The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-12-27

the best front seats; they jam in close
together. and they spend the entire even
| ing trying to get one good. honest peep
| at the stage over the shoulders of the
| fortunate ladies.
| With all this drawback, don't. my dear
ladies, beg of you, add to their misery
by wearing the biggest and most splendid
headgear that you possess. Don't wear
any hat at ALL
When dining at a public restaurant in
a small party. with perhaps theater en-
gagement afterwards. hats for women are
not only permissible but requisite. When
dining in a large party as guests of one
| host and hostess, or in a private dining
room, then no hats and full dress.
Here are few safe maxims on the dress
question:
| Formal evening dress means tailed coat.
white waistcoat. white tie and gloves for
men: deeollets bodice and all the Jewels
one owns for women.
Informal evening dress means Tuxedo
coat and black tie for men, without
gloves; and a high-necked bodice. with
| few jewels and hat or not, as the occa-
| sion demands, for women.
At theater wear formal evening dress
IL you sit in box or with party in the
best seats. In any other position wear in
formal dress.
| At private dinner given at hotel
wear formal evening dress Dinners at
| private residences always demand the
| same costume.
At church wedding, with the ceremony
| at o'clock and the reception at 6. wear
formal evening dress.
| At house wedding in the evening only
| formal evening dress is at all permissible.
| q saw too many hats to count at the
Rearden-Kemey wedding).
/ At card party, small and clublike in
its appointments, wear informal evening
dress.
At large evening reception, given at
| private house, club. hotel etc, hesitate
not. and wear formal evening dress. CThe
memory of that Nashville reception and
the men and women that saw in black
skirts and silk waists. frock coats and
| colored neckties. will never be quite eff
! faced3
AS host and hostess Of any little enter
tainment, under your own roof. after dark,
wear Informal dress.
At all afternoon affairs that are dis
tinctly during the hours of afternoon, with
| no iap-oyer into the evening, wear frock
| coats and light trousers, with white waist
coats, and either pearl gray or white puff
| and scarf ties. with gloves to correspond
for men; and informal evening dress,
which may be construed into handsome
| reception costume with hats for the wom-
| en-.
asked man who lived in st. Louis
| several years ago and who has just re-
turned after a period of New York and
| Boston life to tell me what he thought
| of st. Louis dress costumes
"St. Louis people dress more and dress
more suitably than they did four or five
years ago. The change is very marked
in general way. But there is always
this criticism to make Of the West, that
man who Is dressed in absolutely cor
rect fashion; with every detail of his at
tire in perfect style, Is conspicuous when
he goes into a public place where he is
likely to be seen by persons of all classes.
hear the girls say the same thing, that
they would often like to wear what is
known as full dress more often than they
do and when the occasion would demand it
In the East, but that they do not care to
lay themselves liable to criticism from
unthinking people by so wearing In
New York you can put on your glad rags
| and nobody gives you second glance.
| You are only one Of hundreds In the
same Costume. You can't do that In st.
Louis
Now take one article of mems dress
| which came out year ago in the East,
the single-breasted frock coat known as
the walking coat. wouldn't dare wear
that in the afternoons here in St Louis.
Why, every Tom. Dick and Harry in the
street cars, or on the avenues would turn
round. point and no doubt grin Yet you
see hundreds of them on Boston and
other Eastern city streets. They, are
worn much more than the frock coats.
which by the way one can put on now
in this city without causing very much
comment from the passerby, though he
doesn't dare wear 1t Off the main Streets
.Of course, we all realize that the men
and women who dress well In the East
have in nearly every case made their
money and are now in the full enjoymen.
! thereof. Those of us who belong to the
West are still at the dollar proposition or
IL we have gotten together some few
shelels We have not belonged to a fam
lily of money-spenders long enough to
know how to get the most from the ex-
penditure. The st. Louis people work the
hardest for their fun of any people have
ever seen. In most cases they don't actu-
ally know how TO derive enjoyment even
from spending money. They do certain
things and they spend certain amounts be-
cause other people do It. not because those
ways Of pleasure individually appeal to
them. The wearing OF clothes comes under
this head most emphatically.
Democratic rule prevails in st. Louis on
mems costume, find. In the East nobody
I thinks of ever wearing Tuxedo when
J women are to be present. At tho theaters
only fun drcss Is permissible when women