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Page 43
To a visitor from so gay a metropolis as New York, the simplicity of the
women's dress was a pleasing change. They were in evening dress, yes,
but a strangely more conservative evening dress than that described
previously for the formal ball. There were no sleeveless gowns, no
elaborate decolletes. Taffetas, chiffons and silk brocades were
developed simply into gowns of dignified charm. One did not notice
individual gowns, for no one woman was dressed more elaborately than
another. This is what everyone should strive for simplicity with charm
and a complete absence of all conspicuousness.
Fashion has been condemned. Women have been ridiculed for their "extreme
tastes." As a matter of fact, civilization owes dress a great debt, and
women have an inherent good taste. And both these facts are forcibly
proved at the country dance, where simplicity and harmony of color
combine to give an effect that is wholly delightful and charming.
The lesson we might take from this is that simplicity in dress has more
beauty and effect than elaborate "creations."
CHAPTER VIII
GAMES AND SPORT
WHY THE WORLD PLAYS
All the world loves to play. In childhood, it is the very language of
life. In youth, it vies with the sterner business of young manhood or
womanhood. When we are older and the days of childhood are but a fading
memory, we still have some "hobby" that offers recreation from our
business and social duties. It may be golf or tennis or billiards; but it
is play--and it is a relaxation.
It is a fundamental law of nature that we shall play in proportion to the
amount of work we do. The inevitable "tired business man" finds
incentive in the thought of a brisk game of golf after closing hours.
The busy hostess looks forward to the afternoon that she will be able to
devote exclusively to tennis. The man or woman who does not "play" is
missing one of the keenest pleasures of life.
But there is an etiquette of sport and games, just as there is an
etiquette of the ballroom and dinner table. One must know how to conduct
oneself on the golf links and at the chess table, just as one must know
how to conduct oneself at dinner or at the opera. And in one's play, one
must remember that touching little fable of the frogs who were stoned by
boys, in which the poor little creatures cried, "What is play to you is
death to us." Be kind, unselfish and fair. Do not sacrifice, in the
exciting joyousness of the game, the little courtesies of social life.
Remember Burns' pretty bit of verse--we cannot resist the temptation of
printing it here:
"Pleasures are like poppies spread, You seize the flower, its bloom
is shed; Or, like the snowfall on the river, A moment white, then
melts forever."
FAIR PLAY
Nothing so quickly betrays a person as unfairness in games. It hardly
seems necessary to mention it, to caution anyone against it. Yet so many
people are prone to believe that the courtesies we observe in social
life, may be entirely forgotten in the world of sport and pleasure--and
that with them, we may forget our scruples. "Cheating" is a harsh word
and we do not want to use it. But what other word can be used to
describe unfairness, to describe selfish discourtesies?
"Fair play is a jewel." This proverb has been handed down to us among
other old sayings of the Danish, and Denmark loves its games and sports
as few other countries do. It was here that the game of Bridge first had
its inception. It was here that the game of "Boston" first won
prominence. Many of the games and sports practiced in America to-day had
their origin in Denmark. And it was that country that gave to us the
golden proverb, "Fair play is a jewel."
We could fill a complete volume on the ethics of sport, but it is not
necessary to elaborate on the subject in a book of etiquette. When you
are on the tennis courts or at the billiard tables remember only to
observe the same good manners and courtesies that characterize your
social life--and you will play fair.
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