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IN CONCLUSION

<< WOMAN COSTUMED FOR HER WAR JOB
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under the pressure of necessity which opens up brain cells, steels the heart, hardens
the muscles, and like magic fire, licks up the dross of humanity, aimlessly floating
on the surface of life, awaiting a leader to melt and mould it at Fate's will into
clearly defined personalities, ready to serve. This point has been magnificently
proved by the war now waging in Europe.
Let us repeat; that from the beginning the story of woman's costuming proves her
many-sidedness, the inexhaustible stock of her latent qualities which, like man's,
await the call of the hour.
IN CONCLUSION
The foregoing chapters have aimed at showing the decorative value of woman's
costume as seen in the art of Egypt, Greece, Gothic Europe, Europe of the
Renaissance and during the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. To
prove the point that woman is a telling note in the interior decoration of to-day, the
vital spark in any setting, we have not dwelt upon the fashions so much as
decorative line, colour-scheme and fitness for the occasion.
It is costume associated with caste which interests us more than folk costume. We
have shown that it is the modern insistence on efficiency that has led to appropriate
dress for work and recreation, and that our idea of the chic and the beautiful in
costume is based on appropriateness. Also we have shown that line in costumes is
in part the result of one's "form"--the absolute control of the body, its "carriage,"
poise of the head, action of legs, arms, hands and feet, and that form means
successful effort in any direction, because through it the mind may control the
physical medium.
It is the woman who knows what she should wear, what she can wear and how to
wear it, who is most efficient in whatever she gives her mind to. She it is who will
expend the least time, strength and money on her appearance, and be the first to
report for duty in connection with the next obligation in the business of life.
Therefore let us keep in mind a few rules for the perfect costuming of woman:
Appropriateness for each occasion so as to get efficiency, or
be as decorative as possible.
Outline.--Fashion in silhouette adapted to your own type.
Background.--Your setting.
Colour scheme.--Fashionable colours chosen and combined
to express your personality as well as to harmonise with the
tone of setting, or, if preferred, to be an agreeable contrast to
it.
Detail.--Trimming with raison d'être,--not meaningless
superfluities.
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It is, of course, understood that the attainment of beauty in the costuming of woman
is our aim when stating and applying the foregoing principles.
The art of interior decoration and the art of costuming woman are occasionally
centred in the same individual, but not often. Some of the most perfectly dressed
women, models for their less gifted sisters, are not only ignorant as to the art of
setting their stage, but oblivious of the fact that it may need setting.
Remember, that while an inartistic room, confused as to line and colour-scheme can
absolutely destroy the effect of a perfect gown, an inartistic, though costly gown
can likewise be a blot on a perfect room.
***END  OF  THE
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WOMAN
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DECORATION***
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