DRESS 231 



ing to them full of the memory of days when the horse 

 indeed was king. 



If a woman wishes to express originality in her rid- 

 ing things let her, if she has courage enough, go for 

 inspiration to the old sporting prints of long ago rather 

 than rely on the idiotic ideas of modern tailors, who 

 usually do not know a horse from a cow ! If you are 

 neither courageous nor artistic enough to copy the 

 quaint ladies and gentlemen in the old prints — and 

 in the case of the former it would, I grant, be well- 

 nigh impossible, since modern saddles and modes of 

 riding for women have altered so greatly — it is best 

 to abide by the traditional riding clothes that have 

 been proven to be serviceable by generations of rid- 

 ing men and women. 



For these models of sporting attire we must, of neces- 

 sity, turn to the English, who for centuries have ex- 

 celled in this line and have produced tailors who, ac- 

 cordingly, have evolved clothes most suited to riding. 

 Some Americans, usually of the provincial type, think 

 that it is unpatriotic and affected to copy English 

 styles; I fail, however, to see why it is any more un- 

 patriotic or affected to go to England for our sporting 

 models than it is to go to Paris for our evening dresses 

 and lingeries. Why should we be willing to admit 

 that the Parisian woman has a "chic" about her, which 

 distinguishes her from all other women in the world, 

 and yet be so reluctant to admit that the English 

 woman, on a horse, is perfection itself. 



It is not so very astonishing that American men 

 seem to think that "any old thing" will do for riding, 

 for they are, in any case, apt to be rather negligently 

 dressed, and inclined to think that a smartly turned 

 out man is a bit "dudish." It is a never-ending mys- 



