oo short, than too
tall. Always a little sensitive to this defect, some try to increase
their stature by high heels, which renders their gait awkward, besides
being injurious to health. Others endeavor to add to their apparent
height by cultivating a long waist. This they do at the expense of
shortening the lower limbs, thus making themselves seem shorter than
they actually are. Others strive to attain the same end by dressing
the hair high, in this way too often adding to the apparent bulk of
the head and giving a top-heavy appearance to the figure. It is here
that a full-length glass becomes almost a necessity in the
dressing-room, so that the entire effect of the figure may be observed
at once, and defects of this nature detected at a glance. Sometimes a
high ornament worn at the top of the head apparently increases height,
but beware of any bulky style.

Long lines of drapery from shoulder to foot give the effect of height.
Horizontal lines crossing the figure shorten the form.

Short, stout women, by wearing short basques that make a line about
the hips, or ruffles and puffs at the shoulders, increase their bulk
and shorten their stature.

Women too tall and slender use horizontal lines and puffed and ruffled
effects to great advantage, thus increasing the apparent size of an
arm by puffs and surrounding bands, or hips by the descriptive line of
a basque.

The way of wearing the hair, also, may greatly change the whole
appearance. Worn at the nape of the neck it is domestic; lower,
romantic; on a level with the head, classic; on top of the head,
stylish.

Decorations.

A tenet of Delsartean art asserts that, "A decoration is to make
something else beautiful and must not assert, but sacrifice itself.
Ornament that has no use whatever is never, in any high sense,
beautiful."

A trimming with no reason for being is generally ungraceful. Buttons
which fasten nothing should never be scattered over a garment. Bows,
which are simply strings tied together, should only be placed where
there is some possible use for strings tied together. In short,
according to Mrs. Haweis, "Anything that looks useful, and is useless,
is in bad taste." For instance, the dress imitating a peasant or a
fishwife is never so graceful or piquant as the real costume, since
the handkerchief covering the peasant's bare neck is much more
picturesque than a bodice trimmed in form of a kerchief.

Slashes are at all times a most beautiful