WHAT NOT TO WEAR.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VIII, Issue 34, 22 August 1891, Page 302

WHAT NOT TO WEAR.

* No woman is ugly when she is dressed.’ Only Lord Chesterfield could have been guilty of such a gallant perversion of the truth. If he used the word * dressed ’ advisedly, and meant clothed with a due regard to the selection of becoming colours, and to the cut and style of the gown to suit the individuality of the wearer, he was undoubtedly right—no woman is ugly who is artistically and becomingly dressed. But so few women seem to know what colours will enhance or destroy their good looks, what style of gown will conceal their defects and heighten their charms, and what way of arranging their hair will improve their faces, that dress ofttimes, instead of adding beauty to the appearance, has the contrary effect. People who are florid must be careful what reds they use, even more than pale people. A deep blue red, that red suggested in a plum or the velvet leaf of a red pansy that has caught a shade from the petals of its near neighbour, the dark blue pansy, is the colour for florid complexions. Grown people should be careful not to wear bright red. As Modjeska observes : • As one red is more becoming above the face than below it.’ Dark cardinal velvet above grey hair and dark eyes has a most charming effect. Pink is most becoming for fair young people. Rose colour, combined with black, white, or grey, can be worn with impunity by the youthful and fair. Magenta should be suppressed. Only a dazzling beauteous being could survive the uglifying effect of this depraved colour, and then it must be combined with white. Dark sage-green is an almost universally becoming colour. It annuls any tinge of green there may be in the complexion ; for this reason brunette people generally look well in green. Only those who have an exquisite complexion should dare to wear pale green. If the complexions are clear, rosy, and fair, pale and dark have equal privileges. Dark green combined with pale blue, is becoming to brunettes with clear, pallid complexions. Yellow is a delicious colour—a favourite hue of the old masters and Dame Nature. Warm yellow has a good effect on the complexion. It makes the skin look fairer than it really is. It goes pleasingly with many colours. A brunette will look particularly handsome in a green yellow. Mustard colour, which is insufferable by daylight, is simply delicious in the gaslight. Pure blue and yellow are harsh. A good rule is never to combine two colours of equal intensity. One of two colours should be dull and not too pure. Yellow will blend well with old gobelin blue, with heliotrope, and certain shades of blue gieys. Amber, of all shades, is exceedingly becoming to dark people. People with blue eyes should not wear bright blue. It makes their eyes look faded, and detracts from the bloom of the complexion. Black should be worn advisedly by both old and young. The young can wear it better than the old. It brings out

clearly the hard lines in the face, and seems to deaden the bloom of the skin.

Golden-haired blondes, red-haired maids and matrons, and dark people with clear, rosy complexions, can wear black and look well.

All others can modify its hardening effects by combining white, red, orange,, grey or yellow with it. All but people with coarse complexions look exceedingly well in white.

Every colour can be made becoming by being artistically arranged and relieved by another colour, or by the soft subduing effects of net or lace, or airy tulle.