The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1889-06-07
90 :
A TALK ON DRESS.
why II Does Not Pay to Buy Goods just
Because They Are Cheap.

why II Does Not Pay to Buy Goods just
because They Are Cheap.
In the first place. always buy the
best of every thing. 1t costs more in
the first place. of course. but is cheap
err in the end. Let me prove it to
you. We will say you wish to buy an
ordinary wooden dress. You see two
pieces of cloth, one twilled flannel
at fifty cents, and the other a soft
cashmere at eighty cents. You say
you can not afford the latter price, SO
you buy eight yards of flannel, paying
five dollars for having it made up, the
total cost being nine dollars. After
wearing it month or so you find that
it knots up in ugly little rolls, catch
ing every particle of dust and lint, and
the more you brush it the rougher it
gets. After awhile, however, these
little knots wear away, and leave
thin, coarse, sleazy foundation, which
soon gives out at the elbows and
seams. In four months your dress is
fit for nothing but the rag bag, and you
are obliged to get another. paying
another five dollars for having it made
up. Thus your dresses alone in four
months have cost you eighteen dol
lars. On the contrary, the cashmere,
which would cost a total of eleven dol
lars and forty cents in the first place,
would. with reasonable care, last you
fully year, shedding dust and dirt
like silk, and always looking bright
and fresh. And when no longer fit
for you it would make over into nice
little play dress for your six-year-old.
Do you not agree with me now that
the best is the cheapest? l have seen
women going around in dingy, faded
dresses, apolOgizing for their appear
apce by saying: My dress is just a
cheap thing, you know, part cotton,
and it has faded dreadfully; but !
couldn't afford any thing better!"
tell you that you can not afford to buy
any thing which is cheap! You will
surely lose in the end, and will be
obliged to wear faded and shabby
clothes in the meantime
In the second place, dress plainly.
1t is for the wealthy to wear trim
mirgi and jet and beads and gimp and
fandangoes. These are all very beau
tiful and becoming when one can af-
ford to buy the best; but to copy them.
as you must, in cheaper goods and
materials, they are worse than moth
ing. Because you admire a set of Rus
sian sable, worn by a daughter of Cree
sus, as she rolls by in her carriage,
don't spend your precious ten dollars
in initiating it in monkey skin. 1t de-
ceives no one, and only makes you
ridiculous. A bit of real sealskin
around your neck, or soft, velvety OF
ter, would be far prettier. A long
time ago l went to buy muff and the
salesman persuaded me into taking a
black fox skin at dolla~, assuring
me that mo one could tell it from the
genuine lynx" The idea of having a
muff which every one would think
was lynx pleased by my girlish van
ity q was younger then, dear sisters),
and | bought it. / had carried it just
six weeks when the fur began to come
out, and l soon found that my precious
LYNX" muff was slowly growing bald!
| could not afford another; so, in
despair, [ bought bit of black
astrachan for forty cents Git only re-
quired quarter of a yard), made a
little cover, and slipped my poor muff
inside. A coquettish little knot of
cherry colored ribbon. peeping out
from one of the holes, kept it from be-
ing too sOmber, and in this way | have
carried it for two winters, and am BE-
| ginning to fear that am doomed to
carry it yet a third. as it is just as
| good as ever. | learned lesson,
| however. which / shall never forget
tina, it is far wiser and more satisfac-
tory to buy a more modest material,
and have it the best of its
kind, than to spend the same
amount of money on a cheap
imitation of something that is
far beyond our reach. Let alone cheap
things of all kinds! A tawdry bit OF
| gilt lace or tin;el never improves a
dress, but rather stamps the wearer as
shabby-genteel. A plain. dark dress,
neatly made and fitted, and finished
simply by dainty white ruffle al
neck and wrists, looks far more lady
like than one decked out with chear
ornamention. If,this seess too severe
ly plain and somber to suit your
fancy. twenty-five cents invested in
some becoming ribbon, to give you a
touch of brightness, will not be spent
amiss. But before | leave this sub
lect | will merely remind you tina,
the world of fashion is beginning to
realize the beauty of simplicity, and
some of the most elegant and expen-
sive dresses worn by the bellies oil
Fifth avenue are the tailor-made
gowns, almost Quakerish in their
plainness, worn with linen collar and
cuffs. Minneapolis Housekeeper
|