Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/68

 MARRIAGE 50 The waterproof in this hst is a compara- tively heavy item, but it is indispensable ; and, besides, it is likely to last for two or three years. The home gown is for morning wear, when the young wife is busy with domestic duties. She has the going-away gown for afternoons or for visiting among her friends. The hats are inexpensive. 12s. gd. seeming to be the universal price of those composed of fancy straw with a httle ribbon for trimming. The underwear may seem impossibly cheap to those hving in the country, and un- aware of the surprising bargains to be secured at the White Sales periodically held by large drapery firms. Even apart from these, prices are remarkably moderate. With a twenty-pound trousseau it would be a saving to make as much as possible at home : but the objection to this is that the bride-to-be is often a business girl : a clerk, a shop assistant, a telegraph or telephone girl, with very little time at her command. She may possibly be able to run up a blouse or two. however, and even this will help to eke out the money. Shoes are among the cheapest articles of dress to be had. A word of warning may not be amiss with respect to the cheapness that means brown paper instead of kid and leather. Especially for winter wear these paper shoes (not sold as such, nor distin- guishable from leather in the shop) are dangerous to health. They become saturated with damp, and retain it in a way that leads to various forms of cold, all more or less disagreeable, and sometimes resulting in permanent disease of the chest or lungs. Girls find it a great temptation to sacrifice the solid parts of the trousseau to pretty hats and gowns. They are naturally anxious to look as nice as possible in the early days of their married life, and to make as good an appearance as they can in the eyes of their husband's friends. But it is wel] to remember that it would be humiliating and disagreeable to have to approach the husband for money to buy indispensable clothes, and in doing so to be obliged to admit that the trousseau was inadequate. The bridegroom has probably fitted himself out with what will serve for a couple of years, so far as the essential but invisible portion of the trorsseau goes. He naturally expects his bride to do the same. The fact that he admired her very much in the new dresses and hats will not serve in the least to decrease his dissatisfaction whei> he finds himself called upon, a few months later, to supplement a scanty trousseau supply. This subject will be ftirther dealt with in Every Woman's Encyclopaedia. WINTER HONEYMOONS Where to Spend a Honeymoon — The Country House — The Honeymoons — The Cornish Riviera — Hydros 'The newly-married pair, if really in love with each other, will be anxious so to plan their honeymoon as to secure as many opportunities as possible for the enjoyment of privacy. The inhabitants of our islands do not wear their hearts on their sleeves, and are averse from displaying to the world in general the happiness they feel in belonging to each other. Yet the novelty of the relation is so deeply interesting, and the nature of their feeling for each other so engrossing, that it is extremely difficult to avoid betraying these sentiments to chance spectators. For these reasons the ideal place for a honeymoon, at any time of year, is the country house or country cottage lent by a friend or relative. There they can enjoy the solitude d deux that, according to Lamartine, is the only perfect solitude. But it is not given to everyone to possess foOod-natured friends who own country houses, or even week-end cottages. Where -else, then, can a honeymoon be spent with- out an incon>yenient 'degree of publicity '> And where is the sunshine to be found that our insular winters make so precious to us from force of contrast ? xu /^^/^^ wealthy there is no difficulty but that of choice. " They have the world before 4iem, and travel is now roade not oxilv pasy Mediterranean — Less Expensive -Matlock, etc, but luxurious for the possessors of well- Hned purses. THE WEST INDIES The West Indies are a lure to those who love the sun, and Bermuda is equally tempt- ing from this point of view. Facilities for visiting both are offered by various steam- ship companies, which have their own hotels for the comfortable accommodation of their passengers. Jamaica has been called the Riviera of the West, so mild, dry and uniform is the climate. From the point of view of amuse- ments, yachting, polo, 'shooting, fishing, golf, tennis, riding, and driving are all available. The sea passage occupies from ten tc twelve days, and the fares are from /18 tc ii^ single ; from £32 to l^o return. Second cabin fares are l^ and ^25. The most suitable clothing for the West Indies is, for men, light flannel, white duck cotton drill, or light serge suits ; the lightest of woollen underwear, wide-brimmed straw hats (obtainable locally), pith, or very light felt hats. For hill use riding suits and water^ proofs are necessary. Dust-coats are useful over evening dress at night. Boots should be light leather, kid or canvas. For the bride's wear there is wider choice, Her gowns and costumes may be hghl fl.annel or serge, cotton. Hnen. muslin, silk.