A Treatise on Domestic Economy; For the Use of Young Ladies at Home and at School

should not wear light delicate colors, except shades of buff, fawn, or straw color. Pearl white is not good for any complexion. Dead white and black look becoming on almost all persons. It is best to try colors, by candle-light, for evening dresses; as some colors, which look very handsome in the daylight, are very homely when seen by candle-light. Never cut a dress low in the neck, as this shows that a woman is not properly instructed in the rules of modesty and decorum, or that she has not sense enough to regard them. Never be in haste to be first in a fashion, and never go to the extremes. In buying linen, seek for that which has a round close thread, and is perfectly white; for, if it be not white, at first, it will never afterwards become so. Much that is called linen, at the shops, is half cotton, and does not wear so well as cotton alone. Cheap linens are usually of this kind. It is difficult to discover which are all linen; but the best way, is, to find a lot, presumed to be good, take a sample, wash it, and ravel it. If this be good, the rest of the same lot will probably be so. If you cannot do this, draw a thread, each way, and if both appear equally strong, it is probably all linen. Linen and cotton must be put in clean water, and boiled, to get out the starch, and then ironed. A long piece of linen, a yard wide, will, with care and calculation, make eight shirts. In cutting it, take a shirt of the right size, as a guide, in fitting and basting. Bosom-pieces, false collars, &c. must be cut and fitted, by a pattern which suits the person for whom the articles are designed. Gentlemen's night-shirts are made like other shirts, except that they are longer. In cutting chemises, if the cotton or linen is a yard wide, cut off small half gores, at the top of the breadths, and set them on the bottom. Use a