Starting Housekeeping. By Mrs. Alfred Frage. (Chapman and MTh 2s.
6d.)—" Make a good beginning" sums up much of the excellent advice which Mrs. Frage gives to young housekeepers. One of the things is, press for a regular house allowance, and the same for "pin-money." The finance provided for, and con- sequently the limits of expenditure being fixed, other things come comparatively easily. There will be a few mistakes at first, but any woman who is not a fool will soon be able to "cut her coat according to her cloth." And here the detailed counsel of this little volume will come in. Our author is commonly so sensible that we read with astonishment her assertion that in the middle class "men's clothing costs twice as much as women's." This is not correct, either generally of annual cost or of the expenditure on particular garments ; £35 is a quite modest allowance for a wife's dress. But how few husbands spend 870 ? And take the one item of a dress-coat as against a black silk or black velvet dress. Another powerful consideration is that a man wears the same dress clothes without any idea of change; a woman has continually to think of change. Take the case of a wedding. It is quite possible that no man except the bridegroom will have on new clothes, whereas almost every woman certainly will.
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