Is lying to protect people's feelings good?

This question has been long pondered by humanity. Many people have had a very hard time trying to decide if they are going to lie or not. Many common examples is when you watch a friend's awful play and the ask you how it is or they ask you how an outfit looks on them. This can be very troubling to many people, because they don't want to hurt their friends feelings nor do they want to lie to them. I believe the best way to do it is be honest, but not cruel. That means you should not flat out lie to them and say "oh the play was wonderful. I would totally come to see it again" or "oh my god you look so awful in that outfit. You look like a blind person picked out you outfit."  What I believe you should do is do something commonly referred to a the complement sandwich. The best way to do this is to start of by saying something you like about said play or outfit like "I really liked this one scene. I found it really funny." or "I really like the style of the top.". This first compliment allows the person to understand that you mean the best to them, because you are also kind to them. The second part of the sandwich is the criticism. This is the critical standpoint were you can tell you friend what you really though of it, such as "The play didn't seem to have much of a plot to it" or "the top is really just unflattering on you though."  This part allows your friend to understand  what you really think of what they are asking about. The last part of this sandwich is the suggested way to fix it. This means that you should suggest a way to fix the problem, such as saying "you should add in a line to clarify what is going on" or "you should get the top in the next size up because it would fit you better."  This method of giving people criticism allows you to state what you really feel with out your friends feelings getting hurt. Don't feel obligated to lie though.