Show ETIQUETTE OF DRESS WHEN AND WHERE CERTAIN TOILETS TOI-LETS ARE APPROPRIATE SHow S-How Every Woman Can Regulate Her Variant Costumes So IIH Always Al-ways to Be Correctly Attired What are you going to wear Oh that perplexing query that treads on the heels of every invitation Whatever you wear youll wish you hadnt said a gay little cosmopolitan just home frpm a long visit in the smart circles of London society in answer I an-swer to the same question a few days ago Then she went on to say Anywhere Any-where else but in this country an invitation I in-vitation for a particular time in the day breakfast luncheon dinner or ball or whatever it may be makes de riguer a certain prescribed toilet But here If you dress even for a dinner I that most formal of all social functions j the chances are that you will be the j I only woman in a decollette frock And as for a theatre party the safest way is to go In opera rig and then put on a i mackintosh and galoshes so that you I can keep both extremes of the dress of the other woman in countenance But this pert young thing exaggerates exagger-ates of course Its true as preaching that our social life in the large cities is as yet so unstable un-stable that there are no fixed formulas rigorously enforced with regard to dress for special occasions And Flora McFlimsy She is bidden 1 to a breakfast shall we say Or a luncheon So far as dress is concerned they are identical Or to a day wedding wed-ding Ditto a to dress And this should be a handsome high necked and sleeved gown with either a bonnet or a hat of equally smart appearance ap-pearance and gloves I Note bene Flora keeps that fetching headgear on from the time she leaves her mirror till she gets back to it i again I the eating part of the function I i func-tion is done sitting at table she takes off her gloves after she sits down Otherwise she keeps them on all the time The dress may be light It better be of silk or have enough about It to give gve i a very dressy appearance and lace and i all other rich stuffs are au fait so long as they are adaptable to the high bodIce I bod-ice The fashionable sleeve now ends I i oftenest at the elbow but unless ones forearm is very good looking ungloved its bad form to take off the hand of the glove only and tuck it in the wrist j I I better have a handsome long sleeve Puckered chiffon extending to a point on the wrist is very becoming and not I always in the soup as a fall of lace has a penchant for being I Flora is asked to assist the hostess at an afternoon reception she can wear a gown half low in the neck and it may be as partyfied In tint and texture as she pleases and she must dress her hair nattily and tuck an ornament of ribbon or of gold or shell therein But unless she assists she must wear a bonnet or hat and a calling toilet toi-let less dressy than for a luncheon preferably pre-ferably a styllsh cloth gown with effective effec-tive trimming and faultless fit and finish I fin-ish I ishA A lady should not wear a wrap Into I a drawing room qn any other occasion than when making a short call never at an affair for which cards have been j I sent out The girls who assist the host1 ess about the tea table should not wear gloves unless they live beyond tha reach of manicures All the women guests wear their gloves with as much precision as their bonnets For a dinner Flora should assume a I lownecked gown and a pretty one I i is a formal function she will take her gloves off at the table if not she will leave them in the dressing room There are women still who wear bonnets or hats at dinner but their names are writ large in the debit ledger of polite society I For any sort of an evening party In a private house the rule is invariably apart a-part gown and uncovered head and i gloves Flora when in doubt as to what the others are going to do will nevertheless never-theless herself dress correctly if she is j wise There is always a happy medium between the extremes of right and wrong dress but draw the line between white chiffon and a pretty pale silk ifj I afraid of overdressing Do not wear headgear in the evening Never Well hardly ever There is to be sure the theatre party One woman does not wish to be thiy only one with uncovered head in a I party I would be in better taste to honor ones host or hostess at a theatre the-atre party by dressing appropriatelyi This would mean swallowtail coats for the men and in this country for the women gowns the effect of which is I i 1 1i WpIWi A CALLING GOWN light and ornamental but little if at all low at the neck and no head covering I cov-ering and pretty coiffures I there Is a dinner party first the guests will of course wear evening dress at least to the above extent and go in carriages There the party meets at the theatre thea-tre or some other rendezvous and Flora is at a loss to know what the other girls are going to wear since she cannot can-not depend upon them doing the right thing and does not wish to render herself her-self conspicuous by dressIngas Cyni ous says undressIngmore than they do she can do this always with safety That is in American cities I e she can wear a handsome dark skirt of silk or satin or wool and a pale tinted silk bodice because the latter lat-ter looks so much more dressy than any dark colored one This body may have any of the furbelows of the day as a chIffon stock with rosettes or wing bows and lace collarette or re vers etc Then she will wear light perfecly fresh gloves and if she does not go in a carriage and does not like t risk the quite uncovered head in the theatre or to wear a head sc rof chiffon chif-fon in the street cars she may wear one of the jaunty little apologies for an opera bonnet that are now in vogue Let it be tiny becoming and little more than a head dress J This will look enough like a bonnet I to pass muster if all the others wear them and will not be obtrusively a chapeau if none of the others do more than dress their hair modishly One thing more The American woman wo-man is forever finding herself in a hotel I she eats in the public dining din-ing room it is in the best taste for her to wear a simple street dress and preferably pre-ferably her hat A woman of fashion I 1 I and refinement does not dress for the dIIi c fJf j11pq J yooe FOR THE PROMENADE I opera and then go with uncovered head and shoulders through the public corridors of hotel sit where a nor anyone any-one with the price of a dinner in his pocket may sit at the next table staring star-ing at her conspicuousness I she Is going out in the evening and dresses for the occasion before dinner she should dine in a private room i she be in full evening toilet I ful toiletDINAH STURGIS |