The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-05-08

1 tions of the London season. I wore my best gown and all my jewels, accordingly. Immediately in front of me at the -on- cert sat a dowdy little old lady. She wore shirtwaist of the vintage of 20, and one of those shiny, leather belts that go up in a point at the back and front. Her collar was crushed and soiled and her veil stringy and badly arranged on I her dowdy bonnet. I took a mental in- ventory of her and decided that she was somebody's housekeeper who had been given a ticket at the last moment and she hadn't had time to change her dress. l Bnt when the Concert was over, imagine | my surprise when 1 found the whole audi | enee bobbing and salaming and kowtowing ] to the badly dressed little old lady, whom I found out before l left the Concert had more titles than I could memorize if I tried week"
 Did that teach you anything about dress ?' asked the other woman. Not unless 1t showed me that we Americans must keep ourselves up to the last notch sartorially," she returned. flor the oldest American family Is green as gourd in an old land like England, and We have only our chicness and charm and smartness to get us in, as it were. You see, the dowdy Duchess was born at the top of the ladder, and we can't cut our clothes by the patterns that she affects"
 All of which is true to tine letter.
 Again
 Nice customs courtesy to kings and a Duchess may wear any kind of dress sne pleases but the rest of womanknd chooses the part of wisdom when she dresses herself in the best she has-at least. when she goes to a 10 guinea Con- cert,
 Beauty may be a question of perfect features, but any girl who is passably good looking can achieve prettiness.
 She has only to study her own face. and she's very stupid and simple minded if she lives 20 years without realizing what colors make her bloom, and which ones wash away all the life from her face. If she-the girl in question-hasnt the money to buy many clothes, let her miser like save up until she can get at least one good gown, something that @ good coutouriere recommends.
 With we'll fitting tailor made" a woman has the foundation for a seasons wardrobe
 Of course, she needs an effective even ing gown, and the best investment that any woman, young or old, can make is a black evening frocl of some description. And next to that-white. There are such possibilities in each.
 1 heard a woman cone or the pest dressed women I know) say the other day:
 Give me one smart black evening gown and I can go out two or three times a week during the season and always look well dressed"
 What sb6ut the girls who work?" I said to this woman, who might be a de- signer in a smart New York or Paris es- tablishment if she chose, her taste is so beautiful and her adjustment so clever in such matters
 "A business man once told me- she an- swered quickly. that he raised the salary of his stenographer because she always looked like Phoebe Snow in her crisp ana immaculate white shirtwasts. The girl I'm citing had very little to dress on. but she told me that she always bought a good tailor gown each season, and as many white shirtwaists as she could af- ford, and on that she managed always to look clean and respectable. That's the best advice I can offer to the working girl.'