owledged that there is nothing so well suited to all
seasons. It looks better than anything else, is the pleasantest to
wear, and may be procured of almost any substance. Velveteens have
a very good effect--better than most materials; and when they are
braided well, they are very effective. The black looks the best, and
is the most serviceable; and when worn with a mantle, or cloak, or
jacket to match, it makes one of the best costumes for walking or
driving. The brown velveteen is effective. It is considered warm
and light,--two most important qualities for clothing; for, with the
amplitude of modern skirts, it is absolutely essential that materials
should be light as well as warm.

For spring and summer it is needless to specify more materials than
have been already named. The only point to be considered is that in
spring, dress should be, in our uncertain climate, suited to changes
of weather, and temperature, and should be in harmony with the season
when nature is putting on her best apparel, and woods and fields
become hourly more green and full of vegetation. In summer, dress
should be light and cool and quiet; because, beneath a glowing sun,
bright colours do not please, unless they harmonize with the blue sky
or green earth.

The second important point in matters of dress is the make or cut.
Upon this depends the question whether cheap materials can be worn. An
ordinary stuff or calico well made, fashionably made, and well put on,
is never out of place. It, not unfrequently, puts to shame many richer
materials which are not so well made nor so well selected.

This question of make or cut (call it which you please) is not
sufficiently considered, especially by the young.

Some people think no one can be well dressed who is not expensively
dressed, whose gown is not richly trimmed; but it is a great mistake.
Many persons are absolutely ill-dressed who spend a fortune upon their
clothes.

The young should bear in mind that simplicity is what harmonizes best
with youth, but care must be taken to avoid the simplicity of the
school-room and of a "miss in her teens." We can call to mind a young
lady who made her appearance at an evening party in London, where
"all the world and his wife" were collected together, and when it was
necessary to be somewhat smart, in a rather skimp spotted muslin, with
a black belt and a few black cherries in her hair. She looked, as the
reader will easily believe, like a young lady i