Dress and Economy.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 866, 5 October 1888, Page 4

Dress and Economy.

Longman’s Magazine. A lady informant, in reply to Mrs Henry Reeve, says :— * A lady living in the country, income to spend fifteen hundred a’ year, can dress on thirty pounds a year. She would not with this sum buy full dress costumes for either morning or evening wear. If she bad to pay visits at smart country houses there would he ‘extras.’ To make thirty pounds a.year an adequate sum, there must have been capital for a good outfit. It is desirable to have sufficient underclothing to allow of each garment being worn and washed at the rate of one in four; if you have * one to wash the other,’ that other is being scrubbed every other week ; the intermediate fortnight’s repose greatly prolongs existence. The Btock of clothes shontd never be let down ; two or three of each garment per annum will suffice to keep it efficient, whereas in the old-fashioned system of * sets ’ everything being the same age wanted . renewing simultaneously. The same principle applies to boots. Havo plenty. In

the country a pair of thickboots, like a hunter, should only go out twice tt week, therefore three pairs of this kind alone are required. One new pair in each year should keep up the stock. Boot-treefl prolong the life and appearance of bootß considerably, and are a necessity in the oountry where there must be much rongh walking. On thirty pounds a year you cannot have everything new the Bame year, so considerable forethought is required to alternate the investments. One year a bonnet and mantle, the next year a hat and a jacket. One year a good morning dress, the following a good evening dress. In the country as in the town, the system of •hightem, tightens, and scrub,’holds good, but it is undesirable to accumulate large numbers of half shabby garments. Do not get a new ‘ cheap and nasty ’ gown to save another; wear what you have, and when it Is shabby try and afford a new one for best, and always contrive to have one good and tidy dress fit for an occasion. Much oan be done by careful.putting away and brushing, folding, and cleaning, bo that the dress comes fresh out of the wardrobe, instead of being a mass of wrinkles and cockles. Let your dress always befit your occupation, and don't be too lazy to change your garments so as to ensure fitness and neatness. I wish to add a word on the important item of riding-habits. With girls living in remote country places their appearance at a meet is their only time for appearing in public, beyond a couple of country balls; an effort should be made to have a well-cut habit, whilst for- girls who ride much a best and a *econd*best habit are necessary. Therefore at least thirty pounds a year are required for a girl's dress, and if there are to be country honse visits the equipment for such occasions mast be pro* vided for by an extra allowance, or the visits had better not; be'“attempted.’ Another correspondent wrote ‘ The result of an inquiry among twenty-eight bachelors of all ages, and all varietieamf income, appearanoe, and profession, M.P/s, parsons, olvil servants, barristers, Oxford "tutors, country squires, is that the maximum. expenditure is £43 a year, and the minimum £l4. The average would he £23. It may be said that the careful poor man spends about £2O, the careful rich man £3O to £35; whilst the rich or poor man who is careless spends from £4O to. anything; and the expenditure would certainly reach a much higher average if you took twenty-eight men of under thirty years of age.’ The conclusions to be drawn from these facts and figures are, says Mrs Reeve : —That the ratio of money spent on dress to the whole income or expenditure can only be relied on as an approximate guide. That the important thing is to frame a scheme of dress expense, to train oneself to habits of self* control—not for the woman to imagine that the poet’s words are to be her privileges j • No splendour 'neath the sky’s proud dome But serves for her familiar wear; The far-fetched diamond finds its home Flashing and smouldering in her hair. For her the seas their pearls reveal, Art and strange lands her pomp supply With purple, chrome, and coohineal Ochr e and lapis lazuli; The worm its golden woof presents, Whatever runs, flies, diveß, or delves, All doff for her their ornaments.'—Coventry Patmore. To feel that neatness and simplicity are her true ornaments, worn not on state occasions, but at all times ; and in order to be neat that many a minor virtue mußt be practised; she must neither hurry nor dawdle, must not huddle on her clothes nor toss them off, nor thrust; them anyhow Into drawers and cupboards, to be dragged out with worse confusion when next wanted. If, as is the rule with moderate incomes, a lady is her own ‘ maid,’ she should ba as careful, as punctual, as orderly,, as a clever ladys maid is expected to he. She should acquire the necessary skill to pack, so that dresses may not look as if they came out of a rag bag ; she should set apart a fixed time for reviewing her wardrobe, and for taking the necessary measures for renewing what is worn out and for repairing what is capable pf being worn longer. That an accurate gyatem of accounts must prevail for dress as for ‘diet,’ and that, if at the end of the year too much money has been spent, the miscalculation must be retrieved by some suitable effort, and mußt not be allowed to occur again. * True Taste,’ wrote Mr Rogers, ‘ls an excellent economist; she confines her choice to few. objects, and delights in producing great effects by small means ; while False Taste is for ever sighing for the new and rare, and reminds us in her works of the scholar of Apelles, who not being able to paint his Helen beautiful determined to make her fine.’ With these words, better than any of our own, we bid adieu to the subjeot of dregs and economy.