DAUGHTERS 341 



dress artistically and peculiarly, and who look well in 

 whatever they put on ; but these are the exception, and 

 their imitators — as is usual with imitators — are apt to 

 adopt their faults rather than their merits. Exceptional 

 dress, independently of the wearer, is rarely, I think, 

 attractive. Women who have dropped out of the 

 fashion themselves are apt to be a little tried, when 

 their daughters grow up, by the dress of the day, and to 

 think it rather exaggerated and ridiculous, just as the 

 daughter would feel her mother's wedding-gown to be 

 impossible and out-of-date. A mother can only give her 

 daughter general training, and then leave her to dress 

 as she likes, merely offering her the kindly criticism that 

 would be given her by a friend or a sister; for every 

 woman looks best in that which she herseH has chosen, 

 and which is an indication of her own individuality. By 

 this I do not deny that many a mother would dress her 

 daughter much better than the girl would dress herself ; 

 but the note of character would be wanting, which, in my 

 opinion, makes dress in the long run the most becoming. 



Even when they are children, little girls often surprise 

 their parents by saying something unexpectedly different 

 from what they have been taught. I know a father who, 

 when walking with his smaU daughter in the streets of 

 London, stopped before the window of a smart milliner's 

 shop. When they had looked and admired for a Uttle time, 

 the father, perhaps rather priggishly, remarked : ' After 

 all, my dear, I hke simplicity best.' The child answered : 

 ' That's not at all like me, father; I like splendour best.' 



Deny it as we wiU, the real object of dress is to 

 attract ; and for a woman to dress herself in crimson and 

 purple, when she knows quite well that her husband or 

 father prefers quiet colours, or even black, shows a 

 neglect of the amenities of life that is stupid, if it is 

 nothing worse. 



