We are in an age in which the importance of setting off a woman's head in the most beautiful form grows ever greater, and in which the houses of beauty race one another in the art of creating new styles for the hair — this because they have realized, from of old, that this crown which completes a woman's head has a great effect in multiplying her beauty or in lessening its worth.

Through the past ages long hair was among the distinctions of the elegant woman: she was careful to keep it long and thick, and showed her art in putting it up lock by lock, or in leaving it flowing loose over the shoulders, holding that in this lay all of beauty — so much so that certain fastidious grandmothers went to great lengths in coddling it, treating it before sleep with a hundred strokes of a stiff hairbrush, out of care for its softness and its luster...

At the opening of this century, woman began gradually to rid herself of this burden; she uncovered her shoulders and her neck, and the old women hung the cut-off braids in the family keepsake cabinet!! The daughter of the twentieth century walked light, and being rid of her long hair allowed her time enough to be inventive in its style: now short — extravagantly short — now full in length down to the shoulders, in dozens of shapes and forms... Each season a certain style is set abroad and prevails in use over the other styles, and the girls hasten to copy it blindly, without being sure whether it suits their faces or does not.

The conscious modern young woman, who is careful of her beauty and her elegance, may not commit such errors and so do her beauty an unforgivable injury... For this reason, every lady, before adopting a certain style for her hair, must make sure before all else that it suits her face and accords with its principal lines... The way to do this is to face her mirror and, with the help of her comb and her brush, discover for herself — provided she lets her sound taste be the judge — which style suits her face better than any other.

Let your mirror, my sister, be your faithful judge; join no second judge to it unless you have little confidence in your own taste. And it is well, too, to call in the aid of a second mirror, so that you can see the shape of the head from behind and from the sides.

As for the style most widespread these days, it insists on shortening the hair above the ears and turning it back in soft coils calculated to bring out the marks of femininity in a woman. This style suits the face that resembles a "heart," or a triangle with its base upward; and round curls above the eyebrows lend the face — and especially a broad forehead — a touch of charm. But if the face tapers gradually to a sharp chin, its owner had better follow complete simplicity: a side part, and a graduated cut, short in front and lengthening as it moves toward the back. And know, my sister, that short hair suits the small, thin face; so if your face is broad, do not rush to cut it before consulting your mirror. Be, accordingly, most wise in choosing the suitable style — for on this choice of yours depends, to a great extent, the measure of your beauty and its effect upon people.