business, for a loose coat is nothing if not graceful in outline. It is
impossible to tell, when seated on a wooden horse, how a loose coat will
hang when ridden in, so the finishing touches, such as pockets, &c.,
should never be made until the wearer has tried the coat on her own
horse, with a critical friend to ride with her and tell her if anything
is amiss with it. The little extra trouble this precaution may involve,
is nothing as compared with the disappointment of having to "put up"
with an ill-fitting garment. Some tailors have a Mayhew saddle on their
block horse for fitting skirts; because in that kind of saddle, the
crutches give them no trouble as regards "poking up"; but if a lady uses
a saddle with ordinary crutches, she should be wary and take her own
saddle for the fitting of her skirt. There are habit makers who
recommend tight-fitting coats for stout figures, because, they argue,
the bulk is there and must go somewhere; but a deaf ear should be turned
to such arguments, as an ample figure should be concealed; not
accentuated. Naturally these gentlemen are prejudiced against loose
coats, for apart from the difficulty in making them, they cut into a
much larger amount of valuable cloth than tight-fitting ones. Tailors
will readily admit that this shaped coat is the best for young girls,
because tight-fitting ones would give them too much of a "grown-up
appearance," but not for the stout girl, who has far more need to
conceal her "grown-up appearance"!

[Illustration: Fig. 59.--Front view of good riding coat.]

Twenty years ago tailors were much more particular over their work than
they appear to be at the present time. Creed always insisted on a lady
bringing her own saddle, before he would fit a habit, and, if the
garment did not please him, it would be discarded and another cut out
ready for her when she next came to be fitted. This generous method of
dealing was amply repaid; because it soon became known that the old man
would not allow an imperfect garment to leave his shop.

For hunting, it is best to have a coat which will afford us protection
from cold and wet, and therefore its fronts should be made to cover the
right knee, the buttons being concealed under the "skirt" of the coat.
This shape is in every way good, because there are no floppy fronts to
trouble us by blowing back on windy days, and when the rain drips from
the hat, the coat-covering helps to keep our right knee dry. In the
old-fa