SENSIBLE CLOTHES

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 42, 17 August 1929, Page 17

SENSIBLE CLOTHES

WORN BY WOMEN

WHY NOT MEN ALSO?

MEDICAL OPINIONS

Fifteen pounds of clothing was the average worn by men a few yeaTs ago, and women, according to the books, wore "a little more." Men are still wearing about the' same gross tonnage of clothes as ever, while women's clothes havo only about one-tenth of their former,weight. . This means that men are still'wearing about a tenth of their, body weight in clothes,: while a ■dog, which seems- to.stand cold weather I remarkably well, carries only about-one flftieth'of his. weight in-fur/, ;

In'a'^few months' time thousands of men will be coming into the city daily and,at,,intervals'throughout office hours AY IU J?e'. grumbling at the heat; 'At' the same- time .they, will cast" . envious glances at .'the -obviously inbre suitable garments .worn by their typists^. Dress reform for men.in hot weather has been mooted before; now,; but' has never lea to much.more than,a daring discard of a.superfluous;and', sodden, collar." In the meantime the.fair sex dresses sens: ibly.for hot .weather, : whilst' man -does not. .. „'" ;'.'■. "'• .-' .'.•

J^or .years it has' been known that slightly-".more boy .than girl babies are born,. writes Dr.: D.'. A. Laird in the "Scientific American," when discussing dress reform for mani Boy babies are the more delicate, however,, and there are more early.deaths among them. By the time.high,school age is reached the ratio has altered so; that there is an excess: of females.V As years go on, this ratio is changed still more, industrial, accidents eliminating moire men than .women"; disease also reduces the number of. men more ;than it' affects women. '■

. Total c numbers alone will not- necessarily determine which sex will doinin-ate.-'-.We see'a. small handful of Englishmen dominating dark-skinned India. Vitality and ability are fully' as sig; nifib'ant as mere' numbers. And on this pointy also, modern science would point to a change to a dominance by the so-called- gentler sex. :», " '-' ;

-His- Majesty's'- medical 'inspectors have, just reported, on thorough studies of English boys and girls who are 'enter--,ing' industry; • v They definitely that the girls are much better developed physically- than;the boys.' It has been for many years \that although women do not usually have the muscular strength of men, they are in the long run ; possessed ■of greater physical stamina, and resistance. The royal medical inspectors' are inclined to attribute a large amount of this difference jitp the clothing which is being'woni.'..-.".,''."'■" ' : :-■ .

It'is only in;, the .last, two decades t^jjt women's clothing' has differed essentially from that,'of man; and the puny,", almost' neurasthenic, women typical ofi the 'eighties seem largely to hayc disappeared^ alongVwith the disappearance.of i several square yards of woollen clothing per:wpinan.

Man has to.pay the price- for his. stupidity, in the matter of clothing in hot weather.,' Besides having to carry around the extra weight, it is a fact that tho temperature within tho clothing' of tho average man is 87.8 degrees, Fahrenheit; for iwomen 'a clothing it is only'Bo.G degrees. The relative humidity inside men's, clothing is 70 per cent.', and for women it is only 55 per cent.' The observed consequence is that men . suffer from, heat stasis and from excessive perspiration.

LET IN ; THE SUNLIGHT.

The great: point about keeping cool in the hot weather, says the writer, is to allow freo' circulation of the air around the body, and in this respect women's clothes are far better than men's.: .Nearly of equal importance to the body's well-being are the vitalising light'rays,, and again in this respect men's clothes are inferior to womon's.

Ultra-violet' light penetration through ordinary clathing materials has been studied intensively by, the Bureau of Standards of the Department of Commercevof the' United States. They find that rayon,'batiste, or nainsook cotton, and linen,- allow more of these rays to pass through than do pure'silk or wool. When the materials are dyed or slightly yellowish with' age, the passage of the ultra-violet ray is. cut down. Woollen is,;only about half as transparent to these rays as is ; whito cotton. The weave of clothing greatly affects its transmitting power.' Crochetod or knitted weaves allow the most light, and also air, to, bring their benefits to the surface of the body. Bettor than an overdoso' of ultraviolet, as' on the seashore with its annoying first day sunburn, is a continual mild exposure, such as would bo given by the correct selection of clothing. Much1 of the benefit from resting at tho seashore comes from tho ultra-violet baths taken on the beach, .although, this should not be overdone the first few-days.. Other, advantages which make, people .erroneously think that sea air is intrinsically, bracing, come from the breezos which ; unburden the heatregulating- machinery of the body by removing the layers of stagnant air between body surface and outer clothing. Lounging at the shore in a wot bathing suit throws, too much strain on tho heating plant,, however.

Tho .collar, garter, long underwear,

lined clothing,;and the belt should all be discarded, says Dr. Laird, for these allow only the face and hands of mcii to.be.exposed to the. sun and air.

THE EUIN OF MAN,

Regardless of how clothes originated or what would happen if they were suddenly redesigned, we should heed the warning providedby scientific research; which indicates-that clothes may ruin man unless fickle fashion or commonsense bring about a change. ■ Women . are' just as intelligent as men, and-are capable of. doing the work of an • industrial executive, as great numbers of them have shown. With their equal brain power, their dress, which adds to their meiital and physical efficiency, may. give them an increasing advantage over men in directing our civilisation.- ••

"B7 19J5,".says Dr. Walter B. Pitkin,, in discussing the decline of the American-mind, "the present supersalesman .and high-powered executive wjll' have gone: ■ Some quiet spinster, with.: a world .radio telephone' at her elbow ,>nd- ; an. automatic statistical computer.in heir .office, will handle more big' business. in a. morning hour than such gentlemen get through in a week of golf and' highballs- at their country clubs.'-' ■ ■ , . ■