Men Don't Know How Much Your Dress Cost

I love this quote. Please take it as permission to make your ballgown of the cheapest fabric that looks good. At the time the dance manual was published, fashionable ballgowns were really over the top, and used huge quantities of fabric. The average American woman would not have anything as elaborate as the french fashion plates depict, but she would still need to make a significant expenditure. Hillgrove points out one place where a lady can economize.


Ladies should remember that men look to the effect of dress in setting off the figure and countenance of a lady, rather than to its cost. Few men form estimates of the value of ladies' dress. This is a subject for female criticism. Beauty of person and elegance of manners in woman will always command more admiration from the other sex than costliness of clothing. (Thomas Hillgrove, A complete practical guide to the art of dancing, New York, Dick & Fitzgerald, c1863, p. 18.)