This Department is conducted in the interest of Girls and Young Women, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on the subject so far as possible. Correspondents should address Editor.
Is it right to care about one's clothes, and to like to have pretty and becoming things? Why, of course it is not only right, but a positive duty to have one's wardrobe in good order, and to wear colors and shapes which suit one's style and complexion. The girls for whom I write are old enough to take intelligent interest in their clothes; some of them may even buy their own materials, and cut and make their every-day frocks and waists for themselves. Every girl should understand the principles of dress-making, so that she may know how much stuff needs to be used in a gown, and regulate for herself the sort of trimming which will finish her costume appropriately.
Growing girls do not need many dresses at once. A pretty toilette for best, which may at this season be of wool crépon or of summer silk, and a serviceable frock of serge or some other strong woollen stuff for every-day and roughing occasions, will meet the requirements of ordinary life. A girl should have besides these, for summer, one or two dainty ginghams simply made, a half-dozen shirt waists, four of linen or percale, and two of silk, and a white gown either of Swiss muslin or China silk. A sailor hat for common use, a wide-brimmed picture hat for very best, and a jaunty little toque will be enough in the way of covering for the head, and she will be wise to have, if she can, several pairs of shoes. It is economy to have duplicates of one's shoes and boots, as these last much longer when frequently changed and relieved. For tramping about the roads and hills one needs, as also for the city promenade, an absolutely comfortable walking boot, with broad soles, low heels, and a shape that fits the foot to perfection. Too loose a shoe is as disagreeable and as bad for the foot of its wearer as one which is too tight. A dress boot may be of cloth and patent-leather or of soft kid. Let me insist, girls, on your keeping your boots in order, so far as the buttons are concerned. Nothing gives one so careless an appearance as a boot from which buttons have fallen.
Gloves should be kept in order just as shoes are. As they are a very expensive part of one's outfit, one should care for them nicely. In taking off your gloves, pull them from the top downwards, so that they are wrong side out when they come off. Straighten them at your leisure, and keep your very best when not in use folded up in tissue-paper, and in a box. Chamois gloves are nice for every day, and have the advantage of standing a good deal of rough wear. They are to be preferred for gardening, driving, rowing, and sweeping. I take it that among you are many girls who sweep their own rooms, and do not wish to have hands blistered from the broom.
Reject any soap or washing compound that will cleanse without an expenditure of time and labor. "What is well done is done soon enough," and Ivory Soap will do the work as quickly as it can be done with safety.