Dorothy Quigley

“ Elderly women should not wear bright flowers on their bonnets or hats. Fresh-looking roses above a face that has lost its first youthfulness only make that fact more obvious. Forget-me-nots, mignonettes, certain pretty white flowers, the palest of pink roses, or the most delicate tint of yellow veiled with lace are not inappropriate for those who do not enjoy wearing sombre bonnets and hats which are composed only of rich, black textures. Lace cleverly intermingled with velvet and jewelled ornaments of dull, rich shades are exceedingly effective on the head-gear of the old. ”

“ Old Dame Nature is the prime teacher of these bewitching artifices. Note her fine effects with mists and cobwebs, with lace-like moss on sturdy old oaks, the bloom on the peach and the grape. Nature produces her most enchanting colorings with dust and age. ”

“ It is no unworthy study to learn to make the best of, and to do justice to, one's self. Apropos of this, to begin—where all fascinating subjects should begin—at the head, it behooves every woman who wishes to appear at her best, to study the modelling of her face that she may understand both its defective and perfect lines. By a proper arrangement of her hair a woman can do much to obscure or soften her bad features, and heighten the charm of her good ones. ”

“ Absolute cleanliness, cleanliness as exacting as that proper nurses prescribe for babies, is the first and most important factor in making old age attractive. Rich dress, in artistic colors, soft, misty, esthetic, comes next; then the idealizing scarfs, collars, jabots, and fichus of lace and tulles. Old people becomingly and artistically attired have the charm of rare old pictures. If they have soul-illumined faces they are precious masterpieces. ”

“ Every woman, if so inclined, may prove for herself the transfiguring effect in a becoming coiffure. In fact, the beauty of a woman's face and her apparent age are greatly affected by the way she wears her hair.
A most important detail that too few consider, is, the proper direction in which to comb the hair. Women literally toss their tresses together without any attention to the natural inclination of the individual strands or fibres. They comb their hair "against the grain." Those who do so never have beautifully and smoothly arranged coiffures. ”

“ Laces, gauzes, mulls, chiffons, net, and gossamer throw the same beautiful glamour over the face and they are fit and charming accompaniments of gray hair, which is a wonderful softener of defective complexions and hard facial lines.
Too much cannot be written upon the proper arrangement in the neck-gear of the aged. The disfiguring wrinkles that make many necks unsightly may be kept in obeyance by massaging. No matter what the fashion in neck-gear, the aged must modify it to suit their needs. An old lady with a thin, pipe-stem neck should adopt a full ruche and fluffy, soft collar-bands. ”

“ No matter what its color or texture we desire to keep it and if we are wise we will make the best of it.
In regard to hats we are personally responsible and our follies are upon our own heads.
The power of caricature being greater in hats than in hair-dressing, is it not fit that we should give careful and intelligent consideration to the selection of our millinery that the ugly lines in our otherwise beautiful faces may not be at the mercy of mocking bunches of ribbons, comically tilted straws, or floppy bits of lace? ”

“ Despite the traditional belief that a décolleté corsage is a tyrannous necessity of evening dress, a woman not graciously endowed with a beautifully modelled throat and shoulders may, with perfect propriety, conceal her infelicitous lines from the derisive gaze of a critical public. ”

“ The perfect poise of his attitude is not unsuggestive of the Apollo Belvedere—the model for all men—a picture of which every college boy should have to place beside the prettiest girl in his collection of pretty girls, to constantly remind him to carry himself like a young god. ”

“ Did you ever observe, dear comrade, what an element of caricature lurks in clothes? A short, round coat on a stout man seems to exaggerate his proportions to such a ridiculous degree that the profile of his manly form suggests "the robust bulge of an old jug." ”

“ Women are indebted to that gentle genius, La Duse, for the suggestion that a veiled throat and bust may charmingly fulfil the requirements of evening dress, and also satisfy that sense of delicacy peculiar to some women who have not inherited from their great-great-grandmothers the certain knowledge that a low-necked gown is absolutely decorous. ”

“ The lines of your form, the modelling of your face, are they not worthy of your discerning thought? Truly! Whatever detracts from them detracts from sculpture, painting, and poetry, and the world is the loser. ”

“ As the fashion in hair-dressing does not grant man the privilege of enhancing his facial attractions; nor of obscuring his defects by a becomingly arranged coiffure; and, as the modes in neck-gear are such that he cannot modify the blemishes of a defective complexion by encircling his athletic or scrawny throat with airy tulle, or dainty lace, that arch-idealizer of pasty-looking faces ”

“ It may readily be seen that a woman with the square, heavy-jawed face pictured by No. 5, should not adopt a straight, or nearly straight, bang, nor wear her hair low on her forehead, nor adjust the greater portion of her hair so that the coil cannot be seen above the crown of her head. The low bang brings into striking relief all the hard lines of her face and gives the impression that she has pugilistic tendencies. ”

“ A fluffy, softly curled bang adds grace to the forehead and gives it the necessary broadness it needs to lessen and lighten the heaviness of the lower part of the face. A bow of ribbon, or an aigrette of feathers, will add effectively the crown of braids or puffs which a wise woman with a square jaw will surmount her brow if she wishes to subdue the too aggressive, fighting qualities of her strong chin. ”

“ The wearer had a face as grave as an undertaker's and the air of a serious-minded college professor; but he had the nondescript look of a scarecrow composed of whatever available garments could be obtained from the cast-off wardrobe of summer boarders in a farmhouse.
Coats assuredly have the power of making cartoons—living, jocular cartoons—of their wearers. It would hardly seem necessary to call attention to the fact that a man of huge dimensions should not wear a short coat, such as shown in sketch No. 91, yet his type is too frequently seen attired in this style. ”

“ A hair-dresser arranges, at least once a week, the hair of the modish woman if her maid does not understand the art of hair-dressing. Many women of the wealthy world have their maids taught by a French coiffeur.
A wise woman will adopt a prevailing mode with discretion, for, what may be essentially appropriate for one, may be fatally inappropriate for another. In adjusting her "crown of glory" a woman must consider the proportions of her face. She should be able to discern whether her eyes are too near the top of her head or, too far below; whether she has a square or wedge-shaped chin ”

“ A throat like a ten-stringed instrument, surmounting square shoulders that end in knobs that obtrude above unfilled hollows, is an unpleasing vision that looms up conspicuously too often in opera-box and drawing-room. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ One observer of beauty-giving effects has not unadvisedly called the waist-line "the danger-line." A stout sister, above all others, should not accentuate the waist-line. She should conceal it as much as possible. ”

“ Faces in which the eyes are set too near the forehead acquire a scared look by being surmounted by a bonnet upon which the trimming 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 trimmings either in velvet or jet. If the face above which they flare has less of the spiritual than the coarse 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. ”

“ HOW MEN CARICATURE THEMSELVES WITH THEIR CLOTHES.
Although in the dress of man there are fewer possibilities of caricature than in that of woman, yet, "the masterpieces of creation" frequently exaggerate in a laughable—and sometimes a pitiable—way, certain physical characteristics by an injudicious choice of clothes. ”

“ The V-shaped vesture gives her a longer waist, and the long lines of the revers add to the length of her skirt. If her hips are too prominent, she should avoid having any tight-fitting garments that bring the fact into relief. She should not wear the long coat, but she can effectively modify it to suit her needs, by only having a skirt, or tabs, or finishing straps in the back. If her jacket or basque is finished off with a skirt effect, it is best to have the little skirt swerve away just at the hip-line, half revealing and half concealing it. ”

“ A study of the lines of the form will not only aid one in adopting a more becoming style of dress, but will sharpen the artistic perceptions, thus adding to the joy of life.
"A beautiful form is better than a beautiful face" and should be clothed so that its lines may appear at their best, and not be exaggerated and caricatured. ”

“ The woman who wears her silken tresses arranged on either side of her head, draped like curtains from a central parting, is to be envied if she can do it and yet look young and pretty. She is the Madonna type and seems to possess all the attributes of gentleness, modesty, and meekness, and angelic sweetness that are supposed to characterize the distinctively feminine woman. This is the ideal style of coiffure much bepraised by man, because, according to a bright modern Amazon, "it makes a woman look so meek." ”

“ Of course, there is an uplifting truth in George Herbert's maxim, "This coat with my discretion will be brave," yet, I am inclined to think that the majority of men who will stop to consider will agree with Emerson, who says, "If a man has not firm nerves and has keen sensibility, it is perhaps a wise economy to go to a good shop and dress himself irreproachably. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Black, and black-and-white, soft white chiffon veiled in lace, cashmeres, and such refined tissues should be selected by those in "the first wrinkles of youth." Grays combined with filmy white material, dull bronzes lightened with cream-tinted lace, are also charmingly appropriate. Pale blue veiled in chiffon is another grateful combination.
White should be worn more than it is by old ladies. It is so suggestive of all that is clean, bright, and dainty; and if there is anything an old lady should strive to be in her personal appearance it is dainty. ”

“ Any woman who arranges her hair as in sketch No. 16 caricatures her facial defects by increasing the too protuberant lines of her nose. The distance from the end of her nose and the tip of the topmost knot of hair is too long for either beauty or intelligence. The shape of her head acquires idiotic proportions, and her nose is placed entirely "out of drawing" and is obtrusively conspicuous when seen in profile. This type of woman is generally classified among the inquisitive, bright, and energetic. ”

“ Beautiful wraps, or coats that do not come very far below the hip-line, can be worn becomingly by elderly ladies, neither emphasizing their years nor making them appear too frivolously attired. There is a smack of truth in the maxim, As a woman grows old the dress material should increase in richness and decrease in brightness. ”

“ The women who does not possess delicate personal charms commends herself to the beauty-loving by forbearing to expose her physical deficiencies. Unless it is because they are enslaved by custom, it is quite incomprehensible why some women will glaringly display gaunt proportions that signally lack the exquisite lines of firm and solid flesh. ”