The Washington herald., 1914-03-25

1
the dress itself. The bits of light color
disposed over the gown will give a very
patchy effect. The heaviest or darkest
1 trimming should always come at the bot
| tom of the dress. unless the wearer Is
exceedingly slender for her height. /
| remember seeing a woman some years
ago dressed in a gown OF royal blue
surah serge trimmed with rows OF black
velvet as far as the knee in different
| width. varying from three inches TO
one-half inch. This was the style
| then, but she said she wanted some
thing different" so she ordered the
widest width to come at the top and the
| narrowest at the bottom of the skirt She
was only OF medium height as 1t was,
but in that dress she looked like a verit-
| able barrel She certainly was differ
ent."
Dyed I'm All Shades.
I mention this because It Is the fashion
to use sombre effects just now, especially
for evening dress. Sometimes the ma
terial comes dyed in all the shades from
light to dark in one piece, but at other
times different shades are bought sep
srately In either case. be sure to have
the darkest shade at the hem. letting the
tones become lighter as they ascend, I'M
til they end in something soft. trans
parent and creamy white at the bust.
Another point to be remembered is
that colors are modified by gloss For
instance. compare a dull suede slipper
with one in glossv satin, both exactly
the same shade. When placed together
IL will be seen that the satin appears
TO be lighter than the suede by reason
OF the reflection OF light. Suede. being
dun. absOrbs the light. Hence the i'm
portance of care in choosing Colors that
are to be combined.
When the entire costume is fashioned
from one shade there is much less chance
of offending the artistic eve and to dress
tastefully IS comparatively easy. But 1t
Is also monotonous. One needs contrasts,
too. Years ago there was very little
trouble in contrasting colors because
they were fewer and were pure. For in
stance, blue was blue. from light to
dark. gray was fray. and so on. But
nowadays there are perhaps a dozen
shades of green and the oldest kind of
Neutral tints, blush vioets, pinkey
mauves. grays tnat include elephants
hide. taupe and London smoke, and
browns that may mean anything from
seal brown to what is known as natural
with so many tones between it is almost
too puzzling TO try to name them.
Violet and Blue.
Violet and blue are often seen in COM
bination. but il takes an artist to do it
successfully. because yellow, the COM
Elementary of violet composed of red
and blueD is absent So unless an anna
teur Is quite sure of herself she had
better choose another combination. Pale
pastel blue combined with a blush violet
instantly takes on a shade Of pale green
which is not unpleasing when used in
small quantities. Pure violet and pale
blue Will simply kill each other. 4 deep
shade OF prune and pale blue go well
together and so will light blue and a
reddish purple. Blue and yellow harmon
ize. BY this l do not mean that the
shades may be chosen haphazard or that
IL is unnecessary TO consider the pro-
portions of each color because both are
important. For instance, navy blue cloth
with gold braid is delightful and so is
a suit OF navy blue trimmed with COL
lar and cuffs of banana or sulphur color
but you can easily imagine how grotes-
que the combination would be were the
colors combined in equal quantities or
yellow suit with navy blue trimmings
disposed about il.
There are times, however when the
yellow may predominant For instance.
a yellow or golden straw hat trimmed
with blue ribbons will be prettier than
dark blue hat decorated with yellow rib
ribbons, are less difficult to deal with.
A navy straw hat trimmed with butter
cups will be quite as artistic as the yell |
low straw hat trimmed with Cornflowers |
So It will be seen that while two colors |
will combine well, it is necessary to use
discretion as to proportions and also duly |
to regard the lights and shades of the |
fabric in question.
A like rule will apply to the girlish |
combina ton Of pink and blue. The blue |
must always predominant in this case.
Pink ribbons may fiutter over blue |
frock, but the opposite will be unsightly. |
II this is doubted just imagine holding !
blue rose to a pink sky. or pale pink |
hat wreathed with forget-me-nots. The
combination is impossible. but a pink
rose contrasted with a blue sky and a
pale blue hat wreathed with pink roses
will be charming.