What Dress Makes of Us | Page 2

Tall Women
CHAPTER IV.
HOW PLUMP AND THIN BACKS SHOULD BE CLOTHED
CHAPTER V.
CORSAGES APPROPRIATE FOR WOMEN WITH
UNBEAUTIFULLY MODELLED THROATS AND SHOULDERS

CHAPTER VI.
HINTS ON DRESS FOR ELDERLY WOMEN
CHAPTER VII.
HOW MEN CARICATURE THEMSELVES WITH THEIR
CLOTHES

WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US.
* * * * *
CHAPTER I.
HOW WOMEN OF CERTAIN TYPES SHOULD DRESS THEIR
HAIR.
The pleasing, but somewhat audacious statement of the clever writer
who asserted, "In the merciful scheme of nature, there are no plain
women," is not as disputable as it may seem. Honest husbands, to be
sure, greet the information with dissenting guffaws; gay deceivers
reflect upon its truth by gallantly assenting to it, with a mocking little
twinkle in their eyes; and pretty women, upon hearing it, remark
sententiously "Blind men and fools may think so." Discerning students
of womankind, however, know that if every woman would make the
best of her possibilities, physically, mentally, and spiritually, it would
be delightfully probable that "in the merciful scheme of nature" there
need be no plain women.
Have we not Lord Chesterfield's word for it, that "No woman is ugly
when she is dressed"?
It is no unworthy study to learn to make the best of, and to do justice to,
one's self. Apropos of this, to begin--where all fascinating subjects
should begin--at the head, it behooves every woman who wishes to

appear at her best, to study the modelling of her face that she may
understand both its defective and perfect lines. By a proper
arrangement of her hair a woman can do much to obscure or soften her
bad features, and heighten the charm of her good ones.
Romancers have written, and poets have sung, of the bewitchment in
nut-brown locks, golden tresses, and jetty curls. Every woman, if so
inclined, may prove for herself the transfiguring effect in a becoming
coiffure. In fact, the beauty of a woman's face and her apparent age are
greatly affected by the way she wears her hair.
A most important detail that too few consider, is, the proper direction in
which to comb the hair. Women literally toss their tresses together
without any attention to the natural inclination of the individual strands
or fibres. They comb their hair "against the grain." Those who do so
never have beautifully and smoothly arranged coiffures. Each little
hirsute filament has a rebellious tendency to go in the direction nature
intended it should, and refuses to "stay where it is put," giving the head
in consequence, an unkempt and what is termed an "unladylike"
appearance. The criss-cross effect resulting from combing and
arranging the hair contrary to "the grain" is conspicuously apparent in
the coiffure of no less a personage than Eleanora Duse, who, as may be
seen from the picture, pays little attention to the natural tendency of the
dark tresses that cover her shapely head. The bang has the dishevelled
appearance of a pile of jack-straws. The side-locks instead of being
combed or brushed to follow the contour of the head, fall loosely and
fly in opposite directions.
[Illustration: NO. 2]
The difference in appearance between the women of the smart sets in
America and those of less fashionable circles is due, in a great measure,
to the beautifully dressed coiffures of the former. A hair-dresser
arranges, at least once a week, the hair of the modish woman if her
maid does not understand the art of hair-dressing. Many women of the
wealthy world have their maids taught by a French coiffeur.
A wise woman will adopt a prevailing mode with discretion, for, what

may be essentially appropriate for one, may be fatally inappropriate for
another. In adjusting her "crown of glory" a woman must consider the
proportions of her face. She should be able to discern whether her eyes
are too near the top of her head or, too far below; whether she has a
square or wedge-shaped chin; a lean, long face, or a round and
bountifully curved one. She should be alert to her defects and study
never to emphasize nor exaggerate them.
Why, through stupidity or carelessness, make a cartoon of yourself,
when with a proper appreciation of your possibilities you can be a
pleasing picture? It is just as glorious to be a fine picture or a poem as it
is to paint the one, or write the other. Indeed, a woman who
harmoniously develops the best within her has the charm of an
exquisite poem and inspires poets to sing; and if by the grace and
beauty of her dress she enhances her natural endowments and makes
herself a pleasing picture, the world becomes her debtor.
In the important matter of becomingly arranging the hair, the following
sketches and suggestions may hint to bright, thinking, women what
styles to