YOUR BOTTOM DRAWER?

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23054, 3 December 1936, Page 17

YOUR BOTTOM DRAWER?

One of my earliest memories is of asking a grown-up visitor, to my young mind a very charming person, who ought to have been out and about instead of sitting at home sewing, what she was making, and being told that rt was something for her bottom drawer” (says an English writer in an exchange). , , . She didn’t explain what she meant by that phrase.. She just wept °n industriously sewing and knitting, knitting and sewing, every time she came to stay with us. till it seemed to me that however large her bottom drawer was, it must surely be full > up- -full of beautiful lingerie intended for a bride who. alas! has never gone tothealtar I don’t know why, unless it was that the whole time she was filling up her bottom drawer with thenghtthings she was filling uo her mind at the same time with the wrong ideas about men and marriage. That’- what I want to write to you about. To suggest some things for you to store In a mental bottom drawer that will be of more service to you n the long run than the most beautiful trousseau in the world. • Bec |u seems to me that so many g rls, as they sit in front of the fire making pretty things for the marriage of their dreams, are only being practical with their fln iff r other words, the standard that they set themselves in regard to tne dainty. ' delicious garments they aie making for their dream honeymoon can be attained by patience and perseverance, whereas the standard that they set themselves in love is sometimes too high and too idealistic alto misunderstand me. It’s right that’a girl should have ideals, and high ideals, in regard to her future husband, and she should never allow herself to be persuaded l o accepting the first man P who proposes to her lust because she thinks the marriage market is overcrowded. But at the same time it is equally foolish of her to man down rust because he doesnt look and talk like her dream lover. Nor must she give vent to such foolish remarks as: could never admire a man who wasn t good at games. jf or “My husband must have blue eyes, or "I like a man to be tall and look as though he knows a lot.” In cold print those sentences look pretty absurd, don’t they? But all the same similar sentiments are bemg expressed all the time by romantic young women, who get the images of the men they are going to marry one day from their weekly visits to the movies Which is, to say the least of it. rather bad luck on the sort of suitor they are most likely to meet m real life. Men are more sensible. We may not spend our spare lime filling our bottom drawers with the masculine equivalent of linen and lingerie, but we do fill our minds with a commo sense point ot view about the choice of a wife. In consequence, we don’t set our cap too high, and we don’t get taken in by sur face qualities. , .... You see, the snowiest qualities are seldom the ones that wear the best in the long run. It is better to marry someone who is not very exciting, but who you know is really and truly nice, than to get engaged to someone who is only at his or her best when showing off in public. After all, most of your future life 's going to be lived in private, where the cut of a man’s clothes and the way his hair curls will be of less importance than his manners at the breakfast table, his means of livelihood, and his outlook on things in general. Again, so many of the men who seem dull fellows at a first sight at a party improve enormously on acquaintance and a wise girl doesnt allow herself to be influenced too much by first impressions. or refuse a man s love because he is poor. Lots of women have had the courage to take a gamble, have married cm hope, and lived to see their husbands make a fortune thanks to their faith And. personally. I should say that its better to marry a poor man with prospects than a boy who earns a good salarv already, but spends every nenm’ of it in advance. , , . Lots of girls earn good salaries, too these days. Some of them save it for their bottom drawer, others spend every penny of on clothes 3nu make-up and visits to the hairdresser imagining that the results will proi e a good investment where the marriage market is concerned. That’s true up to a point, but it s very essy to over-estimote the efteci of a smart apnearance on the average man. He is just as likely to admire a cotton frock which cost a few shillings and was run up at home as the most expensive gown. We only like the clothes which we think suit you not the clothes which you think suit you because thev are the latest fashion And there’s a big difference. So the moral of it all is that it s a sheer waste of money to put all your salary on your back, unless you get a tremendous satisfaction out of a large and fashionable wardrobe vourself.