IN THE FIRELIGHT.

Southland Times, Issue 19458, 24 January 1925, Page 19

IN THE FIRELIGHT.

DRESSING FOR OUR FRIENDS. (by Rosamond.) In the old days, Victorian, and so on, a woman with regard to dress, was judged •almost entirely by her best clothes —Sunday clothes in fact. Twice a year, if she were rich enough,, much less often if she wasn’t she bought the best she could afford in 'he way of a ceremonial rig-out, (those two words do not go very well together, but let them stand as they express what I mean!) These clothes were saved and cared for, but they were very little worn until such time as they were considered good enough for 13651’ no longer. Then except in the case of the rich again, they dragged out a depressing and generally unsuitably existance for every day. MORE SENSIBLE. In this respect we are more sensible now. We don’t finish off our shabby town clothes in the country; we don’t hoard our new winter coat till the winter after; or bui summer frocks until they call aloud to the passer by ‘dowdy, dowdy!’ We don’t, if we are wise buy more than we can help and we wear what we buy while the sun of fashion still shines on it. Of course, if we are sensible again, we don’t strive after the latest fashion of all, the one everyone rushes at, and v.hich is wiped out by the really fashionable in a few months or even weeks, but the woman who can be happy when feeling thoroughly out of date, is so rare as hardly to count. As rare as those happy few gifted enough to design clothes for themselves that are works of arts, and therefore beyond fashion. I write for the average woman, naturaUy. And I do think that she is looking better dressed to-day than ever, out of doors. Not strictly speaking, because she has more taste, but because she has learnt that it is no good looking well turned out on High-days and a rag-bag on all the rest. But when it comes to indoors I am not sure. I am afraid there are still more women than there ought to be careless of their dress in the house, in the early morning while at work, after working hours in the evening; women inflicting their failures on their nearest and dearest; dressing to please the people they don’t actually care anything about (as people), and being regardless of the artistic sensibilities of their friends—especially perhaps the last. “John simply hates me in my new hat, but of course the old dear knows nothing about hats ...” Doesn’t he? Probably John, having ssen that hat from every possible point of view, on that particular head, knows heaps more about it than the wearer. So most certainly if John is to go out with its wearer, my advice would be economise as fiercely as you like on something else, but scrap the offending hat out of hand. Where the disputed article is an indoor dress, my advice would be even more emphatic—scrap it. There is something so intimate, and should be something so loveable about a woman's indoor clothes, So do ask yourself whether you are of those who consider them carefully, wear them appropriately, put them on as well as those you wear out of doors? If you do, but only if you do, you may consider yourself well dressed.