It will take some clever appraisal on your part, but your clothes should express value without extravagance, warmth without being brazen, and understanding without looking like Whistler's Mother.

You want adaptability in what you're wearing and freedom of movement. You can have all these advantages at your fingertips by carrying a tote bag- which I sincerely believe is the best thing that's happened to women since the vote.

If you've become addicted to dark stockings or tights, be careful not to look like a Charles Addams heroine. The "beatnik" bit is wonderful for sloppy, slushy days, but should not be allowed to take over.

Unless under a doctor's orders to be a lady of the dark, a woman wearing sunglasses indoors or at night looks like nothing more than a satire of a Hollywood glamour queen- grade B.

Like married life itself, wife-dressing is pretty basic. It requires frank understanding of yourself, a healthy attitude toward your new responsibilities, a willingness to learn from experience, and a buoyant elation about being alive.

I've explained my feelings about old shoes; add to that decrepit hats for the rain. Rain can be pretty romantic. Why look like a drowned scarecrow when you can be a touch of sunshine on a dark day in perky rainwear?

If you're feeling depressed, don't try to jazz up your spirits with too violent an extreme so that you wind up looking like Pagliacci, your sadness intensified by the brightness of your costume.

For purely psychological reasons, have at least one ultra-glamorous negligee to wear when you're not feeling well. You can feel like the heroine of a Victorian novel being pampered and loved and fed chocolate creams on a horsehair sofa.