Detail of embroidered suede collar. Dull beads arranged in groups of three and four, connected by strands of heavy filoselle stitched down with fine

In all cases cuffs can be made en suite to match the collar, also buttons, which must be first embroidered on rounds of suede and then firmly secured over wooden moulds. If beads are used for cuffs and buttons, it is most important that they should be fastened down very securely. When the collar is completed, it should be sent to the tailor just as it is on its coarse canvas foundation, so that he may cut it out and place it on the coat in a workmanlike fashion. It is at all times a great pity not to have a beautiful piece of work skilfully mounted by an experienced person. So with the suede collar; for a really happy result an expert should adjust it on to the coat. It passes out of our province to his with the sewing of the last bead or fixing of the last strand of silk.

Very beautiful, soft, pliable belts may also be made out of this embroidered suede. Belts to match our gowns in delicate shades, embroidered in scintillating beads with beautiful silks. Just as the suede for the collar is fastened on to canvas, the suede for the belt should be first of all tacked down securely on to the canvas. The belt must be made up with this at its back to keep it firm. It may be covered with a soft silk.

Elegant bags, so beloved by smart Parisians, may also be made of embroidered suede. Choose a design which is of the free, conventional order. It is quite easy to cut out one of these picturesque wallets on a sheet of brown paper, placing this then on the suede, and stitching the shape around in white cotton. Two pieces of suede will be required to form the bag. Upon this a couching of dull gold or silver thread would look well, whilst the beads may either match the suede or gown, or they can be of silver or gold. A pale rose bag embroidered in dull beads and filoselle with touches of gold, or with beads forming stars around discs of gold, would be charming. When the embroidery is completed, the insides of the sides of the bag should be covered with a soft glace silk, which will form the lining. The sides of the bag may be either oversewn in filoselle or machined the wrong side, and finished off all round with a dull gold cord or fringe. Gold cord should compose the long pull cords, which are so smart on this style of bag. Bags of this shape were much used in the early eighteenth century, elaborately embroidered on a ground of silver or gold needlework, and finished off with silver tassels and cords.

By The Hon. Mrs. Fitzroy Stewart

The Thriftless and the Thrifty - The Universal Attraction of a Bargain - The Art of Shopping to Advantage - Some Hints on Shopping - The Ready-made Dress - Bargains that are Genuine

In Sir Walter Besant's clever book, "No Other Way," he makes the salient observation that there are two main divisions of the human race : the first, and by far the more numerous, consists of those with whom a guinea turns into sixpence as soon as it enters their hands; and the second, and far rarer kind, those in whose hands every sixpence is certain to become a guinea.

This remark applies to the subject of sales with much precision. July and January are the critical months of the year from the point of view of the economical dresser. Town and country mice alike are equally keen, and in either case the average woman will then be blessed or burdened with many a new possession. And the state of her bank account a month later will go far to prove whether or no she owns the solid qualities of foresight, shrewdness, and self-restraint.

One fact is certain. The summer sales bring a zest into the lives of countless women such as nothing else on earth can provide. Londoners come in their thousands; and from the country and the suburbs women stream in, their faces set in an expression of stern yet joyous endeavour.

From early morn to golden eve they work harder than any soldier in the field; they bargain and reckon like born traders; and from year to year they go on, and profit nothing by past experiences. Once a frequenter of sales, always a lover of sales; and this whether the women in question are young or old, rich or poor, hard workers or idle pleasure-seekers.

Age has nothing to do with it. You may be a girl of twenty fighting for a sailor-hat or parasol, or you may be a woman in the eighties bargaining for a woollen wrap. Intellect has nothing to do with it. You may be a Girton girl or a militant Suffragette, but you extract joy from the hat that is sold for ten-three, or the frock that is " sacrificed " at thirty shillings.

Money has nothing to do with it. A noted duchess may be seen in Westbourne Grove buying cheap gloves or matching a yard of ribbon; and the wife of a millionaire has a mania for picking up bargains and odds and ends that are priced at elevenpence-three-farthings. A hard-working woman will get up early to attend a sale before she goes to business, and the smart idler will order her motor and spend a long day in the same occupation. Women, as a sex, are subject to sales, and that is the end of the matter.

Sales are a true test of one's business capabilities. Not all women who attend sales know what to buy and what to avoid. There is one who at sale-times has endless odds and ends that she does not want and for which she has no definite uses. She bought them because they were cheap, and for no other earthly reason. Another woman, always well and smartly turned out, owes it to the fact that every shilling she spends has its own purpose to fulfil.

Shopping, properly considered, is an art, and the true shopper is born, not made. It is not given to us all to tell at a glance what to buy and what to avoid, but practice will do much, and in the hard lesson of summer sales wisdom may be bought as well as cheap materials.