ifold opportunities for cultivating it.

His claim is the same as that made in our _Art of Interior
Decoration_; the connoisseur is one who has passed through
the schooling to be acquired only by contact with
masterpieces,--those treasures sifted by time and preserved
for our education, in great art collections.

Tappe emphasises the necessity of knowing the background for
a costume before planning it; the value of line in the
physique beneath the materials; the interest to be woven
into a woman's costume when her type is recognised, and the
modern insistence on appropriateness--that is, the simple
gown and close hat for the car, vivid colours for field
sports or beach; a large fan for the woman who is mistress
of sweeping lines, etc., etc.

Tappe is absolutely French in his insistence upon the
possible eloquence of line; a single flower well poised and
the chic which is dependent upon _how a hat or gown is put
on_. We have heard him say: "No, I will not claim the hat in
that photograph, though I made it, because it is _mal
pose_."

[Illustration: _Sketched for "Woman as Decoration" by Thelma
Cudlipp_
_Tappe's Creations_]

In England, and far more so in America, men are put down as effeminate
who wear jewelry to any marked extent. But no less a person than King
Edward VII always wore a chain bangle on his arm, and one might cite
countless men of the Continent as thoroughly masculine--Spaniards in
particular--who wear as many jewelled rings as women. Apropos of this, a
famous topaz, worn as a ring for years by a distinguished Spaniard was
recently inherited by a relation in America--a woman. The stone was of
such importance as a gem, that a record was kept of its passing from
France into America. As a man's ring it was impressive and the setting
such as to do it honour, but being a man's ring, it was too heavy for a
woman's use. A pendant was made of the stone and a setting given it
which turned out to be too trifling in character. The consequence was,
the stone lost in value as a Rubens' canvas would, if placed in an art
nouveau frame.

Whether it is a precious stone, a valued painting or a woman's
costume--the effect produced depends upon the character of its setting.

CHAPTER XXV

IDIOSYNCRASIES IN COSTUME

Fashions in dress as in manners, religion, art, literature and drama,
are all powerful because they seiz