the party
who pays it to you. In this way mistakes may be avoided.

CHAPTER XXX.

Dress.

To dress well requires good taste, good sense and refinement. A woman of
good sense will neither make dress her first nor her last object in
life. No sensible wife will betray that total indifference for her
husband which is implied in the neglect of her appearance, and she will
remember that to dress consistently and tastefully is one of the duties
which she owes to society. Every lady, however insignificant her social
position may appear to herself, must exercise a certain influence on the
feelings and opinions of others. An attention to dress is useful as
retaining, in the minds of sensible men, that pride in a wife's
appearance, which is so agreeable to her, as well as that due influence
which cannot be obtained without it. But a love of dress has its perils
for weak minds. Uncontrolled by good sense, and stimulated by personal
vanity it becomes a temptation at first, and then a curse. When it is
indulged in to the detriment of better employments, and beyond the
compass of means, it cannot be too severely condemned. It then becomes
criminal.

CONSISTENCY IN DRESS.

Consistency in regard to station and fortune is the first matter to be
considered. A woman of good sense will not wish to expend in unnecessary
extravagances money wrung from an anxious, laborious husband; or if her
husband be a man of fortune, she will not, even then, encroach upon her
allowance. In the early years of married life, when the income is
moderate, it should be the pride of a woman to see how little she can
spend upon her dress, and yet present that tasteful and creditable
appearance which is desirable. Much depends upon management, and upon
the care taken of garments. She should turn everything to account, and
be careful of her clothing when wearing it.

EXTRAVAGANCE IN DRESS.

Dress, to be in perfect taste, need not be costly. It is unfortunate
that in the United States, too much attention is paid to dress by those
who have neither the excuse of ample means nor of social culture. The
wife of a poorly paid clerk, or of a young man just starting in
business, aims at dressing as stylishly as does the wealthiest among her
acquaintances. The sewing girl, the shop girl, the chambermaid, and even
the cook, must have their elegantly trimmed silk dresses and velvet
cloaks for Sunday and holiday wear, and the injury done by this state
of t