Simplicity is Best Style for Fashions, Home Decor

1910

Smartness of Simplicity

Secret of the Woman Whose House, Appearance and Conversation Create Best Impression

Think of the woman whose house, whose appearance, whose conversation creates the best impression and you will realize that absolute simplicity is the secret. Remember this in selecting your summer clothes, or furnishing your summer home, also when you meet strangers on your summer vacation.

Unfortunately, simplicity is not cheap. You will pay more for the hat of simple lines, the frock that is of exquisitely dainty embroidery and sheerness of material, than you will for something more ornate and dashing.

If you wish to pass a woman who knows, you will no more overload your back than you will your digestion. Better a few things of irreproachable cut and quality than an elaborate wardrobe of flaunting finery. It will doubtless mean having your clothes made to order or weary rounds of the shops in search of the simple, but it pays.

It is not always possible to have the house simple. If you rent, your landlord's taste is sure to be fancy and the fixtures and decorations will wring your heart. The furniture is up to you. There are nowadays so many good copies of artistic old pieces that there is no excuse for the hideous display of houses furnished in the middle of the last century and later.

Adopt a simple scheme of decoration for your entire house and make everything bought conform to it. This does not need the training of a professional decorator; any woman who makes a study of simplicity and keeps her eyes open for bargains in that line can achieve it.

These three rules go far in the right direction: Stick to good lines of the period chosen; do not overcrowd and buy only the best, though it must be a piece at a time with long waits between.

Simplicity of manner is the crowning touch — the real you. The rest is but the outer shell, a matter of training or perhaps of a skilled decorator, or clever modiste. Do not post, do not be affected, above all, do not boast. You may not realize it, but in meeting strangers the simple, easy, sincere manner makes a much better impression with the right people, than airs, much manner, or great assumption of place and power.

John Burroughs' Simple Life: Mind Your Own Business

1917

"Keep Cheerful and Mind Your Own Business," Is the Message of John Burroughs

John Burroughs, famous American naturalist and writer, and leading disciple of the simple life, is eighty years old. He has lived with nature since boyhood, and knows the birds, the squirrels and the butterflies, the woods, the fields and the mountain streams. He was the friend of Lincoln, of Emerson, of Holmes, of Whittier and of Walt Whitman. His recollections of these great friends are sufficient companions for John Burroughs in his woodland cabin. "I am very happy in my work, and I hope to write a book each year for many more years," he says. He is at his best, despite his age, and leads an active life in the open. His message to the world is: "Keep cheerful and mind your own business."

Mr. Burroughs taught school in his youth, became a bank examiner, and had a promising career before him in financial affairs, when he discarded ambition for wealth to lead the simple life. His first book was his "Notes on Walt Whitman," published in 1867. During the past half-century he has written constantly, and has contributed much to the nature library. He married Ursula North in 1857, and in the winter time he now makes his home with his daughter and grandchildren at West Park, N. Y.