THE GIRL'S SUMMER FROCKS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 330, 17 October 1908, Page 11

THE GIRL'S SUMMER FROCKS.

" There are two ' musts' in the matter of summer dresses for girls who want to look suitably clothed" (says a Melbourne writer). One is a dress of serge or tweed, preferably of a light make, for cool days. No summer passes without at least one or two spells of weather cold enough to demand a really warm dress. Indoors the situation may be met by wearing thicker underclothing, or an extra garment or two underneath. But out of doors a ' stuff' dress is indispensable in such weather. Tho second ' must' is two or three print frocks. Print may, in this case, mean zephyr or cambric or linen, according to the tastes and the purse of the wearer; but for the girl who wants to be really economical I should say ' print' always. A good print can be bought for 7d. or 7}d. a yard, and ten yards makes a satisfactory frock if the skirt is plain. A pleated skirt will call for a dozon yards of print. The girl who can make a simple frock for herself will be able to buy threo such dresses for a sum well under 255. And, even if tho dressmaker must be called into service, each frock need not cost more than 17s. 6d. or £1. Print wears better than cambric or zephyr, and washes infinitely, better., Indeed, most prints, whatever their colour, will stand a good boiling two or threo times during the summer. The Japanese crepe, which is one of the most popular cotton fabrics this year, both wears and washes well; but it is more expensive than print. "In addition to her warm dress and the print frocks which will do duty indoors, and for morning wear in the street, a dress of somo light summer-weight material, more elaborately made, will be necessary for afternoon outdoor wear. Probably the most satisfactop' material for such a dress is cream Sicilian or lustre. ' Even in the cheapest qualities it' wears and washes well. Plain cream delaine ' runs it hard' in both these respects, and makes a very dainty frock if combined with a little lace. Grey lustre also stands wear and washing well; but it lacks tho smart effect of cream; and every other colour in lustre or Sicilian should be avoided unless tho wearer can afford material of areally good quality. An additional advantago in the purchase of a cream dress is that the skirt may always be worn in tho ovoning, with a blouse of soft silk or net, for theatres or. parties. Later on in' the summer, when tho really hot woather sets in, a muslin dress will bo almost a necessity; and the safest and freshest of. all muslin frocks for girls is, of course, white. _ If, however, a printed muslin is dosired, it is always wise to obtain a pattern and test it by washing and boiling before buying. _ The same rule should be followed with prints. _ With the dresses I have mentioned, a girl may count upon getting through the summer comfortably- and neatly. A three-quarter or full-length' dust coat is almost , a necessity, in addition. If this be mado of Sicilian, however,. and carefully washed_when tho necessity arises, it will last easily for two seasons; and possibly for three; so that it is really a very economical garment, helping, as it does, to protect tho frock In tho purchase of washing dresses, too, it should always be remembered that a good linon is one of tho most economical things that a woman can buy.' It will, as a rule, last for quite threo summers. _ But the initial cost is not light, so that it is beyond the power of very many girls to acquire; The same remarks apply to Shantung and Tussore silks as material's for afternoon dresses. But I have made my suggestions chiefly for those girls whose purses are really small, so that I have refrained from advising the buying of anything so costly."