Dressing with Etiquette (Part I)

http://kitchenretro.wordpress.com/2008/05/01/pictorial-review-fashions-summer-1918/

A proper lady does not only act correctly, but dress correctly (according to an etiquette guide from 1918.  However, dressing correctly is not as easy as it may seem.  This week, we shall review how to dress correctly (1918 style):

Dress is...essential.  By this is not meant a rigid adherence to fashion, -the stamp of a weak mind, -or even good taste, but an eye to the appropriate and fitting.  First of all, dress should be subordinated to character, that is, it should be no  more costly than the wearer can afford, and no more striking than modesty and good taste allow. 

Good taste in dress means plain and simple styles, but material as elegant, serviceable, and pleasing as one's purse permits.   It means also a few things well chosen and kept in good order, rather than many things more or less untidy; that one's wardrobe will be harmonious, - not a cheap, shabby garment to-day, and an expensive, showy one to-morrow...

One should not mix one's wardrobe.  A coat of one suit and the skirt of another should not be worn together.  A carriage parasol should not be used on a sunny promenade, nor an umbrella in a carriage, or open automobile.

It is necessary to wear a dress appropriate to the occasion in order to be well dressed.  No matter how excellent one's costume may be, if it does not suit the time and place it is absurd and incongruous.  Some of the major rules for appropriate dress are as follows.....

 From: The Etiquette of To-Day, Edith Ordway (1918)