can be worn by women of all ages, and in almost all
materials is it becoming. For evening wear and for day wear it is most
satisfactory. Southern women make a point of dressing in it
altogether.

For evening wear, where the complexion renders it possible, a very
pretty effect is produced by wearing colors that relate or melt into
the skin tints, such as pinky browns, soft drabs, ashes of roses or
warm, creamy tints, like the heart of a tea-rose.

The Choice of Colors.

Much more lies in choosing a becoming color than people generally
imagine. There is an old story told about some celebrated man, whose
lifelong devotion to his wife was considered somewhat remarkable, as
she was a very plain woman. One of his friends asked him what had been
the first thing about her that had attracted him. He said: "A pink
shawl that was lying on the back of the chair in which she was sitting
made so pleasing a contrast to the white frock she wore that I thought
only of that, and upon asking for an introduction to her solely on
account of the pink shawl, I was then introduced to a wonderful
fascination of manner and grace of mind which have enthralled me ever
since."

A woman's surroundings of necessity play a great part in her
appearance, but it does not by any means follow that luxurious
furnishings have any more effect than the very simplest and plainest,
particularly if they do not throw out well the beauty of the coloring.
What shades of ribbon to choose, what colors to wear are far more
serious matters than the majority of people realize.

The most stunning gown in the world, if it be unbecoming, will not be
half so efficacious as the simplest and plainest of gowns of a
becoming color and cut. This is emphatically a picturesque era, and
wide latitude is allowed in the choice of what is becoming. But big
hats, big sleeves, very stand-out skirts and a general fashion-plate
air do not do for every woman, and she who has her gown made on the
simplest possible lines will create more sensation in a roomful of
very much gotten-up women than if she attempted to vie with them.

Harmony and Contrast of Colors.

The following is a list of colors which contrast and harmonize:

White contrasts with black and harmonizes with gray.

White contrasts with brown and harmonizes with buff.

White contrasts with blue and harmonizes with sky-blue.

White contrasts with purple and harmonizes with rose.

White contrasts with green and ha