e not cheap in price.

[Sidenote: Design of Lace]

Handsome lace should be applied rather plainly, as the pattern is often
lost in the gathers. Fine laces are out of harmony with heavy or coarse
materials. When lace is desired for flounces that with running patterns
which neither advance nor retreat, except in the folds which may be
made, will be found most pleasing. Distinct objects, such as baskets,
crowns, vases, etc., which suggest weight, are unsuitable patterns for
so light a fabric as lace.

[Sidenote: Placing of Decorations]

Attention to details is essential in the placing of these decorations,
as in the selection or making of them. The worker should take into
consideration the shape and size of the bands or pieces of trimming and
should note carefully the chief characteristics of the design and above
all the junction of leaves, flowers, arabesques, especially in the
finishing of the corners of collars and cuffs.

[Sidenote: Simplicity and Harmony]

Those at all skillful with the use of the needle can attain the most
beautiful and artistic results if right laws in color and design are
adhered to, even by the use of the simplest stitches, for the beauty of
dress lies not so much in the richness and variety of material used as
upon simplicity and harmony--a fact too often disregarded.

[Sidenote: The Bow]

Perhaps no ornament is more abused than the bow. In order not to appear
intrusive, ribbons require the most delicate handling. The only excuse
for a ribbon as an ornament is when it makes a pretense of tying. When
used as a sash where folds or gathers are confined, the tone of the
ribbon should, in general, vary scarcely from that of the dress.

[Sidenote: Fitness of Place]

Whatever the ornament used, whether embroidered band, a ribbon, a cord
that laces, a diamond pin, or a jeweled buckle, though it may possess
great intrinsic value and beauty, it cannot be considered of real worth
as an ornament unless it fulfills the most important condition--fitness
of place.

Although the art of dress admits of innumerable variations, like all
other arts it is subject to the three rules of beauty--order, proportion
and harmony.

Ornaments are appropriate on the hems or edges of garments where it
serves the purpose of strengthening and protecting the parts most worn,
and not simply where fancy or fashion dictates.

[Sidenote: Natural Centers]

The natural fastenings and fold centers should be along the ax