What Dress Makes of Us | Page 7

straight brim across the face is very trying. It casts a shadow deepening the "old marks" and instead of being a frame to set off, it seems to cut off, the face at an inartistic angle.
The woman with angular features, as may be seen by No. 33, can wear with impunity, and always should wear, a hat the brim of which is waved, turned, twisted, or curved in graceful lines. The uneven brim of her hat makes an effective complement to the angularity of her chin, which is further softened by the feathery ruff that encircles her throat. The curves of the ostrich plumes, and the studied carelessness of the arrangement of her coiffure, subdue the angles of her face which are brought out in unbecoming prominence by the sailor-hat.
Women Who should Not Wear Horns.
The velvet horns on either side of a hat, the steeple-like central adornments that were once much in favor, and the Mercury wings that ornament the coiffure for evening dress, produce some startling, disagreeable, and amusing effects not altogether uninteresting to consider.
Faces in which the eyes are set too near the forehead acquire a scared look by being surmounted by a bonnet upon which the trimming gravitates to a point in an arrangement not unsuggestive of a reversed fan, horns, or a steeple.
The most unpleasing developments result from the wearing of the horn-like trimmings either in velvet or jet. If the face above which they flare has less of the spiritual than the coarse propensities in it, the grotesque turns and twists in the head-gear emphasize the animality in the lines characteristic of low-bred tendencies, and the whole countenance is vulgarized. One face acquires the look of a fox, another of a certain type of dog, and so on.
The most amusing exaggerations of distinctive facial lines are produced by Mercury wings. The good-natured woman of the familiar type depicted in No. 34 brings every bovine attribute of her placid countenance into conspicuous relief by surmounting her face with the wings of the fleet-footed god. The cow-like form and serenity of her features are made laughably obvious.
[Illustration: NO. 34]
Short, delicately-faced women can adorn their coiffures with Mercury wings with most charming results. Wings, or perpendicular bows, add length to the lines of the short face, giving it a certain suggestion of refinement and distinction that is wholly destroyed by the wearing of any trimmings that show at the sides.
NO MATTER WHAT THE PREVAILING STYLE THESE RULES MAY BE PRACTICALLY APPLIED.
CHAPTER III.
LINES THAT SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED AND CONSIDERED IN MAKING COSTUMES.
Mme. La Mode, much misrepresented as are all who are embarrassed with world-wide popularity always considers when designing fashions that women vary in form, as in mood. She suits all needs, although this fact has never been cast to her credit. With a beautiful sense of adjustment--as obvious as that in Nature, that projects the huge watermelon to ripen on a slender vine on the ground and swings a greengage plum on the stout stem of a tree to mature in storm or shine--Mme. La Mode, arbiter of styles, balances her fashions.
Never came the big hat without the small bonnet. Accompanying the long cloak is the never-failing short cape. Side by side may be found the long coat and the short, natty jacket. This equilibrium in wearing apparel may be traced through all the vagaries of fashion.
Everybody's need has been considered, but everybody has not considered her need.
The short, stout woman passes by the long coat better adapted to her and seizes a short jacket--a homeopathic tendency of like suiting like, sometimes efficacious in medicine, but fatal in style.
Style for Tall Slender Woman.
The very tall, slender woman frequently ignores a jaunty jacket and takes a long coat like that shown in No. 36.
To even the sluggish fancy of an unimaginative observer she suggests a champagne bottle, and to the ready wit she hints of no end of amusing possibilities for caricature.
The very tall woman should know that long lines from shoulder to foot give height, and she must discerningly strive to avoid length of line in her garments until she dons the raiment of the angels.
[Illustration: NOS. 36 AND 37]
Horizontal lines crossing the figure seem to decrease height, and should be used as much as possible in the arranging and trimming of the tall woman's garments.
By selecting a shorter coat equally modish, as shown by No. 37, the too tall woman shortens her figure perceptibly.
The belt cuts off from her height in a felicitous way, and the collar, also horizontal, materially improves the size of her throat. The high collar, such as finishes the coat, in No. 36, adds to the length. Those who have too long arms can use horizontal bands on sleeves most advantageously.
The Coat the Short Stout Woman should Wear.
The short jacket that so graciously