The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-02-23
Advice to Plain Women.

The American Queen.
Let her whom her sisters call ugly examine
herself coolly. She must have some points
Besides her plain and shapeless face. has she an
ill-shapen hand! a figure that no corset will i'm
prove! u foot that dishcartens every bootmakerl
Can the dress-maker do nothing for her? Can
not this ugly quality be concealed, that subdued,
something else less offensive brought forward .
little? Can the dentist do nathing for those
yellow fangs, the scissors for those nailsl Can
not some little artful pad equalize those crooked
shoulders-some raised heel that limping gait
some oculist that painful, s~pasmodic o~bliquity
of visionl Some powder, wash, or paint Qet us
call a spade a spade)-that last resource of un-
bearable misfortune-cannot some paint cover
that purple stain, that frightEul scar on cheek
and neckl
N woman is ugly when she is dressed, " said
the gallant Lord Chesterfield. Nor IS any bird
with its plumage. Bal pluck it! Pluck the bird
of paradise Itself. and learn a lesson-that re
noWned fowl owes everything to its dress, and
We cannot say that of humanity, however i'll
favored. Our gifts are manifold, our chances
various, and our hopes endless. 1t should not
be beneath us to attend to our plumage, and all
the other little niceties that add so much to the
enjoyment of life.
A plain woman with any wisdom willmake the
most or any good point IN her physique and as
little as she can Of her worst points. For in
stance, it she has q bad, coarse complexion, she
will not exhibit more square feet of the material
than are needful. Square Ieet? nay, nor square
inches. She WIZ not wear low dresses, nor very
short sleeves. She will carefully select hues in
dress that improve. E0tinjure, her own natural
coloring, and will wear dresses high to
the throat; just enough trimmed with
lace to give richness, without confusion,
to the lines of her toilet. Nor viii she
wear that lace quite white. Only against an
ivory skin does quite white lace tell prettay. A
woman with a poor complexion win lint her lace
with brown tea and coffee are good dyesl, or
with the predominant colors in her dress. Thus
she will get the softening effects of broken colors
at the edges, without the risk of calling atten-
ton to her own blemishes.
A very brown woman, however, may make
her dark skin point" Then she will use white
lace, and all colors that enhance her own deep
coloring.
A plain woman with a bad figure can adopt
many little harmless devices-at least as harm
less as borrowed locks and teeth which no one
now condemns. She can borrow a little embon-
point from the friendly cotton tree; she can
swathe in a handsome sleeve the too thin arm or
too sharp shoulder which detracts from any lin
gering merit she may have. She can hide her
long, ~ungainly figure with a short, classical
waist; or she can mend the chuFn-like shape with
a corset only sufficient to induce a feminine
curve. A thin arm may be hidden by a richly
draped sleeve, Or improved by thickly lining q
close one. A shoulder too low may be mended
by a sBillful puff or epaulet; one too high by a
trimming so placed so as to carry the eye away
from the upper part.