DRESS—WOMEN
Q. Are light-colored stockings proper with dark street clothes?
A. In the fall there is usually a tendency toward darker shades in hose, but this is largely a question of the prevailing fashion.
Q. Should women carry walking or swagger sticks?
A. They are proper for walking or with sport’s wear in the country. When carried merely for effect they are not in the best of taste.
Q. When should jewelry or ornaments be worn in the hair?
A. At balls or dinners. The size and character of such ornaments is a matter of taste.
Q. What is the difference between a ball dress and a dinner dress?
A. The formal dinner dress differs little from the ball dress, except that the skirt of the latter must be appropriate for dancing, while for the dinner dress it: may be closer fitting. Every sort of low or half-low evening dress is in fact a dinner dress. The informal dinner dress is higher in the back, and often with half sleeves, whereas the formal dress is sleeveless. The informal dinner dress is worn at the theater, restaurant, or the opera, except in a box.
Q. Should a woman serving her own dinner to a small number of guests wear a formal dinner gown?
A. Formality is not expected at a dinner served by the hostess without servants.
Q. In presiding at a club meeting should a hat be worn?
A. This is optional.
A. Are parasols still carried for shopping or calling?
A. The automobile has largely ended the need for the parasol in town. It is proper, however.
Q. Is it necessary to be in the latest fashion to be properly dressed?
A. No. The well-poised woman makes fashion her servant. Others foolishly make themselves the slaves of fashion. Many so-called fashions are merely fads which have nothing to do with the proprieties of dress. The best-dressed women adopt so much of the current fashions as may be becoming to them. Very few types of women can afford to follow all of the current fashions. Out-of-date fads should be shunned but new ones adopted only if found suitable.
Q. What sort of hat should be worn with evening dress?
A. None. No hat is ever proper with evening dress. Afternoon dress is never proper without a hat.
Q. Is it better to have a number of inexpensive dresses or only a few which cost more?
A. All authorities agree that the well-dressed woman would rather have one or two really good dresses than half a dozen cheaper ones. If one has a gown of excellent material made on good lines she may feel well dressed at all times. It is economical to put money into good clothes, too, because they hold their shape better and last longer.
Q. What is the correct dress of a business woman?
A. A woman in the business world should always avoid the “faddish,” and wear simple, dark and preferably tailored clothes. Light, perishable clothes, or those which are very elaborate, are not appropriate in an office.
Q. Is it correct to wear a veil after six o’clock in the evening?
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