Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-04-16
THE LIGHTS OF THE PARTY

q That isn't a misprint. Idont mean the life of the party.
mean lights, the effect of he right lighting combination
for your party. This is a practical talk for the hostess.
Ever go to a party that fell flat, when the guests were
%congenial, the home of the hostess attractive, the entertain
ment satisfactory and the eats edible' 1t does seem as if
such a party couldn't have failed. But it sometimes does, espe-
cially ii the guests are all busy people who put in q full days
work before they go to the party. 1t is hard to start the ball
rolling with a tired crowd. There are various ways Of galvan-
ling the party, the most common one, of course, is to serve a
stiff cocktail. That, however, is often out of question, because
3 many hosts haven't a bootlegger or the price Of one, and still
others have an old-fashioned prejudice in favor of obeying
the laws. So we shant consider the cocktail as the proper
starter-of of our party.
If there is anything that gladdens the heart Of a tired
guest, it is a restful room, softly lighted and otherwise attrac-
tive. But the right lighting is the very first consideration.
l don't wish TO encroach here on the territory of the in
terror decorator, and yet every woman who has a home loves
to be her own interior decorator. If she has taste, she always
achieves an attractive effect, no matter how meager her
means. II she hasn't taste, she will emulate others who have,
until she gets over achieving interiors that are horrors.
The very first consideration of the hostess, as we have
said, is the right lighting. She has learned that she and her
husband or her other brethren who are her housemates, if she
doesn happen to have a husband,-enjoyt their evenings much
better under softly shaded lights. So when she gives a party,
she thinks first Of the lights. If she has hard, white lights
glazing down from up near the ceiling, she shades them with
a soft mellow color, not blue or green-they are too sad for
the complexion,-but soft yellow or tan or gold, or any of the
pastel rose tones. At Christmas time and various other
holiday occasions she will use red, but for other occasions
the gentler colors are most desirable.
Side lights are most gracious for ones lighting effects,
but if one doesn't have them, she can distribute her lights
by putting reading lamps here and there, observing the pro-
portions of her room in the placing of the lamps.
Ii one hasn't attractive reading lamps, there are always
candles, to be had both cheap and attractive, which can be
used with wonderful effect, if enough of them are used, and
if they are grouped. With out twentieth century eyes so &C.
customed to electric lighting, the candle illumination seems
entirely inadequate for a card party or any affair where
there are games that require the close use of the eyes. But
for a dinner, and the Observation-Disclosures Of music or simply
conversation, candle light is quite delightful. 1t bestows an
added charm upon beautiful silver and liner, and beautiful
ladies in beautiful gowns.
Soft lights are not only restful to the spirit, but We all
know we look a great deal better under kindly, and II possible,
fattering lights. Our lines of fatigue and our gray haggard-
ness are thereby gently yelled, and therefore instead OF feel
ing completely at our worst, we have the pleasant satisfac-
ton Of knowing that we really look rather well, and our sense
of adequacy to the occasion helps to assure the success of the
party. In short, your party is successful when your guests
feel good. And they feel good when they know they look well.
Try out this simple theory Of lighting next time you give
party and see if it doesn't work.