Evening star., 1932-04-10

~ We under $40 to spend Tor new
!" dress" Cousin Peggy protested
when she was home for hel
/ Spring vacation. I've shopped
and shopped and all the dresses
that 1 particularly want cost S25. I've
under So for a hat and the Quickest
hats all cost around SO or So"
Cheer up" we told Cousin Peggy.
If you had $3.50 to spend on dress
you'd see just what you wanted for
s50-and if you only had Sl2 to speno
for dress you'd be intrigued by the
clever little dresses that they sell for
$685."
Every one at some time or other
every one except those very, very few
women who can spend as much as they
please-has experienced PeggyS feel
ings that the most desirable clothes
and hats are those that are just out of
reach. That is natural enough because
more expensive clothes, taken by and
large, are more attractive than less en-
penSive clothes TO the woman Of dis
corning taste. On the other hand, it
Is always possible to find a few less ex-
penS1ve clothes that are more attrac-
tive ard more desirable in every way
than most Of the clothes sold for a
the real sport of shopping enters in.
THEN there's another thing to re-
member. When you are shopping
Tor the $50 dress you are looking at
dresses of that price critically, you are
trying some of them on. The more ex-
pensive dresses you merely look at, as
they hang flguratively out of your
reach. II you came to try them on and
to examine them with a critical eye
you might find that they, too, had
thelr limitations as far as your own re-
qulrements were concerned. There
would be the same need for careful dis
cr1mination and selection.
Some Of us find clothes buying diff
cult because we start out on the false
assumption that it is all going to be
very easy. We assume that because
stores carry variety of sizes we ought
10 De able to find quantities of attrac-
tive dresses that We can walk into as
II they had been made to measure.
We assume that something is wrong
II we have to give the matter really
serious consideration.
What makes the game of buying
clothes and hats and accessories really
good sport lies in the fact that it is
not TOO easy to get precisely the right
tnlng Tor your own particular needs
II Is not merely a matter of having
enough money to spend. A great deal
more depends on your own efforts to
md what you want and to make seIec-
ton OF the things that are really
suitable. x x
A FRIEND Of ours who manages to
look exceptionally we'll dressed on
surprisingly small dress allowance
gives these rules for successful shop
ping:
Don't wait until the last minute to
make your selections. Don't put off
buying new sports dress or suit and
hat until Friday when you unexpectedly
receive tempting invitation from a
irleno 10 go on week end country
mouse party. Don't let your supply of
evening dresses run so low that the
nrSt tllne you have laSt-minute invi-
tation 10 a dinner or a dance you have
10 rusn out In haste to get something
to wear, In these days Of impromptu
parties the only safe policy is one of
preparedness. II We buy our clothes at
tne eeVentn hour we will approach the
subject with overanxiety and will not
have time for attention to the altera-
tons that usually have to be made.
Special buying for special occasions
would be all very well If we knew for
week or more precisely what our So
cial and business obligations were TO be.
But nowadays we have no such time
for preparation. On the other hand,
we do know sufficiently what sort of
clothes we are likely to need for the