In the first place, I could, by no power of common
sense, identify in the pictures the particular gown I
had just read described. I had to go by the number
of the costume, and then, with one finger on the words



302 WOMEN'S FASHIONS

and one on the fashion plate, make out, part by part,
each item of the garment. Finally, for permanent edi-
fication, I wrote across the figure the scientific names
of each part, as "waved insertion" and "inverted box
plait," and so on, having considerable trouble in de-
ciding just where the "postilion" was. These prelim-
inaries alone took me several hours.
