Dear Sir, Your correspondent "A. H.'s" request for suggestions as to the wedding rig-out of the charming young lady whose portrait appears twice on page 19 of a recent issue, opens up a whole vista of attractive possibilities. But alas, one difficulty lies in the war - a wedding is a solemn ceremony, and any too great originality or flamboyance in decorative effect is thereby precluded.
If the ceremony is to take place in church, or to be celebrated with religious rites in a private house, as so often in America, then I see no reason whatever why the conventional white should not be worn - veil, orange blossoms and all.
AS the bride-to-be appears to be dark-haired, and doubtless dark-complexioned, a comparatively heavy material - say satin with an ivory finish - would be the better.
If, as I presume, she is to be married on crutches (otherwise a special provision would seem necessary), she might have a pair enamelled white, with tops covered with white satin to match her dress. Neither dress nor veil should be too long to avoid the risk of entanglements. Steps abound in church porches, chancels, etc. (and in the hallways of registry offices as well!) as it is an ominous thing for a bride to stumble during or immediately after the wedding ceremony, she should familiarise herself with the terrain first so as to know where to look out for pitfalls.
Gratings over hot-water pipes are all too common in aisles and chancels, and all such should carefully covered up with carpet or matting as; providing the very worst of traps for high heels, not to speak of the tips of crutches.
The kneeling parts of the service can easily be conducted standing, if arrangement be made with the minister beforehand, as it is practically impossible for a one-legged girl to kneel in comfort.
Flowers, too, about her person, she must dispense with. She will not be able to carry a bouquet, and flowers fastened to her corsage or elsewhere would hardly be a success. The groom, accordingly, should dispense with a buttonhole.
Should the ceremony be purely civil, in the town hall or elsewhere, then all depends on the season. In cool weather I should suggest a longish pearl-grey coat or coat-frock roughly ankle length - a small black hat with or without veil, trimmed with a glittering silver or diamond buckle, or other ornament and a black patent shoe with a heel as is consonant with safety, with buckle to match that on the hat. A pair of plain black French crutches should be used with absolutely new and unscratched enamel and unworn leather tops - the latter are essential far an effect of real smartness.
Should the weather be hot, then a knee-length white silk frock would seem to fit the bill, with a white-brimmed hat of natural-coloured fine straw, with a fairly long white silk streamer or muslin veil fluttering behind. White silk stockings and satin shoe, of course, and white enamelled crutches, as suggested for use with full bridal attire, above.
As for underwear, a pair of very short step-ins should be worn. Anyhow, the best of luck to her, and a wedding-day that all concerned will remember with a thrill their lives through. With regard to Miss Roper's reply to Mr. Stort on the same page, I do not think the former quite realises how frequent the "monopede complex" is in the "susceptible sex," nor its exact nature.
One-legged girls are by no means common these days, and such as exist seldom find admirers lacking, even if they are nothing out of the ordinary as regards looks. I suppose most of us have a liking for the odd and unnatural in some form or other, as witness the number of love letters received of old by the bearded lady and other exhibits in Barnum's freak section. But there is much more to it than that.
There is a very decided piquancy about an essentially pleasant-looking girl swinging herself gaily along on a smart pair of crutches, perhaps at a pace few ordinary walkers can keep up with.
The emotions of astonishment and curiosity - pity doesn't come in if she is obviously "top of the world" and thoroughly pleased with herself - soon give place to a deeper interest, part scientific, part emotional; the desire to discover how far she differs psychologically from normal girls; how far her daily life is affected; what thrills and adventures her condition brings her. Hence the "monopede complex."
Only a minority of girls can carry off any extravagance in dress, make-up or sex emphasis; but should our monopede be such one, then certainly let her make all the capital she may out of her unusual state.
If she is comparatively ordinary looking, healthy and active, then let her attract attention by her efficiency in ordinary matters, deftness in the use of her crutches, and readiness to joke over such occasional mishaps as will inevitably befall her.
She need have no fear of being neglected or unduly pitied, save by sentimental old ladies who she can afford to laugh at.
Finally let me mention that the wearing of an artificial leg in public is for a girl such as I have in mind, nine times out of ten a mistake. There is nothing very "fetching" about a painful limp or slow and stiff walk; nor is it really so practical as rapid and graceful motion on expertly managed and well-kept crutches.
I have known several cases of one-legged girls whose male admirers definitely disapproved of the wearing of artificial limbs when in their company, and can fully understand the reason.
I'm afraid you'll think this communication inordinately long. please - if you have got so far at all! accept my hearty apologies.
Yours truly,
C. D. B.