ON DOWDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19150, 16 October 1925, Page 16

ON DOWDS.

Now there are dowds and dowds. SoiP e are exceedingly irritating; a human upon the landscape, with no personal gi^ s to carry off the depression their garm«3 ts create. Some—probably the remnants of th e Roundheads—dress dowdily as a silent protest against the wantonness of th<s world. These are to be found in all countries and societies. And some are dowds because they do? 1 t know what to buy, or, when they h£ ve bought clothes, do not know how to f iP u t them on. i Dowds of the best sort are a perfect joy. But they are as a rule cranks, And to the right sort of crank everything is forgiven, even holes in ancient black ton gloves. These daring dowds appreciate enormously the efforts of their affectionat® friends and relatives to transform thert into something with a fashionable sem> blance. Those built on a generous scaklaugh with a delicious fat laugh whe^ l cube-like garments are brought to theiP wherewith to clothe their curves; wbe n high-instepped Faris shoes are suggest for their plough-land trudging'feet; wb en exquisite lemon-tinted suede gloves dangled in front of them as fitting coverings for hands which have for yeat" s disdained anything bnt a thick leather gauntlet. " No, no," they laugh, " such tliipgS are not for me! You must take me. as you find me. I can't tog myself up—ddp't want to —never could." And, so the loving would-be beautiffers leave their dear dowd to chew the cud of content in her own frumpishness, because they know that, despite the unfashionable clothes, unwaved hair, unmanicured hands, and badly-shod feot, she is gold all through. Such a one, tSjey know, can rise to heights unattainable by thousands of her fellows who spend hours and hours in planning and plotting clothes. For in her is some inexplicable quality of mind and heart beside which clothes do not matter, intelligent people know that the dowdiness of such a frump—with her pellucid voice, her generous, witty tongue, her dear, laughing eyes, and ber understanding heart, full of the milk of human kindness and the wisdom of this world—is really chic and achieves an effect that could not be obtained by the mere expenditure of money. Very few attain tP the dizzy heights of popularity and love upon which this sort of frump sits enthroned! And she is thus enthroned, not because of the marvellous garments which clothe her body, but beI cause of the rarer gifts which adorn her J mind and soul, and which are, indeed, her personality.