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 be in haste to be first in a fashion, and never go to the
extremes.
_Linen and Cotton_.--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 afterward 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 can not 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.
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