Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-22
FIRST FORMAL DINNER
Etiquette Young Girl Should
Follow.

The etiquette for guests at dinner is 60
clearly defined that there is no reason for
any one laundering, and 1 am delighted 70
help put you right
The invitation to a dinner should bo an
sWered Immediately, either accepted or re-
sretteu' as one Is or is not going Should
the invitation come in the third person II
IS OF course, answered in the same way:
Dut II IL takes the form of a note In the
first person similar form is returned.
For formal dinner a decollete frock is
necessary. for 1t Is taken for granted that
no girl too young to wear one is invited ar
such time. The hair should he nretti1y
done, and a hair ornament of some sort
II only a rosette or flower is almost as nee
essary these days as gloves.
AS for the gloves, they are put on before
leaving home, and they are not removed
until seated at the dinner table
On entering the drawing room when ar
irving one greets the hostess and host, and
if one Is not acquainted with the other
guests one or more is presented The Eng
lish fashion of not presenting guests has
never taken here except with a few ultra
mondanes.
One is supposed to arrive for a dinner
not more than five minutes before, and on
the buffers announcing it the hostess
deSignates which gentleman Is to take
each lady to the table, and he gives his
right arm. on which she lays her hand. He
seats her at dinner.
1t is not until after she is seated that she
takes off her gloves, and she may suit her
self in doing this. That is TO say she may
pull them off entirely, or if she prefers
may simply pull off the hand part and fold
it back into the wrist. In case woman
has thin or homely arms this is an ex-
cellent way of hiding them, but if her arms
are pretty there is no need for covering
them.
A womans success as a diner-out de-
ponds largely upon her tact in talking with
two different men, for she is supposed to
converse with those who sit either side of
her. In the scarcity of men who are good
dinerS-out it rarely falls to the lot of a
woman to have two who are amusing or
entertaining to talk with, and she is not to
monopoIze the only one who is, so that the
woman on the other side has no opportun-
ity TO talk with him. She is supposed to
talk most with the man who has taken her
to the table, but the one on the other side
is not to be ignored.
y young girl is frequently embarra sSed
at the beginning OF dinner by forgetting
the bit of bread that is folded in her servi-
cite, dropping it on the floor as she puts
the napkin into her lap. This is such a
trivial thing that the accident is of no inn
portanCe, but it is. of course, well to re-
member that though the cube of bread is
out of sight In the folded serviette it Is
still there and should be taken out
After dinner the ladies retire to the draw
ing room and let the gentlemen remain in
the dining room for coffee and cigars.
Coffee is served at the same time to the
ladies and usually liquors Of some sort are
handed. 1t is perfectly good form to re-
fuse these If one wishes.
The gloves are not put on again unless
Just as the guest says good night, but she
may leave the drawing room barehanded.
There is fad among certain set for
not removing the gloves at all through
dinner or taking off only one. the left. This
g.. falX hinY
but extremists, and Is not to be recon-
mended