DRESS:
IN SEASON
AND
IN REASON.
By
A LADY DRESSMAKER.
ON THE MEER.
Just at the present writing we are in the middle of the sales, which now seem to be carried on far into the month of February, at many of the shops, and certainly appear to offer each year more and more benefits to the purchaser of goods. But it must be understood that the said purchaser have her wits about her, and know what she wants. This last is the case with very few women who are not very methodical in their purchases of dress, and very rarely make their plans far ahead. This is explained, first, by their slavish adherence to the ephemeral fashions of the day, and also by their being led so much by the eye, and buying things they fancy, not the things that are really suitable or needful to them. There are few women who dress on any plan of what is most becoming to their individual style, or most lasting, with a view to their particular purses; and the longer I live the more convinced I am that it needs special qualifications to be a “shopper” of any ability; the greatest requisite of all being a cool, calm head; and, if you have children to cater for besides yourself, the power to make a plan and stick to it. It is wonderful how much you find to help you when you once do this, or how easily everything arranges itself.
“But,” says someone, helplessly, “how am I to know what to wear or what my style is? Where am I to find rules to guide me?” In the present day we seem to have two rules, both of which are comparatively easy. The first is that the complexion is to be the guide as to the colours worn, while the second is that the eyes shall perform that office for us. Where there is a poor complexion, the first rule may be followed, but where the eyes are good, I think the last is decidedly the best. For instance, the many women who possess good eyes of a greenish or decidedly green hue will look best in olive, bottle, or very dark Tyrolese green—called sometimes a “hunter’s green,” having much blue in it; and the large army of women with yellowish-brown eyes look best in shades of yellowish-brown. The same may be said of blue eyes, which are changed into a hue like spring violets by a judiciously-chosen blue of a dark shade. Grey eyes which verge on blue may also wear blue; but the blue must be of the shade called “royal,” as a blue with no reflections will not answer.
For very dark women and girls with good clear skins, there is a large amount of choice in colour—red, orange, and yellows, as well as black, grey, and navy blue. But if the skin be sallow and dull, she may use dark and light reds—no blues nor greens. White and primrose-colour are likewise generally becoming to them. Fair-skinned people may wear browns, blues, and pinks, as well as green.
But after all, the great thing, it seems to me, is to be able to choose for one’s self; and thus to avoid either the extreme of fashion or the fear of dowdiness; and the taste of the Englishwoman seems generally to turn to quiet, neat styles. It is to her good taste and sense that we owe most of the best fashions of the day—the tailor-made, neat dress of tweed cheviot or woollen material; the sensible coloured under-petticoat, dark stockings, and the comfortable ulster.
So far as hygienic dress is concerned, the rules of that are fairly fixed now, and most women and girls have decided in favour of the tight-fitting, elastic woollen combinations, either of Dr. Jæger’s make, or of some English firm. Add to that the divided skirt, made of black cashmere or serge, and lined with flannel for winter use, as the sole needful under-garments for the cold weather. As to the stays, they may be the new knitted ones of Jæger’s make; the low riding-corsets, or else a boned bodice made of jean, and modelled like the dress-bodice, to fit without squeezing or tightening in. So long as the divided skirt is used as an under-skirt, no objection can be taken to it, as it does not show at all. The dress above should be made short enough not to require lifting, however muddy the roads and pavements; and it is decidedly the most comfortable garment ever invented in that capacity.
