Evening star., 1935-08-25

fNN often asked me
dwingthe past year.
To begin with, let me quote paragraph
from letter which is typical of an occasional
reader "a man usually, but this is from
woman - who protests against taking sub
ject as superficial as the question Of the
correctness of dress, seriously:
What difference can it make to anyone
else whether Mary Smith wears long dress
or short one or thick one or thin one,
hat or none2 Truly she is not offending anyone
else, nor hurting anyone's feelings, nor is she
failing to contribute to beauty by wearing
what is in her opinion becoming and COM
fogtable. Quoting an article of your own,
Comfort is another word for beauty so
what more can be said1"
Tc this l must reply that comfort. meaning
ideal suitability to use, is another word for
beauty; but umsuitability to use or to situation
or to occasion is always an offense to beauty.
For example, comfortable armchair, inviting
to sit in. does give homelike quality (which
is beauty to living room.
On the other hand, yellow shoes and "a
khaki flannel shirt with mans tail coat -
no matter how much more comfortable they
would be than new patent leather pumps and
a stiff white shirt and collar - would not
OILY make the man himself an object Of deri-
sion, but his outlandish appearance would
mar the effect of the general assembly in
which he finds himself - exactly as blotted
word in letter not only mars that one word
but spoils the effect of the whole letter
More than that, clothes not only affect our
appearance, they are our appearance; and the
subject of dress is irrational only when carried
to extremes either as an obsession or as an
antipathy. One extreme is as unreasonable as
the other But that we shall on all occasions
be conventionally dressed is quite as i'm
portant as that we shall have good manners
and speak good English. A few of the require
ments of convention are as follows:
On city street always wear hat and
gloves. If you wear long coat be sure that
your dress is not hanging in uneven points
below it. For street wear. tailored clothes are
smartest. Very conspicuous clothes that
attract attention should be avoided.
Jl a smart restaurant in the daytime. wear
the same clothes as on the street. A smart,
tailored suit with good-looking blouse and
becoming hat is considered quite as proper for
a woman of leisure as for business woman
even at a lunch party, and especially one
given in hotel or club. But the top Of dress
or blouse covered by coat on street. can
be as light or bright in color as you please.
Take off your gloves as soon as you are seated
at table, but do not take off your hat.
In restaurant, in the evening: In very
smart restaurant wear an evening dress not
too conspicuously cut. If you wear hat with
low cut dress, it must be only of a distinctly
evening variety With hat always wear
gloves. If the man Tor men) with whom you
are dining is not wearing dinner coat, then
you should not wear an evening dress. How
ever, dress just off the floor with high cut
back, or else cape or matching coat, would
be suitable. But, if the man is in tweeds then
you ought to wear strictly day clothes and
hat.
In the dining room of hotel in which you
are staying: Although hat is always correct
with street clothes, you can perfectly we'll go
into the dining room without hat -