Charlevoix county herald., 1911-08-05
ART OF BEING SHABBY
WOMAN URGES IT ON THOSE WHO
HAVE SMALL MEANS.
How an Old Lady Made Everyone
Think She Was Rich and Al
ways Had tho Best Of
Everything.

There are two ways Of impressing
people," said a woman who had
knocked about the world a good deal,
according to a writer in the New York
Times. "You can be very smart or
you can be distinctly shabby. For a
woman of small means recommend
the second way, and l can speak with
some authority, since l have followed
my theory for long time.
Before l adopted 1t myself
watched 1t in operation. / know an
old lady Of some means, but not rich,
who lived in a good hotel. Everybody
dressed rather extensively, and every
body received more or less considera-
ton from the management, but this
old lady was the mogul Of the place.
"She paid no more for her rooms
than the others and she spent less In
the dining room, and / was at loss
to account for the fact that she COM
manded instant and implicit obedi-
ence, even in the most exacting re-
quests until one day when the hotel
clerk, having seen me in conversation
with her, said casually:
"'You know she's awfully rich
els she?' said l. L had no idea
"Oh, yes, indeed. She goes around
in those shabby clothes because she
doesn't care, but she has several mil
lion dollars.
'It happened that after that l be-
came quite intimate with the old lady,
and by reason of helping her with her
affairs in one way or another l got
pretty good idea of her income, which
was certainly not more than $4,000
year. Also, as our intimacy became
apparent, l found myself more and
more often questioned in the same
casual manner.
"'She is tremendously rich, isn't
she?' people would say. And l would
answer noncommittedly that she GER
tainly had enough for one woman to
live on. To which the invariable reply
was laughing: 4 bet she has.
$50 one day l told her of this and
asked how the rumor Of her great
wealth ever started. She laughed.
Its my clothes, my DEAR she
said. AS you know l am interested
in so many things that have not
much money left over for clothes.
Two gowns at time are all can af-
ford, and going out so little l wear
them for at least year or two.
"They cannot imagine a woman
economizing in clothes, and they In
terpret my lack of vanity as the care
lessness a woman known to be rich
has for details. I'd love to have clothes
IL felt could afford them, at least l
would have liked them once, but now
that l find the consideration bestowed
on my eccentric shabbiness l am not
sure that the change would not be for
the worse.
"T have the best table in the dining
room. The other day some people who
must spend twice as much as l do had
a table near me and annoyed me by
their talking and laughing. I COM
planned, and their table was changed.
"If they should object they would
have to leave, for the management Is
not going to offend woman OF mill
lions like myself. l was thinking or
getting a new bonnet this year, but as
1t might lower my social position 1
shall probably continue to wear the
one l bought eight years ago.
"This Is a scheme that works in any
number OF directions. I personally
cannot afford to dress as well as most
OF the women I know, so I make a
point of dressing less well even than
can afford. They all know l could
do a bit better than / do, and the re-
suit is that all have a feeling that IL
ever walked up would probably out
shine everybody.
"This Is such a world of snobs that
you have only to get it thoroughly un-
derstood that you don't care snap
about snobs to have them all on their
knees about you. wish women who
try to keep up appearances would got
this idea through, their heads"