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This isn't a book on fashion-which is capricious anyhow-but I think it is important to discuss what you wear when you entertain.
There is no rule in this book about what you should wear to any specific party. I do believe, however, there are some basic rules about dressing which should be followed by every woman for every occasion. Men already have too many rules and are too fierce about sticking to them without adding more to encourage their conservatism about clothes.
why women dress
It is said that women dress to annoy or compete with other women and to please men. I say that women dress to make themselves feel well
groomed, at ease and able to cope with social situations. It will, I hope, be useful to set down some simple, general principles for women in the matter of dress. In cases where women follow fashion rigidly, they make some terrible mistakes. Fashion is what "they" say is to be worn this week, this month or this season, never longer. Style, not fashion, ought to be your criterion. If your clothes are stylish this season, they will still be stylish five years from now. Once they're right for you (which is style), they stay right for you no matter what absurd fashion is in vogue in the meantime.
a little matter of taste
If you're not sure that your taste in clothes is good, you will be insecure and uncomfortable, and in that state it's almost impossible to do anything right. Assurance is what you need to act with ease and graciousness.
One general rule which applies in any situation is never to overdress. The best dressed people have an air of quiet elegance. And quiet elegance is a matter of good taste, not money. Good taste can be acquired, not entirely, perhaps, but with thought and observation and application. You must study the art of dressing well, just as you would the art of painting or of music. You look at clothes as much as you can-in shops, in windows, in magazines, on people. You talk to what seem to you your well-dressed friends and find out what they use as guiding principles in buying their clothes. At first you may be confused, but as you learn, it will be clear to you why certain clothes are in good taste and others aren't. You begin to apply these principles to yourself to find, with happy confidence, that your taste in clothes is good!
clothes for you
You will get great help in discovering "your type," that is, the clothes which suit you, from the salespeople of custom establishments, but few of us can afford made-to-order clothes.
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