dress, a bonnet, shawl, or riband, it is well for the buyer to consider
three things: I. That it be not too expensive for her purse. II. That
its colour harmonize with her complexion, and its size and pattern with
her figure. III. That its tint allow of its being worn with the other
garments she possesses. The quaint Fuller observes, that the good wife
is none of our dainty dames, who love to appear in a variety of suits
every day new, as if a gown, like a stratagem in war, were to be used
but once. But our good wife sets up a sail according to the keel of her
husband's estate; and, if of high parentage, she doth not so remember
what she was by birth, that she forgets what she is by match.
To _Brunettes_, or those ladies having dark complexions, silks
of a grave hue are adapted. For _Blondes_, or those having fair
complexions, lighter colours are preferable, as the richer,
deeper hues are too overpowering for the latter. The colours
which go best together are green with violet; gold-colour with
dark crimson or lilac; pale blue with scarlet; pink with black
or white; and gray with scarlet or pink. A cold colour generally
requires a warm tint to give life to it. Gray and pale blue, for
instance, do not combine well, both being cold colours.