The
Sin of Dowdiness
THERE are women who are constitutionally exempt
from dowdiness, but the average woman of moderate
means and, above all, the woman who has to count every
penny and make it the equivalent of a five-cent piece
is in great danger of drifting into that most
unattractive condition called dowdiness.
The dowdy woman may be born so, in which case I
think she should never marry. All of us see women who
never look well dressed, whose hair is always coming
down, and whose faces even are "dowdy"
looking, showing an utter disregard of the art of
grooming, as well as a total lack of discrimination in
the selection of apparel.
Frequently these women have money, for the dowd is
not confined to any station in life, nor is she
necessarily the product of poverty and ignorance.
When you see a woman with filthy skirts, a soiled
stock and faded finery, no matter how bright and
pretty her face or how perfect her complexion, she is
dowdy.
Some women drift into dowdyism in a most
extraordinary manner as soon as they are what they are
pleased to term married and settled. A girl whom we
all remember as dainty and trim during her youth in a
year or two after her brilliant marriage becomes a
confirmed sloven, a slave to loose wrappers and
down-at-the-heel slippers-- in other words, a dowd.
The man who remembers her as she stood beside him
in all her bridal beauty has cause to feel that he has
been badly cheated, as indeed he has.
Wives who permit themselves to become dowdy well
understand that sooner or later their husbands will
regret ever having married them, and after that the
end may be easily predicted.
It is a grave mistake for a woman to neglect her
looks, no matter what her age or condition in life. It
is almost criminal in a married woman. Sometimes when
I tell this to a woman who is on the road to dowdiness
she replies that she lets herself go because she has
so much to do and does not like to spend the money.
This is a penny-wise-and-pound-foolish view of the
matter, and it is pregnant with real danger to the
peace and happiness of two people, and sometimes of an
entire family.
The woman who has so much to do would never think
of neglecting to scrub her floor, or polish her tin
pans. She will sew yards of cheap lace upon a baby
dress, or sit up nights making useless finery for a
child who would be much more comfortable and
attractive in a simple garment.
But she has not time to take a daily bath, to keep
her hair lustrous and well dressed and to preserve her
teeth even and white. Instead she allows herself to
degenerate into a household drudge and dowd.
If I had the making of the laws I would require
that every living woman should take one hot scrub and
one cold sponge each day, brush her teeth twice at
least and her hair night and morning.
I would make it a misdemeanor for a woman to appear
in drabbly skirts, and a penitentiary offense to be
found attired in a "Mother Hubbard" outside
of her own room.
Further than this I don't believe in plain-looking
women.
There is a chance for every one of us to be
attractive in appearance, and there is no such thing
as a hopelessly ugly girl or woman.
To be sure, we may not be raving beauties, all of
us, but every woman alive can make herself a pleasant
picture for the eyes of man to fall upon.
First of all, whatever her age is, a woman must
look scrupulously nice and clean.
Untidy hands, a face that shows the need of a
scrubbing brush, hair that is forever falling down or
displays bits of strings and other devices for keeping
it up, shoes that are dingy, without buttons and run
off at the heel, a fringed dress skirt lifted to
reveal a soiled petticoat and a wrinkled stocking.
There is nothing so fatal to a girl's chances as
untidiness.
But suppose, as a girl once wrote to me, that a
woman is freckled, and has red hair and no figure to
speak of. Suppose, with such natural disadvantages,
she is poor and has to work hard and ruin her hands,
and is always tired, and can never buy anything
pretty. What then?
Well, all that is just what I will suppose.
Now, red hair of itself is beautiful. Usually it
waves or curls, and that is an added beauty.
Freckles are not pretty, and they are practically
there to stay. The freckles of red-haired women are
conspicuous during the day, but they do not show much,
sometimes not at all, by gaslight.
A red-haired, freckled girl too often lacks
sufficient contrast between eyebrows, eyelashes, and
skin to give her a clean-cut look
I think in such cases it is a woman's duty to
darken the eyebrows and lashes. This can be done with
little trouble and is imperceptible. The complexion of
the red-haired girl is her most serious drawback.
It lends itself to untidiness, so the victim must
be especially careful to keep it looking clean and
well cared for.
If the red-haired girl has an oily skin she must be
careful of her diet, avoiding all greasy and
stimulating food, and in addition she must use an
astringent lotion and a very little fine powder.
If my little red-headed girl has not nice teeth,
she should have them repaired and made pretty and
wholesome.
A thousand times better go without a new winter hat
and gown, if you are a poor girl, than let your teeth
suffer.
And there is not only wisdom, but morality in all
this, for it is virtuous to be just as lovely as one
can, and as no depraved woman ever was truly lovely,
there is no moral danger in being beautiful and
remaining so. There is a good deal of work to be
accomplished, but it is a work in the right direction.
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