attractively served; when a dish is a delight to the eye, it is more delectable upon the palate. Similarly a cigarette should be taken from a case that has aesthetic qualities.