WHEN ARE WOMEN WELLDRESSED?

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1721, 11 April 1913, Page 6

WHEN ARE WOMEN WELLDRESSED?

— -» ■rao A year to avoid being "DEPLORABLE." What proportion of her husband's Income ought a woman to spend on dress? the late President of the United States received <£15,000 a year (apart from travel* ting allowance), und it is said to be Mrs, ..lalts experience that a President's wifo cannot, meet .the .sartorial needs of her position on less than ,£]4oo a year. In contrast to this is the declaration of rt *~ ocnirou' "\\ ilson, wife of the new I resilient, that slie has never speut any--s,(;a i' 011 clothes. !.• I^adoi ~J rppreseutativo aslced Mrs. Aria, a leading expert on questions .of fashion in England, how much' it luight reasonably cost an Englishwoman. to ■be well-dressed. , "Of course," Mrs.- Arm pointed out, the - question is largely, a relative, one. A 'woman s dress must-depend entirely upon her mode, of life—the. people among ivhoin she moves, the amount of enteriainment that falls her way, and the latent of her responsibilities. _ "Even (supposing you take up philanthropy, you must hUve the right to dress lobs philanthiopic in. You must do it 111 tweed; 01', if your philanthropy takes Inc. note of patronising art nnd music and giving concerts, then you must do it in velvet and lace. • lv , on . lan is going to lead a merely idle life —being the audience, so to speak— then she must express the fashion. The woman who lives in Regent's Park, say, 'ind goes out onco oi-twice a week, doesn't want nearly so many clothes as the woman ivho lives in Carlton House Terrace and has to 'go out every night,-whether she Wants to or not, for diplomatic or political ' reasons. - Then tlie woman who always goes out- same circle cannot always go in the same dress—she must luivo fresh clothes, and plenty of them." "I am not speaking of the ultra-extrava-gant woman,' Mr£. i! Aria' : remarked. "She can easily spend .£3OOO a year. It would ba quite absurd for Mrs. Woodrow Wilson or ' anybody to lay down a hard and fast rule , of not exceeding .£2OO a year, especially in America, where you pay <£60 for what you can get for ,£2O here!'but I do not gather that she lays it down as a rulo for other people." ' "What proportion of a husWd's inoome should bo allotted to his wife's dress?" Mrs. Aria was. asked. "That is a' difficult question to answer definitely," she confessed. "So much depends upon circumstances—the size of the . family, for example. A woman can really spend anything from £30 a year upwards. [ could dress comfortably on, any sum between .£3o'and ,£3OOO. ' ' "Thirty pounds a year will give an intelligent woman, with some taste, a couple of tailor-made gowns a year, one of blue serge and the other of tweed. Sho must ba content with moreen petticoats at is. lid.,'and the equipments to correspond. Then she might get through on ,£3O ft year. She would never look nice, but she need not look deplorable." "But supposing she wants to bo really ivell-dressed?"-"It dejpends upon how much sho can do herself—whether she can make her own blouses, .whether she-is clever in adapting last season's hat to'this year's fashion. If she can trim her own hats and inako her own neckties and blouses sho mi'.'ht look, almost elegant on ..£SO a. year. But she must be supremely clever, with the instinct for dress that every woman has not got. I have seen a woman look nice on .£SO a year, and I liave seen a womtuj. look horrible on ,£500." Mrs., Aria's, opinion is that the average society woman must spend .£3OO or JESOO a year oil her clothes. "Of course," she added, "I »m not including furs, oil which you •can spend almost any amount. The. ten evening gowns at JCGO each, in the American calculation, you wonld get for half the amount here. .Tay'p and Pnquin's will sjivo yoii quite a' decent evening dress for .£3O. I think .£3OO for hats and gloves excossive. "Silk stockings are essential ,fnr some women. Ton cannot get anv fit to. wear under 7s. Gd. a pair, and you cannot do with less., than two. do7.cn pairs a year. ■ Then, with regard to uiider-srarnients— sonic women are perfectly comfortable in nainsook, while to others only 'linon de fil' is possible, and the really fine qualities cost 18s. a. yard. , "Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, I am sure, is not laying down rules for other women. IfSlie were engaged upon- any such costume crusade, I am afraid it would not augur well for her success in Washington society. I expect, too, there would 1)0 many nioro strikes among tho American 'shirt-waisters.'"