CHOICE IN JEWELS
Women otherwise tasteful in dress are often careless and unthoughtful in the jewels they wear. In gowns and millinery they would not think of wearing colors that clash and fight, yet they do not establish a correspondence between clothes and jewels worn, between trinkets and the quality of personal appearance. They wear the contents of their jewel-boxes irrespective of suitability, indifferent as to season of night or day. A profusion of jewels, or the wearing of various and hostile stones at one time, is to be avoided as the pestilence. A jewel, like a fine picture, needs background, space to show it off. In the company of many other jewels it loses identity and distinction, and fails in conferring these qualities upon the wearer. In choosing precious stones it is a good rule to establish some sort of relation between their color and the eyes of the wearer. Turquoise intensifies the hue of blue eyes, topaz that of brown ones, and emeralds are particularly becoming to women whose eyes have a greenish tinge.
Color is so important an element of success in every department of dress that its study should be a part of the education of every woman who wishes to be well gowned. The correspondence between the color of the gown and the appearance of the person who is to wear it is of more importance than the quality of the texture employed. Hue and fit make for becomingness to a greater extent than elegance in material, though the latter is also an element of beauty in an all-round conception of the subject. A feeling for textures is rare, but it may be cultivated, and the effort to do this is worth making.
INDIVIDUALITY IN DRESS
Some women who are timid as to their ability to combine colors and tones, plunge into black as a safe refuge or adopt a standard color which they regard as “safe” for all occasions. This is a poor way out of the difficulty. Resolute study and a little experimenting will yield better results and an agreeable variety. A woman should study her “points” in the light of day before a full-length mirror, and once she has really learned what becomes her she should allow no milliner or modiste to coax her into “the latest cry.” There is no such thing as the “tyranny of fashion” for the woman who dresses intelligently. She will never be either in or out of the mode.
Neatness is unquestionably an element of that indefinable thing we call style, though many women who are neat are not modish. Neatness is the integrity of dress, the essential foundation to which all good things may be added. To a woman whose love for dress is allied to the thirst for perfection in that branch, untidiness is more than distasteful. If “extra” hair must be worn, it should be moderate in quantity, of the best quality and most skilfully arranged. Face powder, carelessly put on, makes a woman look ridiculous. An open placket is viewed by a fastidious woman as something like disgrace. Broken shoe-laces, gaps between belt and skirt, soiled neckwear, crookedness in the arrangement of gowns and other evidences of careless dressing are abhorrent to her. Neatness, freshness and suitability in the wardrobe are more important items than elaboration and cost. The person who suggests these desirable qualities in the manner of her attire, whether she has a large or a small amount of money to be expended in clothes, is sure to present an agreeable appearance. If to these qualities she adds a scent for novelty and style, she may hope to be, as far as clothes are concerned, “very smart indeed.” If beyond this she have the artist’s gift, she may make herself better than “smart,” she may be beautiful.
MINOR POINTS IN DRESS
One minor point: the handkerchief, when not in actual use, should be invisible. It is a concession to nature, and to carry it in the hand, tuck it in the belt or up the sleeve is provincial. A muff or a party bag of dainty texture may serve to hide it in lieu of a pocket.