What Dress Makes of Us | Page 6

that flare horizontally across the hat, diverging from a central knot in the from.
[Illustration: NO. 23]
For the Woman with Tapering Chin.
[Illustration: NO. 24]
The woman who is the exact opposite of the type with the ample lower jaw, but whose chief disadvantage lies in her broad, manly brow and tiny tapering chin, should avoid all horizontal trimmings, bows or broad hat-brims. It is clear, in No. 24, that such trimmings increase the wedge-like appearance of the face and give it the grotesque suggestion of an ordinary flower-pot in which grows a sickly plant. This type can perceptibly improve upon nature by choosing the style of hat and neck-gear shown by No. 25.
[Illustration: NO. 25]
The crinkly ovals that form the brim of the hat, and the soft, graceful arrangement of the hair in front that decreases the too broad effect of the brow, and the full fluffy ruff snuggled up closely to the chin, produce a pleasing transformation of the meagre-looking original that to the uninitiated seems little short of magical. The broad, cravat-like bows, and the flaring ones known as "incroyables," were beneficently wedge-like faces and throats that have lost the seductive curves of youth.
Hat for the Chubby Woman.
[Illustration: NO. 26]
That amiable type of woman formed conspicuously upon the circular plan often unconsciously impresses the fact of her fatal tendency to rotundity by repeating the roundness of her globular eyes, the disk-like appearance of her snub nose and the circle of her round mouth, and the fulness of her face by wearing a little, round hat in the style portrayed by No. 26.
[Illustration: NO. 27]
The curls of her bang, the feathers in her hat, the high collar of her jacket make more significant the fact that her lines are not artistic and that her face is unbeautifully round. She can enhance her charms and apparently decrease the too spherical cut of her countenance by adopting the mode illustrated in No. 27. The angular bows on the hat, the geometric lines of the broad hat-brim, the precise cut of the lapels on the corsage, the neat throat-band and V-shaped vesture--all insinuate in a most engaging way a dignity and fine, high-bred poise totally obliterated by the circular style of dress erroneously adopted by the misguided woman in No. 26.
[Illustration: NO. 28]
For Women Who Have Sharp and Prominent Profiles.
In buying a hat many of the "unfair sex"--as the modern wag dubs the progressive sisters who wish to have all man's rights and privileges and keep their own besides--never seem to consider their heads but from a front point of view. In consequence, as sketch No 28 hints, a head seen from the side frequently appears, if not idiotically, very inartistically, proportioned.
[Illustration: NO. 29]
Occasionally a hat presents as comical an effect in a from as in a side view, as may be seen in No. 29. The wearer was an elderly woman with gray hair which hung down in a half-curled bang on either side of her thin face. Her hat which was simply "dripping" with feathers suggested a fanciful letter "T" and exaggerated the thinness of her face in a remarkably funny way. The feathers overhanging the brim increased the broadness of the hat, and looked singularly waggish fluttering against the spriggy-looking projections of gray hair. The rules for the wedge-shaped face, as may readily be discerned, apply here.
[Illustration: NOS. 30 AND 31]
Women who have sharp and prominently outlined profiles have a curious tendency to choose hats, the brims of which project too far forward in front, and turn up too abruptly and ungracefully in the back.
As shown in No. 30 the protruding brim gives the head and face the unattractive proportions of the capital letter "F." The length of the nose is emphasized by the line of the hat-rim above it and it appears unduly obtrusive. The flat arrangement of the hair and the curve of the hat-brim in the back also exaggerate the obtrusive qualities of the features. By choosing a hat somewhat similar to the one sketched in No. 31, the unattractive sharpness of the profile is modified, and the alert, agreeable quality of the face, that was obscured by the shelf-like brim, becomes apparent. The observer feels, if he does not voice it, that it is a progressive spirit advancing forward instead of an ungainly head-piece that looks like a curious trowel.
For the Woman with an Angular Face.
[Illustration: NOS. 32 AND 33]
The woman with the angular features presented in No. 32 should not wear a sailor-hat or any hat with a perfectly straight rim.
The sailor-hat or any style bordering on it should be selected with utmost discrimination. This mode is unbecoming to a woman more than forty; or, to one who through grief or worry prematurely attains a look of age, or to one whose features are irregular. The