LOOKING SLENDER IS AN ART, A NECESSITY, AND A PLEASURE
We cannot all be beautiful but we can give pleasure to ourselves and
others by being correctly and pleasingly attired at all times. And it is
necessary, too, this keeping always alert, in this day of competition
and progressive freedom of women. Your responsibility to look well is
greater than ever before. So work, watch, study and persevere and be
happy about it. Good health is the greatest essential. And no matter
what you weigh, you can, by following the rules given you in this book,
look at least 20 to 40 pounds lighter than you are. You can have real
fun and keep off any additional weight by your alertness, interest and
enthusiasm for looking your “slenderest best” all the time.
Of course, women who are decidedly overweight need to know these rules
of slenderizing dress more than those who are only a few pounds above
the normal. But in this imperfect world of ours there are few women
indeed, no matter how much or how little they may weigh, whose
proportions are perfect and satisfactory. Where indeed is the woman or
girl who would not like to be a little slimmer here, a little taller
there, a little more gracefully proportioned one place or another?
HARMONIOUS PROPORTIONS—THE AIM OF EVERY WOMAN
I cannot be too emphatic in my assertion that the wrong clothes, or even
a wrong detail in a costume may mar an entire effect and may indeed
create the illusion of ungainliness and dumpiness even in a girl who may
be _underweight_, as far as actual pounds go. Perfect proportions then
are the aim of every woman who wants to make the best of herself and I
am certain that a careful study of these rules of optical illusion and
an intelligent application of them will improve the appearance of
_every_ woman.
Nor is it the moneyed woman who is always the best dressed. Far from it
indeed. Sometimes it is the shop girl whose few dollars have been wisely
and intelligently spent for smartness and becomingness who looks most
charming and most distinguished, for since these girls rarely have rich
furs and jewels they can more simply and more tellingly emphasize beauty
of line and color.
The stout woman improves her position by omission rather than addition.
“Every little bit added to what you have makes just a little bit more”
is all right for Scotch pennies, but not for one who is working to look
30 or 40 pounds lighter. Be slim by being trim; be attractive by being
immaculate; and strive with all your might for grace, ease, and personal
charm. Never yield to a misuse of color, line, or fabric. Never give up
in your determination to dress for slenderness. You must admit right now
that it is far more interesting than diet and much more effective.
And now that you know the rules, study and practice them. Apply them to
perfection so that when dressed you will make a picture of loveliness
such as all may envy and admire.
Whistler says, “A picture is finished when all trace of the means used
to bring about the end has disappeared.
“To say of a picture, as is often said in its praise, that it shows
great and earnest labor, is to say that it is incomplete and unfit to
view.
“The work of the master reeks not of the sweat of the brow—it suggests
no effort.”
So hide the means, let it not be visible to any one that you have
deliberately and with intent worked to achieve slenderness in your
dress. Only in that way will you really achieve it.
SIMPLICITY IS THE FIRST ESSENTIAL
As you have read and studied this book you have been told many times
what _not_ to do. This advice has been repeated so frequently because I
have wanted to impress you with the fact that _simplicity_ in dress is
the first essential of Youth, Dignity and Slenderness. So to leave out
of your costume the offensive coloring, line or trimming is of prime
importance.
Here are a few points always to be remembered in planning and designing
or in buying clothes for yourself:
Choose fabrics that cling, that are of smooth, soft surface, that are
lusterless.
Choose colors that recede—none that “light up” and “advance” in the eye.
Avoid clothes that are too small.
Avoid a tight, short waist line.
Avoid skirts that are too full, too short, or too long.
Use set-in sleeves rather than kimono sleeves unless the arm is very
attractive. Then the sleeve must be very short or the dress sleeveless.
And here, finally, are ten chief rules that will help you profit to the
utmost by what you have learned from this book and aid you speedily in
attaining that slenderized appearance which is your aim:
HERE ARE THE TEN CHIEF RULES IN A NUTSHELL
1. Whenever you make over an old garment or design, have made, or
purchase a new one always apply to it the rules of optical illusion as
regards line, color, and fabric.
2. When you know what is becoming, try to achieve becomingness in an
_attractive_ way, emphasizing as much smartness and youthful charm in
your dress as age, circumstances and occasion will allow.
3. Consider what is best for you as an individual. Study your type until
you are sure what you can and what you cannot wear—do not try fantastic
experiments unless you have unlimited means.
4. Make it a definite rule to assemble your attire and decide on every
detail before you begin to dress.
5. Aim always to be refreshing, clean, neat, and carefully groomed.
6. Wear neat, good-looking, perfect fitting shoes appropriate to the
size of your feet, and choose trim, sheer stockings that do not contrast
too strikingly, if at all, with the color of your costume.
7. Be sure your corsets are right for you and that they surround you
comfortably, but do not mold or hold your flesh too tightly. Let your
brassiere fit perfectly.
8. Let your slip be of fine, smooth silk or batiste. Have it of the same
color as your dress or of a harmonizing shade. Let the bottom edge come
a trifle shorter than that of the dress, and be sure it fits you without
a wrinkle.
9. When you are dressed, look yourself over carefully in front of your
mirror and improve every detail as much as possible. Before the last
look or the last dab of powder, consider carefully whether you are
overdressed and whether all accessories go together, and especially make
certain that you are not overtrimmed with jewelry, necklaces, or
knickknacks.
10. Then, when all is done, put on a smile that expresses the finest
that is in you, that compliments you for doing your best. And if, to
this smile, you add all the kindliness that you can command, all the
happiness that you can summon, your friends and your very own folks will
declare you charming.
PRINTED IN U.S.A.
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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling.
2. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed.
3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
End of Project Gutenberg's Dress and Look Slender, by Jane Warren Wells