Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-06-07
A SCHOOL GIRLS DRESS.

hair ribbons and belts.
"0nce your wardrobe Is supplied
with what is comfortable and you
have equipped yourself with a golf
cape, a rain-coat and a sailor hat, you
are ready for every occasion"
For receptions and commence
ments and Sunday evenings at homer"
queried Jessie, her dimples playing
hide and seek as she archly glanced
at me.
81 beg your pardon" I answered.
"a girl does need n or two dainty
frocks for evening wear and they
should preferably be white. The
simpler they are the nor suitable
they are sure to be. A great many
tucks, puffs, rufles and lace inser-
lions are misplaced in a girls dress
while she is yet in her teens. There
may be, of course, some unobtrusive
decorations, but not very much is
needed for she herself sets Of her
gown. l like to think, too, that a girl
who is growing up takes a little time
now and then to bestow attention on
the laundress who has to wash and
iron the dainty muslins that are so
elaborate and so beautifully finished
with lace edges and delicate en-
broideries.
"a girl who has once or twice done
her own laundry work, washed and
ironed a white muslin gown, or a duck
skirt, will know by experience that
it is far from easy work, and she will
be somewhat more careful about fire.
quently sending it to the tub, than
her friend who has had no such per-
sonal knowledge of the labor in.
volved."
No young girl has the slightest oc-
casion to worry about her figure if
only she has a dress that fits her
comfortably, if she stands up straight
throwing back her shoulders and hold
ing up her head. The figure will take
care of itself. Health is the great
beautiier and sensible dress is for
young people its best ally.
Fortunately for young girls, there is
no question about the length of their
skirts. o everyday veal frocks
that reach the ankle, are comfortable
and insure ease in walking, and i'm
munity from contact with mud and
dirt. For functions such as Jessie re-
ferred to in her naive question about
receptions and Sunday evenings, a
girls best gown while she is in her
teens may be instep length. Girls
never wear trailing skirts in these
days. An excellent adjunct to clean
illness, comfort and health is a whisk
broom or a clothes-brush %scrupulous-
ly used every time a dress is taken off.
If we would carefully brush our
clothes and shake them out of an open
window before hanging them in clos
cts or wardrobes, we should rid our
selves Of the danger of germs that
may have lurked in outside dust.
Girls should be grateful that their
lot Is cast in the twentieth century.
An eighteenth century girl, or one born
in the early nineteenth, wore a short
wasted frock with the skirt beginning
under the arm-pits. 1t was of cling
ing stuff and swept the floor as she
walked. Her shoes were thin slip
pers without heels held on by strings
crossed over the instep and around the
ankles. On her head she often wore
a construction Of muslin and wire that
was half turban and half cap. Her
sleeves were short and her dresses
half low at the neck, as a rule. Do you
not think that you are much better
dressed than she was, both for health
and beauty?
Copyright, 1906, by Joseph B. Bowles.)