What Dress Makes of Us Part 2

If woman could see themselves objectively, as did the old woman, they would keenly realize the necessity of considering the lines of hat or bonnet in relation to those of their faces, and would learn to obscure defects and bring into prominence their prettiest features.

As there are a few rules to govern what each type should select, every one of the fair sisterhood has an equal opportunity to improve her appearance by selecting in the millinery line the distinctive adornment suited to her individual style.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NO. 22]

For Women with Broad Face and Heavy Chin.

By a curious law of contrariety the woman with a broad, heavy chin seems to have an ungovernable penchant for trig little round bonnets, or trim turbans with perky aigrettes, like that in sketch No. 22. By obeying this wilful preference she obscures whatever delicacy may be in the modelling of her features and brings into conspicuous relief the ugliest lines of her face. Her chin is apparently increased in heaviness and the broadness of her face is made prominent. She could easily have restored the artistic balance to her facial lines by wearing a large hat, rather heavily trimmed, as in No. 23, thus effectively modifying the strong curves of the chin and signally improving her appearance. If a woman's face is fairly proportioned, not too short for its breadth, and she can not afford plumes, this type of woman can still give a becoming balance to her face by adopting hats that are trimmed with flamboyant bows that flare horizontally across the hat, diverging from a central knot in the from.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NO. 23]

For the Woman with Tapering Chin.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NO. 24]

The woman who is the exact opposite of the type with the ample lower jaw, but whose chief disadvantage lies in her broad, manly brow and tiny tapering chin, should avoid all horizontal tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs, bows or broad hat-brims. It is clear, in No. 24, that such tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs increase the wedge-like appearance of the face and give it the grotesque suggestion of an ordinary flower-pot in which grows a sickly plant. This type can perceptibly improve upon nature by choosing the style of hat and neck-gear shown by No. 25.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NO. 25]

The crinkly ovals that form the brim of the hat, and the soft, graceful arrangement of the hair in front that decreases the too broad effect of the brow, and the full fluffy ruff snuggled up closely to the chin, produce a pleasing transformation of the meagre-looking original that to the uninitiated seems little short of magical. The broad, cravat-like bows, and the flaring ones known as "incroyables," were beneficently wedge-like faces and throats that have lost the seductive curves of youth.

Hat for the Chubby Woman.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NO. 26]

That amiable type of woman formed conspicuously upon the circular plan often unconsciously impresses the fact of her fatal tendency to rotundity by repeating the roundness of her globular eyes, the disk-like appearance of her snub nose and the circle of her round mouth, and the fulness of her face by wearing a little, round hat in the style portrayed by No. 26.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NO. 27]

The curls of her bang, the feathers in her hat, the high collar of her jacket make more significant the fact that her lines are not artistic and that her face is unbeautifully round. She can enhance her charms and apparently decrease the too spherical cut of her countenance by adopting the mode ill.u.s.trated in No. 27. The angular bows on the hat, the geometric lines of the broad hat-brim, the precise cut of the lapels on the corsage, the neat throat-band and V-shaped vesture--all insinuate in a most engaging way a dignity and fine, high-bred poise totally obliterated by the circular style of dress erroneously adopted by the misguided woman in No. 26.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NO. 28]

For Women Who Have Sharp and Prominent Profiles.

In buying a hat many of the "unfair s.e.x"--as the modern wag dubs the progressive sisters who wish to have all man's rights and privileges and keep their own besides--never seem to consider their heads but from a front point of view. In consequence, as sketch No 28 hints, a head seen from the side frequently appears, if not idiotically, very inartistically, proportioned.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NO. 29]

Occasionally a hat presents as comical an effect in a from as in a side view, as may be seen in No. 29. The wearer was an elderly woman with gray hair which hung down in a half-curled bang on either side of her thin face. Her hat which was simply "dripping" with feathers suggested a fanciful letter "T" and exaggerated the thinness of her face in a remarkably funny way. The feathers overhanging the brim increased the broadness of the hat, and looked singularly waggish fluttering against the spriggy-looking projections of gray hair. The rules for the wedge-shaped face, as may readily be discerned, apply here.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NOS. 30 AND 31]

Women who have sharp and prominently outlined profiles have a curious tendency to choose hats, the brims of which project too far forward in front, and turn up too abruptly and ungracefully in the back.

As shown in No. 30 the protruding brim gives the head and face the unattractive proportions of the capital letter "F." The length of the nose is emphasized by the line of the hat-rim above it and it appears unduly obtrusive. The flat arrangement of the hair and the curve of the hat-brim in the back also exaggerate the obtrusive qualities of the features. By choosing a hat somewhat similar to the one sketched in No.

31, the unattractive sharpness of the profile is modified, and the alert, agreeable quality of the face, that was obscured by the shelf-like brim, becomes apparent. The observer feels, if he does not voice it, that it is a progressive spirit advancing forward instead of an ungainly head-piece that looks like a curious trowel.

For the Woman with an Angular Face.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NOS. 32 AND 33]

The woman with the angular features presented in No. 32 should not wear a sailor-hat or any hat with a perfectly straight rim.

The sailor-hat or any style bordering on it should be selected with utmost discrimination. This mode is unbecoming to a woman more than forty; or, to one who through grief or worry prematurely attains a look of age, or to one whose features are irregular. The straight brim across the face is very trying. It casts a shadow deepening the "old marks"

and instead of being a frame to set off, it seems to cut off, the face at an inartistic angle.

The woman with angular features, as may be seen by No. 33, can wear with impunity, and always should wear, a hat the brim of which is waved, turned, twisted, or curved in graceful lines. The uneven brim of her hat makes an effective complement to the angularity of her chin, which is further softened by the feathery ruff that encircles her throat. The curves of the ostrich plumes, and the studied carelessness of the arrangement of her coiffure, subdue the angles of her face which are brought out in unbecoming prominence by the sailor-hat.

Women Who should Not Wear Horns.

The velvet horns on either side of a hat, the steeple-like central adornments that were once much in favor, and the Mercury wings that ornament the coiffure for evening dress, produce some startling, disagreeable, and amusing effects not altogether uninteresting to consider.

Faces in which the eyes are set too near the forehead acquire a scared look by being surmounted by a bonnet upon which the tr.i.m.m.i.n.g gravitates to a point in an arrangement not unsuggestive of a reversed fan, horns, or a steeple.

The most unpleasing developments result from the wearing of the horn-like tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs either in velvet or jet. If the face above which they flare has less of the spiritual than the coa.r.s.e propensities in it, the grotesque turns and twists in the head-gear emphasize the animality in the lines characteristic of low-bred tendencies, and the whole countenance is vulgarized. One face acquires the look of a fox, another of a certain type of dog, and so on.

The most amusing exaggerations of distinctive facial lines are produced by Mercury wings. The good-natured woman of the familiar type depicted in No. 34 brings every bovine attribute of her placid countenance into conspicuous relief by surmounting her face with the wings of the fleet-footed G.o.d. The cow-like form and serenity of her features are made laughably obvious.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NO. 34]

Short, delicately-faced women can adorn their coiffures with Mercury wings with most charming results. Wings, or perpendicular bows, add length to the lines of the short face, giving it a certain suggestion of refinement and distinction that is wholly destroyed by the wearing of any tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs that show at the sides.

NO MATTER WHAT THE PREVAILING STYLE THESE RULES MAY BE PRACTICALLY APPLIED.

CHAPTER III.

LINES THAT SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED AND CONSIDERED IN MAKING COSTUMES.

Mme. La Mode, much misrepresented as are all who are embarra.s.sed with world-wide popularity always considers when designing fas.h.i.+ons that women vary in form, as in mood. She suits all needs, although this fact has never been cast to her credit. With a beautiful sense of adjustment--as obvious as that in Nature, that projects the huge watermelon to ripen on a slender vine on the ground and swings a greengage plum on the stout stem of a tree to mature in storm or s.h.i.+ne--Mme. La Mode, arbiter of styles, balances her fas.h.i.+ons.

Never came the big hat without the small bonnet. Accompanying the long cloak is the never-failing short cape. Side by side may be found the long coat and the short, natty jacket. This equilibrium in wearing apparel may be traced through all the vagaries of fas.h.i.+on.

Everybody's need has been considered, but everybody has not considered her need.

The short, stout woman pa.s.ses by the long coat better adapted to her and seizes a short jacket--a homeopathic tendency of like suiting like, sometimes efficacious in medicine, but fatal in style.

Style for Tall Slender Woman.