How to Buy Clothes.—Low-priced materials do not wear so well as those for which a fair amount is paid; but it is not in the power of every woman to purchase materials which are necessarily expensive. The woman of small means will do well to confine her purchases to some well-established shop, famed rather for the soundness of its goods than for their apparent cheapness.
Ladies’ boots and shoes cannot be well made and of good materials for a little money; 21s. to 25s. for boots, 16s. to 18s. for walking shoes, suited for town wear, is about the lowest price for which a really good serviceable article can be obtained; but each of these will wear out three so-called cheap ones, and will look well to the last, after being twice soled. No boot or shoe will last if the servant is allowed to scrape the dirt off with a knife, put blacking on soft kid, or smear it over with some patent satin polish or peerless gloss. See to the cleaning of your boots and shoes yourself—that is, only have the dirt wiped off, and the kid well rubbed dry by the servant, and put on the polish yourself if it must be used. Evening shoes of a colour suitable for any dress can scarcely be had good for anything under 10s. 6d. or 12s. 6d., but they will wear out several cheaper pairs, and look well to the last.
The greatest mistake is to be perpetually attempting to keep pace with “fashion.” The best-dressed women are never “in the fashion,” as it is represented in young ladies’ journals. For economical dressing without dowdiness, the golden rule is to buy the best and soundest materials possible for your means, to keep to such quiet colours as will enable you to wear your dresses long without getting tired of them or tiring your friends; to buy a mantle, for instance, which is too good to need changing at the end of the year, but which is handsome enough to wear two seasons, and to bear retrimming or altering the third.
Many ladies now make their own dresses, and make them well; but where this is not the case, it is cheaper in the long run to have a good material well made than to have it spoiled in the cut and made by an inferior workwoman. Many find it economical to have one good dress every year from a first-class dressmaker: this lasts and makes up again in many new forms, and serves as a model for making others less expensively, either by themselves or by a workwoman. A clever-handed woman can generally make up or trim her own hats and bonnets, and if she carries out the same system of only buying what is really good, and taking care of it, she will find it at the end of the year a really small item in her expenditure. Much depends also on keeping up the supply of underclothing by constant small additions, rather than by allowing them to wear out altogether, when a renewal of the whole stock will form a serious item. Gloves, again, are things which there is no cheapness in buying at a low price; 2 or even 3 of them will wear out before one pair bought at a good shop and at a fair price; by this means they cost far more, and always spoil the whole dress.
Persons of moderate means should as a rule, dress in black, or dark colours, as such are not conspicuous, and consequently do not tell their date as lighter articles do. In selecting a hat or bonnet, be sure to ascertain that the shape suits you, and that it fits your head comfortably. Do not indulge in feathers, still less in flowers, unless your means are such as to enable you to procure the best, as nothing is more vulgar than cheap finery. For a windy day there is nothing half so comfortable as a tightly-fitting toque, but it must be neat and faultlessly made. A well-made toque is graceful, becoming, and comfortable, and, with a neat veil of spotted net closely adjusted over the face and fastened securely behind, will enable the wearer to brave the most stormy elements without fear of having her head-covering blown away or even misplaced. It is a great improvement, if a dark-coloured toque be worn, to stick a bright pin carelessly in front in a slanting direction, as though securing the top of the veil. To a youthful face it is always becoming, as it takes off the too sombre appearance and lightens up the general effect.
Jackets should not be worn quite tight, unless the figure is particularly good, and without this important “unless” Newmarkets should not be worn at all. Better be content with well-made ulsters, except in cases where the figure is slight and graceful, and the purse is long enough to admit of 7 or 8 sovereigns being paid for a tailor-made article. For travelling or walking there are few costumes more comfortable, nor any which look better on young slight figures, than dark green or brown cloth Newmarkets, with felt hats to correspond, and white or light coloured satin scarfs, with gold or pearl pins stuck neatly through. These coats cannot look well if worn over a dress. The following plan is good and extremely simple. Get your tailor, when measuring for your coat, to make you a perfectly close-fitting garment of the same coloured satin—made without ¼ in. of superfluous material—Princesse shaped, the long straight skirt just reaching a shade below the garment to be worn over it, and finished off at the tail with a tiny plaiting of satin, which, appearing from beneath the Newmarket, detracts from the manly appearance of this species of muffle. The advantages are manifold; not having any pouffes behind, the set of the coat is not interfered with; being of a slippery nature the utmost care is experienced in putting on and taking off the covering, and should necessity or inclination call for a removal of the coat, a perfectly neat and becoming garment is visible underneath.
The most economical dress for everyday wear is a dark navy-blue serge, and for evening a good white silk. Morning dresses made with double-breasted bodices are the most becoming, and the warmest; for evening the square-cut bodice and tight elbow-sleeve are the most distingué. Bodices gathered back and front (“shirred”) are very pretty, and suit slight figures well, but should never be worn except by such. Many ladies spoil the fit of their dresses in winter by wearing under-vests. This is a bad habit, as, if the vest be left off of an evening, a cold is sure to follow. It is an excellent plan to tack a piece of soft warm flannel around the back and shoulders of the bodice about midway from the neck, and properly shaped to the lining; this imparts a comfortable warmth, and, as a similar piece can be adjusted to the back of an evening bodice, the danger of cold is obviated.
For wearing around the throat with morning dress plain collars have rather a stiff appearance; tulle or lisse frillings toss immediately, and are unsatisfactory as well as expensive. It is a good plan to purchase a few yards of really good washing lace about 1½ in. deep; a few minutes will quill or plait it; it can then be cut into suitable lengths and tacked around the necks of dresses, being easily removed and renovated when soiled. A piece of soft black Spanish lace, folded loosely around the throat, close to the frilling but below it, looks very well, especially if a natural or good artificial flower be worn amongst the folds. Another effective arrangement can be adopted thus: Buy 3 yd. scarf lace—a good kind, of course—trim the ends with quillings to match, place it around your neck, leaving nearly all the length in your right hand, the end lying upon the left shoulder, being about ½ yd. long. Wind the longer piece twice round the throat, in loose soft folds; and as you will still have 1½ yd. or more to spare, festoon it gracefully in front with the aid of a few concealed pins, and fasten a brooch or flower at the side.
Tan gloves are the best for wear. Long silk mittens are extremely pretty in the evening, and shorter ones midway to the elbow, look nice in the house with the half-long sleeves. To keep the feet warm, wear a pair of soft woollen stockings, with silk ones drawn over. This hint is invaluable to those who ride, as it is not unusual, on hunting days, to experience a severe chill, if riding a tired horse homeward at a slow pace after a hard day. One word about fur-lined cloaks. They seem to be a sort of muffle, quite unsuited for walking, and only fit to be worn as a wrap, in a vehicle, on a cold day. Apparently made for warmth, they let in every breath of chill air, unless held carefully across; and it is not easy thus to hold them, if one has an umbrella or a parcel to carry, or a muff to hold in the hands. Here is a valuable hint. Take the pattern of the sleeves of your Mother Hubbard cloak, and the precise measurement of the spot in which they are placed—copy them exactly, and insert them in the fur-lined mantle, binding the inner edges neatly with ribbon to prevent the fur, which is cut, from coming loose. Then remove the hood, place a neat full frilling of cashmere and satin around the neck, and a full bow, with long ends, at the back. Next put 5 rows of gathers at the back of the waist, to which attach, on the inner side, a band of ½ in. black elastic, with a strong hook and eye. This, when fastened, draws the cloak close to the figure and gives it a becoming shape. The band is preferable to a ribbon-string, as it is more readily adjusted and can never get into a knot. In making the gathers, small fragments of the fur may pull with the thread and show on the outside; these should not be plucked at, but simply blackened over with a little ink. To utilise the hood for going out at night, or for variety to wear with the cloak by day, bind it nicely with black ribbon, leaving long ends for strings to tie in front. The materials required to effect this transformation are: ¾ yd. cashmere, 1 yd. black satin, 5 yd. ribbon for back and sleeve bows, and 3 yd. binding ribbon.
An important consideration is how to dress so as to suit individual peculiarities. Thus, a short stout figure should have perpendicular trimmings to her dress, the eye being thus carried to lines marking the height, not the breadth, of her person. A tall figure, on the contrary, may have bands of trimming or tucks running across the skirt; this reduces the apparent height. Stout people, be they tall or short, should remember that they require almost no trimmings or puffings. They look handsomely dressed in quite a plain garment, if it be well cut and rich in texture. Thin people, on the contrary, take any amount of trimming and puffing to give them a sufficiently clothed appearance. The first study in every case is what is becoming, not what is fashionable. The principal idea should be to attract attention to the wearer, not to the dress.