As Mary had never had an expensive evening dress before she found it difficult to choose among so many, but Agnes took command and made her have a soft flowery confection. Agnes herself was going to have a white lace dress. Mary immediately wanted to change her mind and have one like it; but Agnes was firm. 'Don't wear lace or velvet while you are young, Mary, ' she said earnestly. 'Girls always want to, and it is so foolish.'
While the character Agnes is besotted with her children although completely incapable of disciplining them -- as task left to their Nurse--she comes across as a bit of a mental lightweight in Angela Thirkell’s Wild Strawberries from 1934. And yet Agnes is also apparently wise on dress.
The Dress Doctors held that clothing choices should reflect the personality of the wearer which included their age and energy. A “soft flowery confection” was probably made of some kind of light weight silk which would flow around young Mary at the dance and make the most of her movements. the mid-1930s gown often had large, draped collars which echoed the flirty gores that flared out from the bottom of the gowns. In contrast, lace is a complicated and elegant fabric but not know for its drape; Agnes, as a young matron, had far less interest in dancing or in making a splash at the dance party, so she could sit looking lovely.
Mary is a poor relation visiting a very well-off family and, as in most of Thirkell’s works, she is interested in the wrong man as a potential life partner until she realizes whom she really should choose instead. You can find more of Thirkell’s novels at Virago Books: https://www.virago.co.uk/?s=thirkell
