SPECIAL ADVICE TO LADIES.
For the following the author is indebted to a lady who has made
several trans-Atlantic voyages, and is consequently familiar with the
necessities and comforts of ocean travel:
"It is simply preposterous," says a fashionable friend of mine, "Here
you are, going to sail for Europe in three days, to be gone three
months, and you have nothing ready but that same old trunk, plastered
all over with baggage labels, every color of the rainbow." _J'ai
repondu, "C'est assez, mon ami."_ If you wish to examine its
contents I will show it you with great pleasure, and any one else who
may desire to see how I "stow away" my traps can look on at the same
time. But as the steamer-clothing, etc., will be the first to be used,
I'll show you the contents of this little fifteen-inch square box
first. This I call my "steamer-trunk." It is not a steamer-trunk
proper, but I find it much more convenient than a long flat one such
as is used to go under the berth. This will stand on one side of the
wash-stand in the state-room, where a camp-stool is generally found,
and by placing a folded shawl on top it makes a permanent,
comfortable, and firm seat, saves trouble of stooping and dragging it
out, as is the case with an ordinary steamer-trunk, when you want to
open it. The lid has a flat leather loop in the center for a handle
and can be easily lifted when closed. There is a small tray inside
which I use as a "catch-all," and there is plenty of room under the
tray for all the clean linen I shall require on the voyage. This and
my dressing-bag, with one shawl-strap, is all the baggage I put into
my state-room.
Some ladies strew things, "conveniences" they call them, from the top
to the bottom of the state-room; quite regardless are they to the
convenience and comfort of a possible fellow passenger. Do whatever
you please if you can afford a state-room to yourself. But if not,
pray keep your own side of the house. Other folks put a lot of
eatables in their berths and then complain of rats. Don't take
anything in the eating line except a basket of lemons, and if you must
take something to drink let it be Chartreuse. Take a box of cathartic
pills, and if you need a dose make it a little larger than you would
under the same circumstances on shore. Coarse blue flannel or serge is
the best for deck wear. Have the skirt of the dress as short as
possible without looking odd. Attach the skirt to the waist of the
dress and make the front without side forms so that it will look well
without a corset. A blouse waist, if well made, will be suitable for
almost any figure, and is the most comfortable, but it must fit
perfectly round the neck and shoulders.
One flannel skirt, one thin skirt of some bright clean gingham, warm
flannels next the body, one pair of overall flannel drawers, bright
turkey red, to be worn over the ordinary underclothing and slipped off
on going below, two pair stout boots with good square heels, and
buttons or laces to support the ankles properly, warm stockings of
silk or very fine wool. Don't weigh yourself down with a lot of
skirts. Have the limbs well covered and free for walking. No matter
what season of the year, take along a good stout cloth ulster,
reaching to the bottom of your dress and securely buttoned from the
throat to the bottom; no hood nor cape for the wind to make a sail of,
only one good broad collar for turning up to keep your ears and neck
warm while promenading the deck or sitting in your steamer chair; two
or three good outside pockets are indispensable. Never venture on deck
without this coat, and a big shawl to cover your feet while sitting
down.
Wear an ordinary night-dress in your berth, and have a flannel
dressing-gown made without any lining to wear over it when going to or
from the bath-rooms, some of which are very luxurious if you enjoy
bathing in seawater. Don't fail to have gauntlets sewed on to your
gloves to keep your wrists warm. You must make your own selection for
head-wear; soft felt hats are very comfortable, but not always
becoming. One of the prettiest and most comfortable head-coverings for
ladies over 30 is a sort of Normandy cap or bonnet made of silk with
soft crown and the breast of a grebe on one side; it will not spoil or
get out of shape easily. The best way to dress the hair is to make a
smooth coil at the back of the neck and keep the front tidy by
brushing each time you go to the state-room; frizzing and curling are
impossible and ludicrous. A pretty opera-hood will do good service for
a change.
If the weather is very warm on the day you are to sail, carry your
steamer-clothes in your shawl-strap and wear a dress that will do you
service for a change on the journey. On your arrival in Europe put the
same dress on to go ashore and put your steamer-clothes into the
little trunk, taking out the underclothing, which will now be soiled,
and put it into your shawl-strap. Leave your steamer-trunk, chair,
shawls, etc., with the steamship company, subject to your order or
return. Put your name in full, and make all into one package, if
possible.
The large trunk is a Saratoga, 36 inches long, 23 high, and 20 inches
in width. There is only one tray, one end of which has a separated
compartment for bonnets or hats, and it is quite large enough to
contain three without injury if properly packed round with tissue
paper to prevent their falling from side to side. The other two-thirds
of the tray is open and flat. Here are collars, cuffs, gloves,
ribbons, pocket-handkerchiefs, a few bright bows, ready looped or
tied, for hair, neck, and corsage, eight pairs of stockings, such as I
wear ordinarily, four pairs extra thick for cold weather, or for
mountain climbing, one small box in one corner for cuff-buttons and
some inexpensive jewelry which can be worn without constant fear of
losing. One little plump pincushion with plenty of short shawl-pins,
three or four long hat-pins and plenty of black and white, small ones,
some safety-pins, and a few needles on the under side. Make a loop at
one corner to hang it up by.
Into the convex portion of the lid (which has a separate cover with
hook to fasten), are three pairs of boots, one for dress, one for
walking, and one extra stout pair for bad weather. Into the remaining
space I have put a shawl and wrap, which will not spoil by being put
into so small a space; also my bathing-suit of blue flannel, which is
always kept in a rubber water-proof bag, with drawing strings, thereby
making it portable whether wet or dry, which is a great convenience,
both at home and abroad, for the reason that when you take it off you
can immediately put it into the bag, draw the strings together and
carry it back by them to your hotel to be dried by the chambermaid.
Never leave a nice bathing-suit at the bath-house to be dried. If you
do, the probability is that when you need it you will find it wet from
some one else having worn it, and the buttons off at the places where
they are most needed. There is yet space enough left in this little
convexity for a few books, and also for a small bundle of things for a
friend whom I wish to remember.
When all these things are taken out for use on arrival, the space is
very convenient for soiled clothing, it being quite separate and
distinct from any other compartment. Do your own packing if you do not
keep a maid. Have a place for everything, so that when you want
anything in a hurry, or you feel tired, you will not have that
interminable bug-bear of "having to unpack everything to find it."
Many a good manager or housekeeper seems perfectly lost when she
contemplates the possibility of "living in a trunk," as it is vulgarly
called. But if she will bring some of her good common sense to bear
upon these smaller details, she will find it not only adds greatly to
her own comfort, but it will save her friends from the depression of
listening to her uninteresting complainings.
Now we lift out the tray, which has two strong loops for that purpose.
You can do it yourself, for it is not heavy, having no heavy articles
placed in it. Into the body of the trunk put all undergarments first.
Don't roll anything up; lay all as smooth and even as possible. About
twelve of each article will last you twenty days. Whatever the season
of the year, don't fail to take a couple of flannel skirts and some
warm underflannels for extra cold or damp days, and before dressing
each morning take a peep at the sky and ask the weather which kind of
undergarment you shall put on, thick or thin? One of the greatest
comforts for breakfast wear is a wrapper of very dark, soft summer
silk costing about 50 or 60 cents per yard; line it throughout with
unbleached muslin; twelve yards of silk will make it if cut sparingly,
_a la princesse_ robe, loose in front with demi train. Trim the
front from the throat to the bottom of the skirt with some cheap cream
color or black lace, with a few bright bows of your favorite colored
ribbon, about one inch wide, tack some of the lace in pleats round the
neck and fasten securely down the front with buttons concealed under
the lace, put a patch pocket on each side with one bow on each, one
bow and a little of the lace on each sleeve, and you have a dress that
will not spoil if you wish to lie down. It is always tidy with or
without a corset. You can go through the halls of the hotels in it,
and if indisposed you can receive your intimate friends without making
a change. It will do more service than a dozen dressing-sacques, and
it saves washing, which is quite an item to the economical.
One black grenadine walking dress, made fashionably, looks pretty for
evening wear, but it must be lined throughout. No transparent sleeves
and neck for rheumatism and consumption. One black silk made to wear
with or without extra wraps for the street. One black or very dark
green, or smoke-color cashmere for rougher wear, trimmed with satin
bands, will not catch the dust and looks handsome. One India silk and
one alpaca ulster with plenty of pockets, and if you have a couple of
dresses which you wish to finish wearing out, see that the skirt braid
is in good order and take them along to wear under the ulsters, for
railroad traveling, staging, etc. See that the ulsters fit properly.
Don't imagine that because the material is thin it will accommodate
itself to your shape. Have the silk one washed as often as required,
and it will look like new every time. A blue gauze veil worn with
either of these ulsters looks stylish, and a soft felt hat, if
suitable to your face, will be the most comfortable for your head. Put
a wing or bow of ribbon on the left side, but no ostrich feathers. I
would remark that a due regard should be given to the color of the
bonnet or hat, also to bows of ribbon or lace, selected to be worn
with the dresses. The reason is obvious, viz., when traveling from
place to place you have very little time for dressing and arranging
becoming toilets, therefore--don't mix things. Put on each article
which is intended to be worn with its particular dress, and instead of
the fatigue of "changing your dress" every time you go somewhere, you
will have only to put on bonnet, gloves, and wrap, and there you are,
smiling and ready in three minutes. Husbands, brothers, and
fellow-travelers will appreciate this when they find that it is not
necessary to ask you, "How long will it take you to get ready?"
Get a yard and a half of unbleached glazed linen and bind it all round
with wide red worsted braid. Put this into the trunk with a good long
shawl-strap, also your umbrella and parasol. One black parasol with
white lining will do for every dress, and look as if it were made for
each one in particular. You will not _need_ any of these things on the
voyage, so you can put "_Hold_" in large letters on the trunk, and
that will insure you against the temptation of opening it on the
steamer. When you arrive at the end of your ocean journey, you will
appreciate the comfort of having everything to your hand directly you
open your trunk.
Rest for one night (at least) at the place of landing, whether
Queenstown, Liverpool, Havre, or elsewhere, and have your soiled linen
washed. If at an English port, you will probably go on to London for
your first sightseeing; if at Havre, your destination will probably be
Paris. In either case you will find it pleasant to stop over night at
one or other of the most attractive towns on the way, and for your
greater comfort you will take out one complete change of clothes,
viz., a fresh dress and some under-linen, and your lace-trimmed
wrapper. Spread the afore-mentioned "linen wrap" out smooth, lay your
dress lengthwise in the center first, then put the other things on top
(lengthwise also), and lastly your umbrella and parasol. Fold each
side of the linen cover over so as to nearly meet in the center, and
then roll up from end to end, and put your shawl-strap around it.
This, and your dressing-bag, is your baggage when you expect to be
away from your trunk for a few nights. Send the trunk on by _petite
vitesse_, or ordinary freight, to your ultimate destination. It
will make an appreciable difference in your expenses, and like a
thoughtful friend it will be waiting for you on arrival, and will have
secured a room at the hotel to which it has been addressed. By
following this plan you will always have a complete change with you,
and will be relieved from the bother of looking after a trunk while on
your journey. The hotel manager can always tell you about forwarding
your trunk, and the porter of the hotel will attend to the matter. And
now let me tell you about my hand-bag and what it contains.
The best satchels, and the most convenient, are those which open very
wide and display their contents without obliging one to hunt for each
little article needed.
Fold a nice clean night-dress in a piece of paper and place it in the
bottom. It is a great comfort to have such a necessity so handy in
cases of late arrival at hotels, great fatigue, and possible accident.
Don't forget a clean towel. A good-sized sponge, in a water-proof bag
long enough to contain a tooth or nail-brush (some of these bags have
a separate pocket for the brushes), have a piece of soap in a tight
metallic soap-box; one good-sized bottle of cologne-water or bay rum,
well corked; one powder-box, with cover screwed on firmly; one
medium-sized hand-mirror; a small bag (with drawing string), into
which you have put plenty of buttons, spools of silk, thread, needles,
and thimbles.
One thin blotter containing writing-materials, and which is small
enough to lay flat against one side of the hand-bag, and can be
slipped in and out without disarranging the other things, small bottle
of ink, with screw or spring top, a couple of pens, and plenty of
pencils. Comb and brush in a bag made for the purpose out of a dark
silk handkerchief or a piece of chintz. Silk is the best because it
will not so easily catch the dust. There is always a little pocket on
one side of bag for a paper of pins, a button-hook, and hair-pins,
also a pair of scissors.
Put everything back after using, and make your handbag your catch-all
in the state-room, and when the weather is rough you have only to
close it and so keep everything secure and in its right place. When
going a journey by rail put in your guide-book and a magazine. Also, a
common fan on top to be easily reached.
For a becoming head-covering to wear in railroad carriages, and to
keep the dust from your hair when you wish to rest your head, which
often gets tired from wearing a hat for several hours, take a
gentleman's small-sized silk pocket handkerchief, of becoming color,
and trim the edges with some cheap black Spanish lace, gathering it
round the corners so it will lie flat and round. Fold it crosswise,
and lay it with two corners on the top of the head, and tie the other
two together either under the chin or back-hair. Then make two little
pleats on each side of the head near the temples, making it fit the
arch of the head nicely, and you will find that it is very
comfortable, and takes up little room in your bag.