There are thousands of girls whose fathers cannot afford more than £10 for their trousseau. The following, therefore, will give some idea of what may be bought for that sum in these days of ready-made clothing.

The wedding-gown may be of even simpler material than voile, but it should always be planned with an eye to future usefulness. As a summer outing frock it may fulfil its duty, and also for wearing at entertainments to which the young couple are invited.

It might appear impossible to some that a tailor-made costume could be had for so small a. sum as 25s., but those who buy in large towns will have no difficulty in finding these. Some of them are really well cut, and with care keep their lines for a very reasonable time.

There are firms in the manufacturing districts which supply tailor-cut gowns, coats, and costumes at astoundingly low prices, and those who have tried them find them satisfactory in point of wearing. As an example, may be mentioned a blue serge skirt that cost 14s. 6d., and is still in wear, and looking passably well after four years of liberal use.

Such firms as these make trousseau-buying easy to girls with a small allowance for the purpose.

The waterproof in this list is a comparatively heavy item. but it is indispensable; and, besides. it is likely to last for two or three years. The home gown is for morning wear, when the young wife is busy with domestic duties. She has the going-away gown for afternoons or for visiting among her friends.

The hats are inexpensive, 12s. 9d. seeming to be the universal price of those composed of fancy straw with a little ribbon for trimming.

The underwear may seem impossibly cheap to those living in the country. and unaware of the surprising bargains to be secured at the White Sales periodically held by large drapery firms. Even apart from these, prices are remarkably moderate.

With a twenty-pound trousseau it would be a saving to make as much as possible at home: but the objection to this is that the bride-to-be is often a business girl: a clerk. a shop assistant, a telegraph or telephone girl, with very little time at her command. She may possibly be able to run up a blouse or two. however, and even this will help to eke out the money.

Shoes are among the cheapest articles of dress to be had. A word of warning may not be amiss with respect to the cheapness that means brown paper instead of kid and leather. Especially for winter wear these paper shoes (not sold as such, nor distinguishable from leather in the shop) are dangerous to health. They become saturated with damp, and retain it in a way that leads to various forms of cold, all more or less disagreeable. and sometimes resulting in permanent disease of the chest or lungs.

Girls find it a great temptation to sacrifice the solid parts of the trousseau to pretty hats and gowns. They are naturally anxious to look as nice as possible in the early days of their married life. and to make as good an appearance as they can in the eyes of their husband's friends.

But it is well to remember that it would be humiliating and disagreeable to have to approach the husband for money to buy indispensable clothes, and in doing so to be obliged to admit that the trousseau was inadequate. The bridegroom has probably fitted himself out with what will serve for a couple of years, so far as the essential but invisible portion of the tronsseau goes. He naturally expects his bride to do the same.

The fact that he admired her very much in the new dresses and hats will not serve in the least to decrease his dissatisfaction when he finds himself called upon, a few months later, to supplement a scanty trousseau supply. This subject will be further dealt with in Every Woman's Encyclopaedia.