ividual.

Neatness is the first requisite, suitability the second. There is
nothing more of an offense to good taste than seeing the delicate
fabric, the ribbons, the laces of a once elegant toilet, degraded to
the uses of the kitchen, spotted and soiled almost beyond recognition.

Have gowns adapted to the tasks for which they are intended. The neat
gingham, the plain wool gown, are pretty and appropriate for the
morning wear of any lady who must superintend the workings of her own
household. Aprons, gloves, dust caps, which can be quickly doffed and
will leave her neat and presentable for the stray morning caller
without the necessity, on her part, of a change of costume, and on
his, of a tedious waiting.

For afternoon the prettiest of toilets may be worn in the shape of
house-dresses, or tea-jackets made of otherwise useless remnants of
bright silks, and ribbons may be used to wear with otherwise
presentable skirts whose original bodices have been long outworn.
Trains, medium, are always pretty in the house, hence tea-gowns, from
the richest to the most modest in cost, are always in favor. Avoid
very short skirts for the house; they are awkward, and belittle you
from a mental as well as a physical standpoint.

Observe the utmost neatness in every detail of the toilet for home or
street. It is an old rule, but a very good one, that a woman may be
judged "by her boots, gloves and pocket-handkerchiefs." To this may be
added "finger nails," and last but not least, skirt edges. "No matter
how elegant the general get-up may be," asserts one fastidious critic,
"if a woman's skirt binding is muddy, frayed, or pendant, she is, to
my mind, not a gentlewoman."

The General Fitness.

The style of the person should have much to do with choosing the style
of dress for any occasion. Only people lacking the slightest
originality of mind would think of blindly following the dictates of
fashion without any reference to their own physical style.

Very short women should not wear very large hats. Women with very thin
faces should avoid wide hat brims and many plumes. Women with large,
full faces should not go to the extreme in wearing small bonnets. To
do so is but to exaggerate the defect in each case. No matter what the
extremity of style may be, there is always a happy medium from which
to choose.

Flying curls and a great superabundance of ribbons and fluttering ends
belong only to a young girl. To persist in an extreme