Traveling costume should be simple in style and quiet in color, materials that will not show dirt being preferable. A waterproof cloak is a very desirable addition, as it may be at any time suddenly needed. In summer travel a long linen duster, belted at the waist, should be worn over the dress.

For the country or sea-side, simple and inexpensive dresses should be provided for ordinary wear. The bonnet should give place to a hat with a brim sufficiently wide to shield the face and neck from the sun.

Bathing dresses should be made of blue or gray flannel. The skirt should come down to the ankles, and the sleeves should be long. An oil silk or India-rubber cap, fitting tightly around the head, will protect the hair from the salt water.

It is impossible to prescribe an exact style or mode of dress for ladies in all places and on all occasions. Fashion will change, and, it must be confessed, in the matter of female costume, its changes have often been for the better.

In regard to " overdressing," it is not easy to draw a line, customs in different localities varying so much that what is permissible in one place might be utterly out of place in another. The usual thing for winter dress is a stuff dress a " cloth suit," it is usually called—worn with a fancy bodice. For elderly women, with money enough to afford it, costumes of silk, with elaborate trimming, are often worn. With toilettes of this kind the custom of wearing lace is on the increase; but these are matters which the dressmaker is most competent to decide upon at any fixed period. As a general rule, however, loud colors should be avoided, and it is best never to risk extremes of costume, whether in or out of the line of fashion, if one wishes to escape the verdict of vulgarity.