To be properly gowned from morning until night is the objective of every truly smart girl, be she schoolgirl, business girl, or the woman who carries on, between her own four walls, the important business of running a home. It is her objective because she has come to appreciate the tremendous importance of the eternal fitness of things in this matter of dress. Surely no one can deny that the properly dressed schoolgirl studies with greater concentration; that the appropriately dressed business woman works with keener attention to details; and that the correctly clad woman at home administers her affairs more easily and is herself happier when suitably and becomingly dressed than would be possible if she were merely clothed.

This theory is just plain, every-day common sense, for we happen to be made in such. a way that our minds can concentrate on only one thing at a time, and that thing is pretty apt to be our own appearance if there is anything wrong with it. On the other hand, if the dress is right in style and correct for the occasion, the mind is at ease, the nerves relax, and the charmingly natural person who results, can forget herself and go about her affairs with perfect poise.

Evening is the time for breaking away somewhat from the restraint of the day. Gowns are made sleeveless for freedom of movement as well as for picturesque effect. The decolletage is low for the same reasons, and the love of color is given free reign.

Materials for evening wear were never lovelier or more flattering than at present. In fact, the fabrics are so lovely that little or no decoration is used. First and newest of all, is the closely swathed Gypsy girdle that has recurred periodically since the days of Cleopatra. Placed low on the hips, it ties in a great bow with floating ends, which is itself a very new note in decoration. It is, in fact, giving serious competition to the flowers that have long bloomed on hips and shoulders. Nor should one overlook the smart flare of the skirt.

This model could be developed beautifully in Georgette, crepe Elizabeth, crepe de Chine, crepe satin, metal cloth, or even lace, with girdle and bow of velvet. Or, since this is a velvet season, make the dress of velvet, and the girdle of metallic cloth or ribbon.

The same foundation pattern used for the afternoon dress type will serve for this also, by cutting the modish V-front, round-back neck line, omitting the sleeves, and inserting circular godets in the side seams. These are shaped like pieces of pie, about 32 inches wide at the widest point and 20 to 24 inches deep. Insert these with plain seams and allow the dress to hang a few days so that it may stretch. Then measure it off evenly, and bind or face it, using the same finish for the neck and sleeves.

Mary Brooks Picken created a revolution in 1924 when she developed a method of making a fashionable 1920’s dress in only one hour. To prove the doubters wrong she organized public demonstrations of the method all over the country.