coat, fluffing out, will lend a charming grace to the dancer's postures.
The openings in a skirt of this sort can be fastened with tiny glove-snaps, so that on the street the wearer may appear to have the usual narrow costume, while at the same time she has a practical one for the daily thé dansant.
The dancing-petticoats of the year are really lovely, and are quite a feature of the dancing-costumes at Castle House. Some are of crêpe de Chine, some of plaited chiffon with straight lace ruffles on the bottom, or tiny rosebuds as trimming; they should always match the costume and the stockings. Dark stockings showing through a filmy petticoat and a split skirt are very ugly. Under these petticoats the dancers are wearing the new combination of brassière and silk bloomers, finished with ruffles of lace or sometimes ending quite plainly at the knee. These, too, give full play in the various steps.
Of course, for some dances you may wear an ordinary skirt and blouse or a narrow afternoon frock. The Tango may be danced in the narrowest of skirts, because the feet are always close together; the Maxixe needs but a little more room, while the One Step and the Hesitation Waltz, with their longer glides and more intricate steps, require the regular plaited effect of which I have spoken.
140
