The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-05-20
for dWnrneu.

- NSal-lS.
but she wasn't extravagant. I have
come to the belief hat she was wise.
l mad been brought up with the s.besi
sonaay-go-to-meeting frock" idea (not an
~teaching). and had hung that
best away from week to week only to
wear on special occasions. therefore NV
friend seemed extravaganza.
Today most women have discovered
the wisdom of wearing their clothes ont
before the whiriigig of fashion swings
about.
Who knows the fashions future? Wear
We'll what you have today,
Since women lead such an omen air ex-
istence as they do today the best gown
should serve many purposes, ana when
once decided on should be given excel
lent service.
| knew a girl who paid s65 for a very
smart frock of wool and silk in the
spring OF 's6. 1t had a full godetted
skirt. broad collar and other of the fash
lens then in fun swing. She liked that
frock, and she liked it so well that she
Kept 1t. for most of the time, hung in
the closet with a sheet above it to keep
out the dust.
Matinees, little calls, informal lunch
cons, would occur and we would say,
Why don't you wear thai frock?' "Ohi
l want to keep it for best, and this other
one will do"
This went on from Easter. This sea-
son she got the frock out, and the dress
maker said: Il positively don't see how
l can ever bring that circular skirt of
eight yards into the new affair, for, you
know, the new ones are only four and
~one-auarter yards. and they have not a
particle of fullness in the front and on
the hips. l can't just do it."
So
They worked over that skirt n bod
ice. the whole family; even the son, who
was a mathematician. was called in to
help. And now; my friend has decided
that. after all, it will only make a neat
second dress, for it can never be brought
into today's fashions with any degree of
an air.
told You so'' when you Were saving it
last spring? For, I had only gained my
knowledge and was not charitably dis
posed.
And she signs when she thinks of the
dozens of time when she might nave
looked SO attractive last season at all
those small affairs. if she had only worn
that best" frocki
Take her experience as advice. If you
have a new spring frock this season,
wear it constantly; don't save it. You
have the frock, and you have the season,
so be seen with it on every available oc-
casion.
Don't wear it when 1t isn't suitable,
and to avoid this. don't have it made
too fancy.
When a woman wears a too elaborate
gown on a very simple occasion I always
think she has few social opportunities.
-.
By making your gown serve a daily,
instead of a weekly. purpose, you get
full value of your money.
When next spring comes and you over
look your wardrobe, if you find the '97
gown too far behind in fashion to serve
as best again, YOU can have the very
gratifying satisfaction hat you gave it
a fair showing this season. and got its
worth.
Our grandmothers n great-grand-
mothers. and grandmothers still greater,
says "Harper's Bazaar" spun and wove
and knit and patched and darned and
mended Every garment was altered and
Atult-eu anu GhSu Out Win ADDITIONS to
rtil other needs. In the scarcity of ma
feerial all this painstaking work was nee
essary to the comfort of the family. This
was the true saving and economical age,
say its praisers. Then lived women real
ly thrifty.
But machinery, labor-saving utensils,
shortcuts in work. and newe ideas of
living changed all this. Women took
: time to think out new ways of beautify-
ing their homes and adjoining their fami-
lies. They still saved and economical in
small ways to produce the best results
with limited means. Cozier homes, better
clothes, and more comfortable living were
attained. The most economical woman
was she who got the best value in coats
for the lowest price, not she who patched
a coat to last the longest time. The
manager, not the member, was the thrifty
woman.
And behold the Kaleidoscope of the
times has turned again, and a new ideal
of thrift is presented to us. Social econ
omy, keeping pace with enlarged oppor-
~tunities and greater wealth, tells US that
the right of way is to spend and use, in
stead of to save, our means and material.
The best economy refuses to hoard, but
aims to distribute wealth and opportuni-
ties among all. We are to plan and
scheme to spend, for only this is true
humanitarianism.
Keeping step with this idea, and right
in line with it, is the thought of the mod
ern thrifty woman that her duty has
become to make more material, rather
than to save what She already has. She
employs another woman to do the work
she does not care to do, and takes up a
more congenial task, thereby getting the
money to pay the woman she employs.
So she is not a producer only, but has
made two workers where before there
was but one, and that one unpaid. And
surely she who a~ccornplishes this feat
is as great a helper to humanity as the
"two-blades-of-grass' creator could be.
This is the most modern thrift. 1t
seeks TO create paid work, and so COM
fort, for all. It promotes congenial en-
ployment. 1t helps each worker to find
a place in the working world. And in
pursuit of these things 1T no longer seeks
to save the old in ideas or materials, but
continually drops it to give place to the
new.
But still, so fast has become the pace,
so far ahead mentally vs. can now see
our way beyond our actual achievements,
thai here and there are still left some of
the old style of thrifty folk, exclaiming,
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