GOOD LINES FOR STOUT FIGURES
Plaids and Figured Materials
Our stores in the early spring and summer show such fascinating plaid and figured materials that I feel their use should be considered. Almost everyone has fallen a victim to a wonderfully colored plaid on display, to discover later that buying a plaid is a much simpler matter than making it into a dress. Plaids are fatal for stout people. Area is the impression always created by them and unless the pattern is very small and the colors very soft and indefinite, they should be reserved for the use of children and young girls. There is no colored costume that will make a woman more conspicuous than one made of a large black-and-white plaid material.
In selecting a pattern for a girl’s plaid dress care should be used to secure one with as few seams as possible. Every seam is a danger zone. Only persons with great poise and power of concentration, if they notice their surroundings at all, will be able to remain unaffected by a conspicuous seam when the plaids “don’t hit.” Some plaids are designed so that it is very difficult to match the pattern in the seams of the skirt or a stretched selvedge will add to the difficulty. A gored skirt pattern making bias seams necessary should never be used for plaid material. Arm holes and shoulder seams should be carefully planned. A kimona sleeve simplifies the arm-hole problem but will not prove so satisfactory in a wash dress. Plain material, either white or colored, makes a happy combination with plaids or figured material.
The accompanying designs are particularly becoming to slender girls. The wide soft belts and collars and the contrasting materials in the sleeves will seemingly add weight to slender young figures. In planning tucks and band trimming for a skirt the result will be much more pleasing if variety is used in the width of the bands and the spaces between the bands.