There is a semi-evening dress which may be worn to afternoon affairs or to dinner and to all evening entertainments except very elaborate ones. For these a woman's gown should be _décolleté_ and should be of beautiful material. The color and design are at the discretion of the individual but it is well to remember that those which are simplest are most effective.
It is trite to remark that a woman's crowning glory is her hair, but it is true. The manner in which it is arranged should depend upon the kind of costume she is wearing. Only in the evening should she wear heavy bandeaux, aigrettes, etc.
Scattered about elsewhere in these volumes under the theater, etc., more details are given as to the proper kind of dress to wear. Remember this: it is always better to be underdressed than to be overdressed.
It is interesting to note how closely the history of dress parallels the history of civilization. With the awakening of shame came the virtue of modesty. With modesty came the desire for clothes, and clothes brought thoughts of higher ideals, wider desires than those merely of the animal. Out of the desire to cover the body grew the love of decoration, of beauty. Slowly, through the ages, as the love of beauty advanced and was cultivated, an artistic sense developed which is the very flower of our civilization.
Perhaps the most effective way to tell the story of dress is to make this very striking comparison. First let us go back to the time of the prehistoric cave-woman. In her breast the first thought of shame has stirred, and she makes for herself a covering--a dress. She makes it of the skin of a newly killed animal. It is raw and ugly and unpleasant. But the owner feels naught but pride in its ownership, for it is a good skin, impervious alike to the ravages of sun and rain--and its style is exactly like that of the other women in the tribe.
Now let us stand for a moment on a corner of Fifth Avenue, New York's famous avenue of fashion. We see a modern young woman on her way to the theater. From the tips of her French-heeled slippers to the jaunty little hat on her head, she is--perfect. Her gown seems to express in every line the story of her own personality. The color-scheme might well have been invented by Mother Nature herself. The wrap she wears is of sable furs--but how different from the furs of her sister of ancient days! Each skin is exquisitely glossed and dressed, and the whole matched to perfection.