taken in green, orange, or red, the lights would be very
prominent, and the portrait lack energy and detail. The best of all
dresses is black silk,--_silk_, not bombazine, or merino, or any
cottony mixture, as the admirable effect depends on the gloss of the
silk, which makes it full of subdued and reflected lights that give
motion and play to the drapery. A dead-black dress without this
shimmer would be represented by a uniform blotch; a white dress looks
like a flat film of wax or a piece of card-board; but a combination of
black net or lace over white is very effective, though rarely ventured
upon. An admirable softness and depth of color are given to
photographs by sealskin and velvet.

Complexion must be considered with dress. Blondes can wear much
lighter colors than brunettes. Brunettes always make the best pictures
when taken in dark dresses, but neither blondes nor brunettes look
well in positive white. Are any pictures so universally ugly as bridal
ones? All violent contrasts of color spoil a picture, and should be
particularly guarded against; and jewelry imparts a look of
vulgarity.

Blondes suffer most in photographic pictures; their golden hair loses
all its brilliancy, and their blue eyes, so lovely to the poet, are
perplexity to the photographer. Before facing the lens, blondes should
powder their yellow hair nearly white; it is then brought to about the
same photographic tint as in nature.

Freckles, which are hardly any blemish in the natural face, become, on
account of their yellow tint, very unpleasantly distinct in a
photographic picture, and often give to the face a decidedly spotted
look. They are easily disguised for the occasion. There ought to be in
the dressing-room of every studio a mixture of a little oxide of zinc
and glycerine; this is to be thinned with rose-water till of the
consistence of cream, and applied to the face with a piece of sponge
previous to the photographing process. It leaves the skin a delicate
white color, and masks all freckles and discolorations. Let a lady
with freckles try her picture first without this mixture, and again
after the sponge and the cosmetic, and the value of the receipt will
be at once appreciated. Its use has long been advocated by the
_British Journal of Photography_.

In connection with this fact we may offer a few words of advice to
ladies whose skins are apt to tan and freckle when exposed to the
summer sun. Blue is, of all colors, most read