UNIFORM DRESS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 258, 28 October 1916, Page 16

UNIFORM DRESS.

A writer in an English paper makes a strong plea for the abolition of changing fashions and the adoption of a universal uniform for women. She very convincingly writes: "You have only to consider the nurse in her print frock, with the spotless cap, collar and apron, to realise that simplicity, even severity, in dress goes hand in hand with charm, sets off real beauty, and adds attractiveness to the homeliest face." She has found perfection for the universal uniform in a frock described as "much plain black alpaca and an array of large bone buttons." She continues: "I tried it on—an affair of five seconds, and five buttons that slid easily into large button-holes. And I have lived in it ever since! You can put it on in leas time than a glove. You can roll it up without crumpling it; you can wear it for war work or travelling; and you can go to a wedding or a lunch feeling smart. And it owns a. set of white lawn collars, that wash like handkerchiefs, and can be put into place, when a fresh one is required, as quickly as you can join a man's collar to his shirt with a stud.

"There is no reason," continues the writer, "except the bludgeoning* of custom, why women should not all dress in a plain, dark one-piece costume with a fresh white collar to it. It would occupy the same place and admit of much the same variations as the coat and trousers of mea's ordinary wear. Our love for beauty and decorative effect could be kept for the evening, and life would be immensely simplified. Think of its cheapness, too." Of course, this all sounds m6st effectively"~siinple, economic, common-sense, ana-all-that, but it is merely an immense waste of words. The idea of a universal uniform for women is but a dream that will I never be realised.