s "dressing beyond her means," and is violating good
form in so doing. A simple gown that allows for all _suitable
accessories_ is always lady-like.

The second point of harmony is the appropriateness of dress to the
occasion when it is worn.

Dinners, balls, and formal receptions are occasions that call for
handsome dress. This may range in cost to include some very
inexpensive but artistic costumes, the quality of good style not being
confined to the richest fabrics. But the inexpensive gown should have
a character of its own, and not be suspected of any attempt to imitate
its priceless rivals.

The degree of full-dress worn at dinner varies with the formality of
the occasion and the fashions prevailing in the social circle
represented. On very grand occasions a very rich and stylish costume
may be required. In general, a lady wears her choicest silk or velvet
gown at a dinner. The intrinsic value of the fabric is more important
in dinner dress than in dress worn on other occasions, since the
company are few in number and thrown into close proximity, where
leisurely observation and criticism are inevitable. A gown that would
pass muster in a crowd, may not stand the calm scrutiny of the
dinner-table fourteen. The style of cut and the trimmings of a dinner
gown may be as severely plain or as voluminously dressy as the
character of the occasion and the _personnel_ of the company may
indicate and the wearer's instinctive sense of propriety may suggest.

A ball or a formal reception in the evening is a time to display one's
prettiest gowns and all the jewels which one possesses. Fabrics of
infinite variety, from velvet and brocade to diaphanous tissues, are
suitable; and the possibilities in trimmings, in lace and flowers and
jeweled ornaments, are unlimited. In the fancy costumes suitable for
these showy occasions there is wide opportunity for the ingenious girl
to make herself bewitching without greatly depleting her purse. The
most becomingly dressed woman is not always the most expensively
dressed. General effect strikes the eye of the observer who has not
time to study special quality in the kaleidoscopic scene presented by
the ball-room or reception throng.

At an afternoon tea, the hostess should dress richly enough for
dignity, but without ostentation. As on all occasions, a woman should
never be over-dressed in her own house. Her gown should not be so
gorgeous that any one of her guests, even