Virginia M. Alexander

“ One of the most important events in the life of every girl is her graduation, and we shall here consider the dress worn by her when she has fulfilled all the requirements and that long-anticipated day arrives. ”

“ In a truly good high school, of all places, a student must do or die, and there is no time here to be wasted on thoughts of frills and furbelows. School room walls and blackboards do not make consistent backgrounds for party clothes.
In the past the high school girl who was considered well-dressed by her associates was the one who was elaborately dressed. Now, since the girls of our country are interested in all the big world issues of the day and have taken efficiency as their watchword the girl who is a leader is the girl who can do, not the girl who can dress. ”

“ In selecting a pattern for a girl’s plaid dress care should be used to secure one with as few seams as possible. Every seam is a danger zone. Only persons with great poise and power of concentration, if they notice their surroundings at all, will be able to remain unaffected by a conspicuous seam when the plaids “don’t hit.” Some plaids are designed so that it is very difficult to match the pattern in the seams of the skirt or a stretched selvedge will add to the difficulty. A gored skirt pattern making bias seams necessary should never be used for plaid material. ”

“ Almost everyone has fallen a victim to a wonderfully colored plaid on display, to discover later that buying a plaid is a much simpler matter than making it into a dress. Plaids are fatal for stout people. Area is the impression always created by them and unless the pattern is very small and the colors very soft and indefinite, they should be reserved for the use of children and young girls. There is no colored costume that will make a woman more conspicuous than one made of a large black-and-white plaid material. ”

“ The most becoming gown fails in its function if the hair is tousled or dressed unbecomingly. Many girls fail to realize how they may overcome some of Nature’s faults and shortcomings and how they may counteract the effect of bad features and proportions by the correct use of line when dressing the hair.
If “ear muffs” become stylish, the little round-faced girl who knows nothing of art or design as related to herself must bulge her hair over her ears whether it makes a full moon of her face or not. Girls should dress in style but styles should be modified to suit each individual. ”

“ The truly refined woman will never wear those things on the street that will make her conspicuous. Here all classes of people meet and mingle, supposedly on business bent, and the girl who appears in this public place in party clothes shows either very poor judgment or that she is striving to attract public attention in the cheapest possible way.
The most stylish girls seen in the city streets are those gowned in simple well-made dresses or tailored suits. Hats, gloves, and shoes should be as carefully considered as the dress itself and all should harmonize. ”

“ A French or spindle heel is absolutely inconsistent for any occasion when walking or standing is to be done and is certainly not artistic when worn with a tailored dress or suit. Vanity, gratified by a foot that seemingly is a bit smaller, should not compensate for the loss of good health, good sense, natural grace and efficiency. An elaborate evening dress may call for a higher heel than the one worn on the street, but it will not excuse the wabbly spindle heels sold girls by many ruthless concerns. ”

“ The garment worn directly under the graduation dress has much to do with the effect of the dress itself. This garment should not be picked up at random but the fullness of its skirt and the design around the neck should be planned to suit the particular dress pattern selected.
Underwear is to the dress what the foundation is to a house, and it should be built just as skillfully. It is impossible to secure a dainty graceful effect in a dress when it is worn with a clumsy petticoat. ”

“ The slouchy, humped-over girl is unattractive enough when young, but when she develops into a misshapen woman with superfluous flesh about the abdomen and shoulders the most skillful artist will be unable to disguise her deformities. ”

“ If lace is used on the graduation dress, do not sacrifice quality for quantity. A small amount of good lace skillfully used will make a much handsomer garment than one festooned with rows of a cheap quality. A self-trimmed organdy dress is very distinctive. Dainty little frills and pin tucks may be used in many interesting ways, and they may be planned so as to be becoming to almost any figure. ”

“ The hair is a frame for the face. The delicate blonde and the strenuous athletic brunette may no more wear the same coiffure than they may safely wear the same colors. A miniature and an oil painting would certainly not be framed alike. ”

“ Styles change in underwear just as they do in dresses and the silhouette of the outer garment must decide what the lines of the under one shall be. For the present styles soft yielding materials are absolutely necessary for underwear and few flounces should be used about the bottom of the skirt if the clinging effect around the ankles and knees is desired in the dress. ”

“ The simple and beautiful graduation dress of the past has assumed more elaborate proportions during recent years until it has reached the point where the students themselves realize that a halt must be called. Georgettes, chiffons, and expensive nets have supplanted cotton weaves and elaborate creations of lace and satin are not infrequent. The cost of the dress itself is increased by such expensive accessories as long white kid gloves, expensive slippers and stockings. ”

“ Style depends not only upon the proper selection of clothes but very largely upon the way these clothes are put on and worn. Many girls wearing beautiful clothes are decidedly “not stylish.” Their clothes look as though they had fallen upon their owners. This is caused by the fact that the wearer does not carry herself well, or has not good poise. Nothing is so vitally necessary for good health and good looks as good posture. ”

“ Buttons, tucks, and plaited frills of the same material may be used most effectively. Little bits of hand embroidery or attractive light collar and cuff sets add much charm to this type of dress. Bright colors should not appear upon the street. A “loud” color attracts attention as successfully as a loud noise. Any dark neutral color becoming to the wearer is well for the street dress. Wool mixtures and tweeds are particularly good for suits built on box or belted lines. Sport clothes will give the young girl a wonderful opportunity for the use of brilliant color. ”

“ The stout girl should carefully avoid a design in a dress that is too cut-up or complicated. Tunics, unless long and scant, are unfortunate usually and the interest created by trimming about the waist line or elaborate belts should never be indulged in by the stout girl. ”

“ Color has a magnetic attraction for the eye and wherever placed immediately attracts attention to that spot. I am sure refined girls do not wish to invite public interest in their lingerie through the use of bright colors in their ribbons. The most delicate tints are permissible, but should be used only in small quantities. White only should be used with the graduation dress. ”

“ Contrasting shoes and stockings not only cut from the height of the figure but help to accent the feet and ankles of the wearer. The girl who wears white shoes with her dark dress states, by so doing, that she considers her feet well worth public consideration. ”

“ A very transparent outer garment demands a most carefully selected under garment and more often than not this care is not wisely exercised by the wearer.
A white shirt waist and dark skirt is a very utilitarian combination, but from an art standpoint it is not considered good design. For a costume to possess art quality it must have unity; the wearer and her clothes should create an impression of “oneness.” ”

“ The slender girl with a narrow face and thin neck should be most careful with the use of line around her face. Hair combed in on the cheeks and high and back from the forehead will make more evident her slenderness. ”

“ APPROPRIATE CLOTHES FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL GIRL
Many a girl feels, when she first enters high school, that she is a child no longer. She has suddenly become a woman, and she must demonstrate this fact to the world immediately by her clothes. ”

“ Elaborate lace trimmings are neither in good taste nor stylish, and handwork constitutes the decoration on many of the most attractive of these garments. Colored lingerie and bright-colored ribbons should be worn only when the dress is not transparent. ”

“ Length-producing lines should always be planned and light or colored collars should always be designed so that interest will not be created out towards the sides of the figure, creating width, but down the center front instead. ”

“ The College of Industrial Arts, in its efforts to be of service to the girls and women of Texas, has made it possible for those desiring patterns of the graduation dresses illustrated in this bulletin to secure them through the Department of Extension of the College. ”

“ A hard neck line or chains and ties repeating the point of her chin will make it appear more angular. Soft flowing lines in the hair, worn low on the forehead and back from the cheeks, should be adopted. ”