ng and self-respect. So long as we mingle with our fellow men
in civilized communities, raiment will continue to require "taking
thought." That much of the feminine part of the population devotes an
undue amount of thought to certain aspects of the clothing question we
cannot deny. It is equally certain that many women, if not most women,
devote too little thought to other phases of the problem.

Present conditions seem to indicate that the average woman, of any
class of society, places the "prevailing mode" first in her personal
clothing problems. How to be "in style" absorbs much attention and
time. Surely it is overshadowing other very important considerations
relating to dress. When American women have awakened to the real
importance of these considerations, we shall observe a better
proportion in studying the clothes question.

As a scientific foundation upon which to build her practical knowledge
of how to clothe herself and her family, the girl of the future must
be trained to an understanding of (1) the hygiene of clothes, (2) art
expressed in clothes, (3) the psychology of clothes, (4) ethics as
affected by clothes, (5) personality as expressed by clothes.

There is no stage of life in which hygiene, art, psychology, and
ethics do not apply to clothes. The practical knowledge built upon
these as a foundation will guide the girl in choosing clothes which
are suitable to the occasion for which they are designed, are not
extravagant in either price or style, give good value for the money
expended, express the individuality of the wearer, and exert an
influence uplifting rather than the reverse upon the community at
large.

[Illustration: Class in dressmaking at Blackburn College. With women
scientifically trained in the matter of clothing, we shall do away
with much of the absurdity of dress]

With such a girl, the fact that "they" are wearing this or that will
be always a minor consideration. With women trained in matters of
clothing, we shall no longer be confronted by the absurdity of
identical styles for thick and thin, short and tall, middle-aged and
young, rich and poor. We shall no longer see dress dominating, as it
does to-day, the entire lives of thousands of women. From the woman of
wealth who spends a fortune every season upon her wardrobe, all the
way down the money scale to the young girl who strains every nerve and
spends every cent she can earn to buy and wear "the latest style,"
slavery to fa