e secondary
matters, when all is said.

Wisdom and sympathy and tact are never more needed than in this sort
of teaching. The principles of good dressing cannot be laid down
baldly and coldly, like mathematical rules, for the guidance of a girl
palpitating with youthful and beauty-loving instincts. The mother who
says, merely, "Certainly not. You don't need them. I never had silk
stockings when I was a girl," is failing to meet her obligations quite
as much as the mother who allows her daughter to appear at school in a
costume suited only to some formal evening function. There are mothers
of each of these sorts.

The wise mother whose daughter has developed a sudden scorn for the
stockings she has worn contentedly enough hitherto does not dismiss
the subject in the "certainly not" way, however kindly spoken. She
treats her daughter's request seriously, asks a few questions, in the
answers to which "the other girls" will probably figure largely, and
talks it over.

"Of course, there is the first cost to consider. The price of three or
four pairs of silk stockings would give you a dozen pairs of fine
cotton. Yes, I know there are cheaper silk ones to be had, but their
quality is poor. We should scarcely want you to wear coarse, poorly
made ones. And of course you know silk ones do not last so long. They
are pretty, and pleasant to wear, and cool, I know. How would it do to
have silk ones to wear with your new party dress, and keep on with the
cotton ones for school? We don't want to be overdressed in business
hours, you know. Then, it seems to me, it is a little hard on the
really poor girls at school if the rest of you are inclined to
overdress. They are so likely to get into the habit of spending their
money for cheap imitations of what you other girls wear--or if they
are too sensible for that they are probably unhappy because they have
to look different. Wouldn't it be kinder not to wear expensive things
to school at all?"

The object is not so much to keep the girl from having unsuitable
garments as to teach her to see all sides of the clothes question, to
realize her responsibilities, and to learn to choose wisely for
herself.

It is highly desirable that mothers keep up their own standards of
dress as they approach middle life and their daughters enter the
adolescent period. Some women even make the mistake of dressing
shabbily that they may gown their daughters resplendently. They are
educating their daugh