In our sketch of “girls’ winter dresses in woollen materials,” I have carefully given every method of draping the skirts and making the bodices that has been worn this winter; and I consider most of them will be continued on until the spring, as the “wrapping style” of which the drapery hangs in straight folds, and as if wrapped round us, is very popular with everyone; and people seem to have grown tired of the skirts which were made of pieces of material. The skating picture, too, shows the general effect of out-of-door dresses during the cold weather; and the way in which fur was used by the best dressmakers and tailors. The dresses are more graceful, and less heavy-looking than usual, when trimmed in that manner. We do not often have such a cold winter as the present has been hitherto, and I hope my readers have applied themselves to learn the lessons of sensible and hygienic clothing which I am constantly preaching to them. Armed by it, they would have successfully resisted the cold, and escaped unharmed. I am more and more convinced that most of the illnesses and deaths of our winters arise from want of sensible clothing, and from the fact, too, that we are all accustomed to regard England as a temperate climate, when in reality the cold is more felt here, on account of its dampness, than in severer latitudes. So many of our girls have begged that a plain and simple shape for a dressing-gown should be added to our paper patterns, that, after looking about me for some time, I have decided to select a princess shape, as one that could be made at home by anyone with little difficulty, either in flannel or any other material selected. The pattern will be quite suitable for a dress, if required, as many servants prefer that shape to any other. Indeed, when made up in a blue and white striped Galatea, I do not know any dress in which a girl looks better or is more becomingly attired for going about her morning duties. I must confess I like my maidens to look their best and happiest while under my roof, and nothing but the most exquisite neatness will content me; and I have found a plain girl grow quite pretty after a few months of care in the ordinary matters of the toilet. The weekly bath is a thing that every mistress can see that her servants have, and also a few hours for attending to and making and mending their own clothes. The princess dressing-gown, or dress, consists of seven pieces, and may be made of either eight or ten yards of material, according to the width. The half of the back and the half of the fronts are given, and the fronts may be cut in one, if the pattern be intended for a dress. Price of paper pattern, 1s.