Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1894-09-20
POINTS .IROUT SHOES.
Are You Nico Person According to This
DefiniLiOn2


From the Shoe dealers point of view
feet and footwear arc reliable sources of
Information. A woman walking hetrays
as much Of her real self as a woman
talking; conversation may be and often
Is affected, but it takes clever actress
and q good memory to maintain stage
walk for any length of time. Those
who think the hand an open book
should hear an observing merchant read
character from an old shoe.
Nice people always have nice shoes.
Boots may be clumsy, to resist the de-
mands made upon them, but shoe
should be trim, responsive and neat. A
generation ago gentle-people were
obliged to have their boots and shoes
made to measure. Now goods are made
by machine, turned and finished by
hand, and every length is designed in
eight widths The very choicest materials
are used in the regular stock, the best
skill available is employed, prices are
lower than custom shoemakers can con-
pete with, and novelties are produced for
every style of dress and to suit every
change of fashion. Nice shoes are so
very reasonable that there is no excuse
for ugly shoes.
II is an actual fact that women who
walk well wear out very few shoes.
Heels run down, soles turn, uppers
crack, toes curl, seams break and stock
peels BECAUSE the weight is uneyenly
distributed, the carriage is bad, or on
account of friction. The habit of cross.
ing the feet very soon scuifs the uppers
into shabbiness. Fat women, those who
| hn lind liffl. ftr cultivation and
those who are beginning to get old,
throw the weight OF the body back;
they run down, so to speak and require
an extra allowance of heel leather.
Military, athletic and aesthetic training
may be paid for with the savings in
footwear, and in very short while.
A shapely foot may be deformed by
| the dressing. There is so much art in
the trade nowadays that deformities are
often almost entirely concealed. An
ugly foot, well dressed, is nothing to be
ashamed Of, while cramped foot pro-
claims the vulgar taste of the individual
who selected the shoes. Gentlewomen
and gentlemen wear their honors and
belongings with unconscious grace; it is
| impossible to be graceful in pinching
boot or shoe. The average capacity for
suffering is very limited, and the big
feet that force themselves into little
shoes deceive no one but their owner.
new shoe has no place in perfect
toilet. New shoes or new slippers worn
with full dress betray poverty of taste.
| Unless glove-leather or siiken textures
are used footwear should have the easy
graces of possession worn into them.
Fine shoes are like smell combs and
beautiful rugs; age improves them.
Leather boots and shoes should be
s.pt on trees. Knocking about is worse
for stock than walking, as the beauty OF
i finish and form is lost If the expense
Of trees is inconvenient, fill the shoes
with bran or paper. In cold weather and
very hot weather good leather should be
oiled to keep it from cracking Ameri-
cans are notorious for the fine shoes
they abuse In season. Everybody who
pretends TO dress well wears good shoes
but the shoes that show good care arc
exceptional. Men as class have better.
dressed feet than women.
Given half u dozen pairs of boots and
shoes to begin with pair Of feet might
be beautifully dressed on $25 year. l,
is economy to have three or four pair oi
shoes in use at Il time. Changing the
shoes saves them and saves the feet and
rests the nervous system.
Black shoes make tho feet appear
smaller; they also make the individual
look shorter. A man is never bigger
than in light clothes and brown boot:
or white high bows. Few of the bipedi
and quadrupeds have black stockings
Black cats, dogs and furbearing animal:
are seldom fitted with black spats
Mountains, trees, waders, birds, horse
and cattle have gray fest.