UNKNOWN

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 201, 23 August 1905, Page 10

UNKNOWN

WHER__EN IT IS A_°-GU__D : THAT CEOTH--S -&E l#B_N7|pL TO ,?. ... scx3pߣi3.;: "-* : "T*he well-dressed woman ia always a woman of"teen iutedlige-fce and brain power," argued a well-known society leader at a popuku'; %amai£i« : dub recently. ''No senseless doll," she continued, _"knows boyr to dress.;_9_e may don'gaudy 'raiment, spend » fortune on a gown so utterly inappropriate to the occasion that one can only feel an intense pity for her; but no one would ever dream of laying the burden oil her sin against good form aiid good taste at the door of the whole of her sex. '"'*■' "*.;

"The woman who dresses weH, in con; formity with her age, her work, and her position.in society."choosing neither extreme of the prevailing modes, but striking a happy mcdiuin,is thie -woman who has brains, and uses them to make a good selection from the fashions of the day." -■'' ■"".'"'

And "there is no doubt of the truth of this state bent, for it is the weH. groom* ed, suitably gowned woman Who attains success, whether iv business or social life. : '• > ;i

The age of the bine stocking has passed, and nowadays the' woman "who dresses unbecomingly through choice and not for the sake' of economy is regarded .'. as either mentally weak or as* Seeking some eccentric form of self-advertisement which is but'another phase of unpardon- i able vanity. fa the commercial world the dowdy, insignificant woman, even if she has mental"" ability, is at aj discount-: when compared with the well-dressed woman, confident and smiling, with bright - i _j,p»city written all oyer her comely person.

The latter has learn an essential fact —that confidence is born of good clothes; and therefore, with genuine brain power, reasons the' necessity' of making the most of all' her good points'! "* By doing this she engenders the feeling that her dress adds to her appearance, she knows that it is finished in every detail, and; thus assured, her business assumes first importance, ami success is gained by the forgetfolness of self.

The woman orator, the actress, the singer, the musician, all understand "the philosophy of clothes" as a powerful adjunct to their personality.. And this personality is to them of as paramount importance as their own individual gifts. Then, again, take the nujojity qf tije well-known women of political, literary, social, and philanthropic importance. There is po doubt whatever of their mental powers, and none aa to their exquisite taste in personal dress. The same rule may be applied to a thousand other more or leas prominent people we meet in everyday life.

A woman's influence, top, for good may be boundless by a happy combination of intellectual strength, sympathy, and tasteful dress.

A picture rich in golden tints and beauty of design offers more pleasure to the eye than one less brilliant and less perfect in technique, which reveals above all else its -imitations.

The beautiful blending of colours, either in dress or in painting, exhibits the touch of a refined "mind, and the softening of garish effects reveals a capable intelligence, which has grasped ihe important fact that "tbe 'essence qf all science lies in the philosophy of elathes."