Screenland (Sept 1922–Feb 1923)

The Confessions of a Well-dressed Woman By MARJORIE DICKSON Some people say it is not wise to be too frank and open in print. Perhaps not — for there are many who might misjudge or zvho might not understand. Yet when one's life has been crowded full of sunlight and shadow, and the sunlight has come, finally, to stay, it is not easy then to keep silent. Nor is it fair and just to other women. So I shall be very frank in this little story which I am about to tell you. And if, in uncovering my heart, I may be the means of helping other women and girls to find something of the happiness that has come to me, I shall be very glad. My Girlhood MT girlhood was surprisingly like that of other girls. I went to school — I helped a little around the house — I was satisfied simply to play. Until I was fourteen, one day was just like another. There were little parties in the neighborhood to which I was always invited— perhaps a boy or two that I liked a little better than the others — but it was only a fleeting fancy. My mother made my simple, little dresses, and they seemed very nice and pretty to me then. I knew, in a vague way, that the family income wasn't large, and it seemed to me sometimes that my mother wasn't as well dressed as some other women I knew. But it didn't worry me very much or very long. One does not have many worries when one is fourteen. The world is very kind and good to Youth. But it was not always to be so. As I passed my sixteenth and eighteenth birthdays I began to realize more and more the very great influence that pretty clothes have on a girl's life. I shall never forget the days when I used to go through the shops and look at the pretty dresses. How my heart ached to have just one of them! There they were — so trim — so beautiful— so near and yet so far. I could reach out my hand and touch them. I could picture myself wearing them — this one to a dance — this one when friends would call — this one to a theatre party. Then stern reality would force me to read the price tags and I would turn sadly away. No — these dresses were not for me. And because they were not for me, I began to miss many of the good things in life. An Embarrassing Question MY friends began to grow away from me — many of them announcing their engagement and marriage. My father used to ask me why Tom or Frank didn't come to see me any more and then mother would stop him with a whispered "Hush!" Poor soul! She knew from experience the humiliation and embarrassment I was suffering because I did not have pretty clothes like other girls. A year ago I was nearly desperate — I simply had to have some new clothes. Yet I hadn't the least idea where I could get the money. Then Mary Allison came to see me! Mary and I had been schoolgirls together. Then she moved away, and while we had corresponded regularly at first, the letters grew more and more infrequent, and finally we stopped writing altogether. Once in a while, however, some mutual friend would tell me of having seen Mary — how popular she had become — of her beautiful clothes — and finally of her engagement and marriage. And here she was, right before me! I "Mary Allison!" I exclaimed. "What in the world are you doing here?" I "Been taking a trip with my husband," she replied gayly. "He's busy with busi ness this morning so I thought I'd run around and see my old friends. It's so good to see you again. Married?" I shook my head. "Not yet," I replied. "Guess I'll be the old maid of the family." "Nonsense! Why, Tom used to be crazy about you!" "That was before clothes counted as much as they do when a girl gets older," I answered. "Tom hasn't been to see me in months. If I only had the money to — " "You don't need money — at least not much," Mary interrupted. "Do you know what this dress cost?" I shook my head. "Just $9.85. And I have three others just as pretty that I made especially for this trip. All four put together didn't cost me over $40. Do you really want to know how I got them?" "Do I?" I exclaimed. "Do you think I'd be wearing this outfit if I could have one like yours?" Mary smiled. "Just listen, and I'll tell you the whole blessed story." She drew her chair close to mine and talked for fully half an hour. And finally, as she finished and rose to go, she made me make a promise. "You won't forget it, will you?" she asked. "Indeed I won't," I replied warmly. "I'll write to-day." I didn't know it at the time, but that promise was to be the means of changing my life. For that day I mailed a letter to the Woman's Institute. In a few days the postman brought me a friendly reply from the Institute and a wonderfully interesting booklet that told the whole story of its new plan by which so many women and girls have learned at home to make pretty, becoming clothes. I saw at once that here was a solution to all my problems, so I enrolled for a course in dressmaking. The Institute made everything so plain and the teachers took such a personal interest in me, that in just a little while, I was able not only to make all my own clothes, but to make them as they are made in the best shops. For not only did I learn every detail of garment construction, but I learned the fascinating secrets of distinctive dress; what lines and colors and fabrics were most appropriate for me; how to copy dresses from the fashion magazines or the shop windows; how to plan and design and completely make clothes with the little distinctive touches that enabled me to always appear at my best. Naturally the neighbors began admiring my clothes and asking me where I got them. They were almost too surprised for words when I told them I had made them all myself. They would have been even more surprised if I had told them how little they cost. To me, the most important thing Is not merely that I now have the pretty clothes I always wanted, but what these pretty clothes have meant to me. They have meant happiness — they have meant freedom from worry — they have even meant — love! On my desk is a letter that I have just written to Mary Allison. I want you to read it, too — for it shows the shadows have gone and the sunlight has really come into my life to stay. Dear Mary,: What a difference a few months make! Why, it seems only yesterday that I was so worried about the clothes problem that I hardly knew which way to turn. Then you came along and told me all about the Woman's Institute. To-day, I don't believe there is a girl in town who has prettier dresses than I have. Just the other afternoon, as I was walking down the street, I heard Mrs. Morton (you remember her, don't you?) say: "There goes Marjorie Dickson. Isn't that a perfectly lovely dress? I do believe she's the best dressed woman in town these days." I walked right along as if I hadn't overheard, but it certainly did make me feel good. Did I tell you in my last letter that I have started to sew for other people? I have made $75 since I wrote you last. Think of it, Mary — $75 in three weeks! You can't imagine how good it feels or how much that money has helped to buy other things I needed. Write to me often, Mary, for I count you one of my dearest friends. I wouldn't be writing this happy letter to-day if it were not for you and the Woman's Institute. Marjorie. P. S. Don't be surprised if Tom and I drop in to see you soon. We're to be married in the spring and we're planning to stop over on our honeymoon. WHAT a wonderful story is revealed in the experiences of Mary Allison and Marjorie Dickson! What an inspiring story, too, for every woman and girl who wants pretty clothes and has been seeking a way to get them. For Mary Allison and Marjorie Dickson are just two of more than 150,000 women and girls who have learned dressmaking and millinery, right at home, in spare time, through the Woman's Institute. There is no doubt that you can do as well. Send for This Handsome 64-page Booklet IT is called "Dressmaking Made Easy," and it tells all about the Woman's Institute! It describes the courses in detail and explains how you, too, can learn easily and quickly, in spare time at home, to make your own clothes and hats and dress better at less cost, or prepare for success in the dressmaking or millinery profession. Write a letter or postal or send the coupon to-day to the Woman's Institute, Dept. Scranton, Penna., and a copy of this handsome let will come to you, absolutely free, by return 100-Q, bookmail. WOMAN'S INSTITUTE Dept. 100-Q, Scranton, Penna. Without cost or obligation, please send me a copy of your 64-page booklet, "Dressmaking Made Easy. I am most interested in the subject before which I have marked an X: — □ How to Make My Own Clothes □ How to Make Children's Clothes □ How to Earn Money as a Dressmaker □ How to Plan and Design Becoming Clothes □ How to Make My Own Hats □ How to Earn Money as a Milliner Name.. (Please specify whether Mrs. or Miss) Address.. 10 $10 for the best answer to "Which Advertisement in This Issue of Screenland Appeals to You Most— and Why?"