from. The loom teems with all kinds of substances;
and every requirement of climate, every caprice of fancy, can now be
gratified at a reasonable rate. One of the best symptoms of taste amongst
Englishwomen is the increasing use of the finer woollen fabrics. They are
well suited to the climate, and they are calculated to make graceful
habiliments in whatever manner they are employed. But cotton is an immense
boon for the mass of the population; and, by contributing to the
cleanliness of the lower orders, has been of great value to the health of
the community. The fact is, that it is of little consequence what an
elegant woman wears, as far as her appearance is concerned. All clothes
require, as the French say, to be _bien portes_. An awkward woman will
never look well in any thing, however fine. Let ladies consult their own
comfort, their own purposes, and the material they hit upon will certainly
become them. We have now, too, ample means of decoration: furs, and lace,
and ribands, and embroidery, are gradually coming within the grasp of
large classes of society; we have to fear rather a deluge of ornament than
the opposite; and, if caution is to be used in any direction, it is in
this. The true secret of female ornament is, that it should be genuine: no
sham flowers; no make-believe lapels; no collars only stitched on to the
edge of the gown; no bows that do not untie; no ribands without some
positive use; all false ornament should be avoided as the direct contrary
to what is tasteful and becoming. If lace is worn, let it be of thread or
silk--not of cotton; if fur, let it be from the real animal--not dyed or
imitated; if jewels, let them be few but good, and set in real gold--no
abominable sham decoration.

And what are we to say about cloaks, and pelisses, and shawls, and the
other preservers of gowns, that correspond to the outward comforters of
man? They flutter about in shop windows, thick as gnats in a summer
sunbeam: many of them are elegant; not a few useful; some are quite
loves!--witness the polka-pelisse--others are frumpy and old-fashioned;
such as the cloak with a deep cape of ever-to-be-respected maternal
memory. But there are two which we single out as simple and unspoiled, and
indeed unspoilable, items of dress, which ought to be in fashion as long
as women love pretty things. One is the Spanish mantilla; that plain black
scarf which forms the sweetest disguisement a woman can put on: by its
simplicity