NEXT to the great question, "What shall I wear?"

the young lady of the nineteenth century asks herself, "How shall I wear my hair?" The styles are so numerous just now, that a person of taste has little difficulty in selecting that which suits her best. The difficulty lies in erecting the edifice when the style of the architecture has been chosen. Everybody has not a lady's-maid, and everybody is not clever at hair-dressing; but yet nearly everybody likes to have her hair becomingly arranged. We will suppose one of these unskilful ones trying to arrange her unruly tresses in the queue style. She reads in the directions, "Tie the back hair in the middle of the head, and plait in three," and sets to work. Having finished the plait, she refers again to her directions, "Tie the end, and fasten it up." Fasten it up where? She tries fastening it under the beginning of the plait, then over; then a bright idea strikes her, and she fastens it at the side, and refers again to the directions, "Take the side hair, twist it, and roll round the head." Poor Mrs. Wragge's difficulties over the receipt for her omelette fade into insignificance before the troubles of the girl who is doing her own hair in a new style. She rolls the twist round her head, complies with the remaining directions as far as she knows how, and eagerly takes up the hand-glass to see the result. Alas! instead of the neat smoothness depicted in the fashionplate which has been her model, an unsightly mound of ragged hair meets her gaze, and in disgust she pulls down the whole edifice, and begins her weary task again. Where there are sisters who can assist each other things are better, but a great many girls will acknowledge that I do not exaggerate the difficulties of mastering a new style of coiffure. One sometimes gets so tired of it, that one almost wishes to cut off one's hair and buy false, which can easily be arranged on the dressing-table, and pinned on at the back of the head.

Judging from the number of letters I have had lately from our subscribers, asking for directions how to do their hair, young Englishwomen seem not a little exercised on the subject of coiffures just at present. Many of those who write say, "My hair is short and thin, and I object to wearing false hair." In these days of frizzing and curling, there ought to be no difficulty in making even short, thin hair look well. The following is a good style for such: Divide the hair straight across the middle of the back of the head, and put it in curl-papers; then divide the hair across the top of the head, about an inch and a half from the forehead. Damp the top of the front hair, and roll on crimping-pins. Tie the lower part of the front hair out of the way, while you arrange that on

each side of the top of the head. First tie that on the left. Pin a frizette under it; comb the hair over the frizette, and arrange it carefully across the front. (This is supposing your hair is not long enough to roll round two friz ettes.) Pursue the same plan with the hair on the right, and arrange it neatly behind the first roll. Then take the front hair from the crimping-pins, and fasten it back as it best suits you, curling the ends round your fingers, and fastening them where they will hide any space between the rolls and the short curls at the back.

For those who have longer hair, the Catogan style is still fashionable, though a pretty variety has lately been made by substituting for the pendant plait at the back, one broad Grecian plait, or two narrower ones-seven plait, perhaps. Sometimes little curls are arranged between them.

How vainly do we envy gentlemen who have simply to brush straight away for ten minutes! And how they

hat. It is made of very coarse straw, and has a broad round brim and a low crown, trimmed with a white gauze scarf, in the bows of which, in front, is placed a bouquet of rose-buds.

Cream colour, or rather cream-white, is still increasing in popularity. It is much more becoming to many complexions than dead white, and makes a more mellow contrast with colours.

Nowhere does one see greater variety of styles in dress than at the seaside resorts so much frequented in July and August; for whereas some ladies go thither with a view to economizing in purse and repairing damages as to personal appearance, after the draught so freely made on both by a season in town, others look upon a month at the sea in the light of a second heat in the race after an "establishment" begun in that same season, and take care to provide themselves liberally with the accoutrements deemed indispensable in such races. An army of boxes accompanies each fair competitor, from which emerge coquettish nautical costumes all buttons and braid, elaborate pic-nic dresses all puffs and prettiness, riding habits with the latest improvements in collar and cuffs; cool, shimmering dinner dresses, and lady-like walking costumes, quiet enough in style, but with a certain air about them that proves the maker to have been no tyro at her business. (Let us hope she has been paid for her work, and is enjoying land or sea breezes somewhere, too, poor thing!)

The ladies of the lower middle commercial classes also prepare rather liberally for their stay at the "shore." What is the use of having money, they think, if you can't make it plain to everybody that you possess it? So they wear unsuitable rich silks for morning walks by old Ocean, who, with grim humour, sends his sad sea waves to make havoc among their bright-hued flounces. Their children dig in the sand, and build castles whose battlements are shells, and whose gate is a stone, arrayed in complicated confections which will not wash, but which advancing wavelets spare in nowise for that consideration. Mrs. Biscuit, once of High Street, now of Dough Castle, Slateshire, sees the children of a certain Countess enjoying themselves on the sands clad in brown holland simply made, and she casts astonished eyes to the blue sky, and looks complacently at her own decked-out darlings. "I don't believe," she says, later, to a friend, "that the dresses they wore cost more than eight shillings, and for

the suit my Angelina Ann had on I paid four pounds, including trimming and making." And Angelina Ann comes in with a great rent somewhere near the pocket, which is full of stones, and with the flounces shrivelled and shrunken beyond recognition.

The people who really enjoy the delights of a stay at the sea-side are those who do not much concern themselves about their dress beyond always having it neat, ladylike, and becoming. Elaborate costumes, they know, are out of place. They have fresh linen dresses for the morning, cool muslins for dinner, and cashmeres for the chill, dull days that occur in our climate in every month in the year. They take care to provide warm shawls and thick little boots for boating excursions. The pleasures of a pic-nic are not spoiled for these sensible girls by thin boots and shoes through which they feel every stone.

An ultra-fashionable costume looks rather absurd and out of place by the sea. It suggests such different ideas -ideas totally at variance with its surroundings. Yet many girls walk on the pier at Brighton in costumes only fit for a garden-party or a flower-show. But in whatever style we may dress, we shall always require good gloves. The ACME GLOVE, manufactured by MESSRS. JANNINGS AND SON, 16, Fenchurch Street, can be recommended as excellent in fit, style, and wear. The kid is fine in grain, and the cut the same as that of the best Paris gloves. They are to be obtained in all colours and shades, and any one sending a scrap of their dress to be matched with the nearest shade in gloves may rely on attention being paid to the order. I made a mistake in a former number about Messrs. Jannings' prices, and have heard that my doing so caused them a good deal of trouble, for which I am very sorry; so I must be very particular now to give the prices accurately. The Acmé gloves are sold. at 2s. 9d. per pair with single buttons, and 3s. 3d. with double. The prices of the Copenhagen are lower, being 2s. with single buttons, and 2s. 9d. with two buttons. Post-office orders are more secure in transit than postage stamps, and the price of the order may be deducted. Orders are to be made payable at the General Post Office.

A word on a very different subject before I conclude, to remind my readers that for the uncomfortable indigestion from which so many people suffer, nothing can be better than MORSON'S PEPSINE, Southampton Row, Russell Square, W.C. This preparation can be had in bottles as wine, in lozenges, globules, or powders.