In selecting a pattern for a girl’s plaid dress care should be used to secure one with as few seams as possible. Every seam is a danger zone. Only persons with great poise and power of concentration, if they notice their surroundings at all, will be able to remain unaffected by a conspicuous seam when the plaids “don’t hit.” Some plaids are designed so that it is very difficult to match the pattern in the seams of the skirt or a stretched selvedge will add to the difficulty. A gored skirt pattern making bias seams necessary should never be used for plaid material. Arm holes and shoulder seams should be carefully planned. A kimona sleeve simplifies the arm-hole problem but will not prove so satisfactory in a wash dress. Plain material, either white or colored, makes a happy combination with plaids or figured material.
The accompanying designs are particularly becoming to slender girls. The wide soft belts and collars and the contrasting materials in the sleeves will seemingly add weight to slender young figures. In planning tucks and band trimming for a skirt the result will be much more pleasing if variety is used in the width of the bands and the spaces between the bands.
[Illustration: PLAID AND FIGURED MATERIAL FOR SLENDER FIGURES]
If the school room is not an appropriate place for elaborate or fanciful clothes, surely the street is less so. The truly refined woman will never wear those things on the street that will make her conspicuous. Here all classes of people meet and mingle, supposedly on business bent, and the girl who appears in this public place in party clothes shows either very poor judgment or that she is striving to attract public attention in the cheapest possible way.
The most stylish girls seen in the city streets are those gowned in simple well-made dresses or tailored suits. Hats, gloves, and shoes should be as carefully considered as the dress itself and all should harmonize.
A simple dark silk dress is almost an essential for street wear in spring and summer, to replace the heavier suit or serge dress. Taffeta is an excellent material for this dress and makes a much cooler and more youthful dress than satin. A taffeta dress needs little trimming, if cut on interesting lines. Buttons, tucks, and plaited frills of the same material may be used most effectively. Little bits of hand embroidery or attractive light collar and cuff sets add much charm to this type of dress. Bright colors should not appear upon the street. A “loud” color attracts attention as successfully as a loud noise. Any dark neutral color becoming to the wearer is well for the street dress. Wool mixtures and tweeds are particularly good for suits built on box or belted lines. Sport clothes will give the young girl a wonderful opportunity for the use of brilliant color. Dresses worn at home and for afternoon and evening functions permit the use of delicate colors, more elaborate trimming, and more perishable materials.