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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.
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.
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WOMAN
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