also receive the necessary
consideration from the fitter.

Care should be taken that the skirt fits well over the right knee, when
the wearer is seated in her saddle. Creed and other good makers of the
past always padded this knee part, which gave not only a nice, rounded
appearance to the knee, especially in the case of a very thin lady, but
ensured the skirt being put on straight with a minimum of trouble.
Present day skirts have not this small round pad for the right knee to
fit into, but its omission is far from being an improvement on the old
fashion.

[Illustration: Fig. 56.--The apron skirt closed for walking.]

Whatever shape a lady may select for her riding coat, she should pay
particular attention to the fit of the sleeves, which must not in any
way hamper the movements of her arms. Before trying it on, its wearer
should procure a good pair of riding corsets, which must allow free play
to the movements of her hips, and, above all, she must not lace them
tightly. Wasp waists have luckily gone out, never, I hope, to return.
The size of a woman's waist, if she is not deformed, is in proportion to
that of the rest of her body. Therefore, a pinched waist, besides
rendering the tightly girthed-up lady uncomfortable, to say nothing of
its probable effect on the tint of her nose, deceives no one. It is
impossible to ride with ease and grace in tight stays, a fact which we
should remember when trying on a habit coat, for the fitter will follow
the shape, or mis-shape, of the corsets, and the coat will be built on
those lines. The back of the garment should be quite flat, and padding
may be needed in the case of hollow backs, as there should be no high
water line across the back defining where corset ends and back
commences. The collar should fit nicely into the neck at the back, and
not gape open from being cut too low. There should be no fulness at the
top of the sleeves, for nothing looks more unsightly than "bumpy
shoulders" on horseback. It would be well for the wearer when trying on,
to lean back and extend her arms, as she would do when giving her horse
his head over a fence, in order to find out if the sleeves are likely
to hamper the movements of the arms, as they sometimes do, from the coat
being cut too narrow across the chest. It is no use fitting on a coat
once or twice, and then leaving it to chance; for, to secure a perfect
fit, the garment will require to be tried on until there are no further
altera