Choosing My Clothes

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVI, Issue 3445, 19 March 1932, Page 4 (Supplement)

Choosing My Clothes

I really do not know how to name my personality. I know I am in favour of adopting the new styles as they come along, but I don't like to make myself conspicuous by appearing in the first of these new numbers. I also know that I am happiest and more at ease when I can enter a room without the entire assemblage being startled by something striking that lam wearing. I also know that I would rather possess clothes that I can appear in more than once without hearing comments such as " She's still wearing that dress." ' We all have our own individual ways of shopping. For myself, I have found better results in setting aside a day or two for the selection of my entire season's needs at the beginning of each season. In this way I can be assured of having a wider selection from which to choose. Also, by indulging in this shopping work all at once, I have the rest of the season in which to enjoy my clothes without .having to rush around for last-min-ute purchases. Before going shopping I carefully

(By Norma Shearer.)

figure out just how many sport and street outfits I shall need, and the necessary accessories which will accompany them. Ido the same for my requirements in afternoon and evening dresses.

In shopping I always try to haye an open mind, for that is absolutely essential. No woman should have a decided view about styles until after she has tried several models on. One cannot definitely hold to an idea of a certain colour, for perhaps another colour, just as flattering, is more in keeping with the season's vogue. Nor can a young woman cling to brim-line hats just because she has found them becoming in a year when hats are brimless in design and perhaps 3ust as becoming.

Some people seem to lose interest in their clothes when they see other versions of the same shade being worn. As far as I am concerned, however, if the colour is becoming I do not care how many other women are wearing the identical shade. The same applies to styles. To be individual one would really have to adopt something radically different. This makes a person conspicuous instead of exclusive. To my way of thinking, it is better to fall in with the fashion's moods, choosing such styles as are most in keeping with one's type.

In striving for a slender figure the surest means of keeping oneself in check is in trying on ready-to-wear clothes. If your own dressmaker makes your clothes, the added poundage is not so noticeable, because designers are clever enough to keep these facts hidden. Women who can walk out of a shop with a ready-made dress on, which needs no alterations, are very fortunate. They can see a dress in its entirety when they purchase it, and they don't have to depend upon their imaginations. Very few people can properly visualise a trimming or a flounce or a colour scheme with successful finished results. --

Now that we are looking forward to the coming season we will have to accustom ourselves to some drastic fashion changes. Whatever they may be I shall keep an open mind to thenpossibilities, choosing the simplest and most becoming to my type.