If you are all feminine, then choose clothes that play up that quality. Full skirts, jackets fitted and peplum-flared, puffed sleeves, ruffled shoulders and hemlines, delicate touches of ribbon and lace. But in the midst of all these fripperies maintain a sense of balance. Don't overdo. Don't mix peplum and ruffles, lace and bows. Keep feminine but don't dress like a candy box.
If you are in between, go your own sweet way, being feminine one day, tailored the next. But do take some stand —don't overdo the inbetweenness. Get to be known for your sense of color or your sense of accessory. Be the girl who knows her way with a scarf or can do a million and one tricks with a strand of pearls. Develop an outstanding characteristic of dress that people associate with you and you alone.
All of you, feminine, tailored, or in between, have one big desire in common. Teens seem to have a universal aching for that first black dress. Usually this involves a long-drawn-out battle with the family and ends in general weariness and a sense of defeat on both sides. If your family do not want you to choose black because they feel you are too young, don't argue. Navy blue is just as good. Black is a color you'll see a good deal of when you are older, so don't rush headlong into it. It's not worth the fight.
None of this advice is startling or particularly new, but it is sound. Happy mediums have been held up as the happy way of life since philosophy began, and the reason that each new generation comes to rediscover the principle is that, by golly, it works.
Next to knowing your type, and dressing to suit it, you must also be sure of your size. Ill-fitting clothes never look well, and buying clothes that don't fit with the intention of having an extensive alteration job done is an expensive luxury. You will find your clothes fit better if you shop for things you know are in your size range. Most teen-agers fall into three classifications: teen sizes for the younger teens (sizes 10—14A), especially those girls with undeveloped busts; juniors (9-15 or 17) for the proportionately short-waisted figure; and misses (10—18) for the normally long-waisted, above five-feet-five figure.
When you are shopping, look out for fit. Make sure that the shoulders fit smoothly, that the waistline of the dress and your own waistline match each other. Look for details such as gaping collars (too large for the neck) and too snug hips. Check the back view; see that the fabric is not all bunched under the arms and above the waistline in back. These all take major alterations, necessitating reshaping the dress. Alterations like sleeve length and hemlines, as well as waistline adjustments, can easily be taken care of, and every teen should learn to do these things herself.
Perhaps you have heard your mother say (and groaned to hear it) that it is better to buy a larger size than a smaller one. You remember too well the awful days when you were very young and your clothes were bought outsized in the hope that you could grow into them. I'm not advocating a return to such trials, but I do agree with your mother that a too-small dress or suit or coat can never be altered successfully, whereas a large size has a better chance. Clothes can be taken in more easily than they can be let out. You are wiser to buy clothes to fit the biggest part of you (probably your hips) than to fit your smallest part (your waist). Never buy clothes that fit like sausage skins with the intention of losing weight to fit them, or in the hope that you will seem smaller if you wear a smaller size. Instead buy a size that most nearly fits your figure, and then, if there are any adjustments, make them.
If you have really serious difficulty in getting clothes to fit properly (and even if you don't), I think one of the smartest things any teen can do is to learn to make her own clothes. Not only is sewing saving, but your clothes will fit you in every dimension because they are cut to your own individual measurements.
Sewing is not difficult. Most schools offer it in their programs, and it is a wise teen who elects it. You need not, of course, study sewing at school. You can have your mother teach you or, failing that, get instruction from a qualified sewing center. The time you take in learning how to thread a needle and how to master a sewing machine will be repaid many times over in good-looking clothes, well-fitting clothes, and more clothes, because you can usually afford more if you sew at home than if you buy them ready-made.
Whether you sew everything you wear, or whether you sew none of the things you wear, you all are interested about what to wear. Below I am listing my suggestions for an average high school wardrobe—you can make your own additions or subtractions to suit yourself.
1. A few well-fitting washable slips.
2. One or two half -slips—some nylon, some cotton (cotton to starch for wear under summer skirts).
3. Three or four bras.
4. Panties—preferably shirred to give good curve control.
5. Girdle.
6. Two or three pairs of nylon stockings—one pair of mesh for school, since those are least prone to runs.
7. White wool socks—these for school and sports.
8. Several pairs of colored socks to match your sweaters and skirts.
9. Assorted sweaters-some with long sleeves; classic standbys in classic colors: beige, gray, navy, green; and some with short sleeves; these fit well under suit jackets and can take the place of a blouse. They can be dressed up with scarves and
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10. One good basic suit, neutral in color and simple in line, to wear with everything. The kind that takes a long time to go out of style.
11. Skirts—in dark colors and in bright plaids. Wool usually wears the best. Have various styles, some pleated, some plain.
12. A raincoat—for really sloshy days and to use for hiking and biking trips when you need a covering that can take it.
13. A good basic coat—perhaps a classic camel hair, but something that will give you service and be in style at the same time. Here look for a box cut or flare cut so that it can slip easily over jackets and sweaters without bunchiness at the armhole or waist.
14. A dressy coat—here you can take to fitted lines, for you will wear this coat with party dresses and well-cut fitted suits. Keep to a basic color, though, unless you want to tire of it and discard it before its time.
15. A party dress.
16. A formal.
17. Low-heeled shoes for school (not "on-stage" ballet slippers, please).
18. Dress-up shoes with Cuban heel—in calf or suede.
19. Evening slippers.
20. Warm gloves for school—mittens or crochet string ones.
21. Dress-up gloves—a pair of white cottons, kept clean, will fill almost every bill.
22. A hat—for church and formal afternoon parties.
When you're on the prowl for a new skirt or a new dress, or anything new for that matter, keep your eye peeled on fashion. Follow the trends so that you can know what is on the way in and what is on the way out. If you are clever, you can in this way avoid buying a new outfit and finding out tc your horror that it is outdated in a few months. You will do well to watch what goes on in the high-priced fashion field, for those developments are soon copied in the lower-priced clothes, and then you will know what to look for.