THE VILLAGE GOWN

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 85, 4 January 1941, Page 4

THE VILLAGE GOWN

Economy In Japan One wedding dress in each village, worn in turn by each bride, is Japan’s way of assisting the “economy campaign” for simpler clothes for women. “A cheap wedding frock is now considered’ better style among Japanese women than the elaborate gowns worth 500 or 1000 yen formerly worn by brides,” said Mrs. Edwin Badger, who with her husband, an Anglican missionary, and her baby daughter, Anne, has arrived in Sydney after living for five years in Kobe, where she was married.

“Not many Japanese women have gone into uniform as yet,” she said. “Members of the National Defence League have adopted a type of white agron with a shoulder sash and for airraid precautions, which so far have not been necessary in Japan, women stuff their kimonos into long baggy trousers.”

"I was quite glad to leave Japan since the rationing makes it difficult with a baby to look after,” said Mrs. Badger. “Sugar is reduced to a ration of jib. a person a month, but we were given 31b. a month for Anne, as she is not yet a year old. Charcoal, used for fuel in the little stoves, which were all we had for cooking and heating, is now almosf impossible to obtain, and no more gas stoves are being issued because of the shortage of piping. Cotton fabric is unobtainable, and material made from staple fibre is not suitable for babies, as it will not stand much washing.”