MARTIAL MODE

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 17, 20 January 1940, Page 17

MARTIAL MODE

j A FAVOURITE IDEA ■^ithS-sa many uniforms about the military influence—always beloved on aqcijtmt of,its perfectly tailored look —is^ apparent in, women's fashions once mfcre, ,A favourite idea is the one sketched,.

a coloured coat' in plain cloth or velvet; lavishly, trimmed with braid froggmgs,- Avhich,'like the collar and belt, are; in' contrasting colours. Blue,' red, and bright green are favourite colours, with black for^::th'e trimmings. ,

A small ."perky" .hat, of.,' Cossack, dou^hboyV or | drummerrbqy persuasioxii dajrk skirt, arid gloves, 'arid., a severely simple handbag are reciwred to complete, the.picture.

the.crowds are greater and "the battle lis ito the strong!" .-, v

Yet for ?0 years or more this discomfort has been accepted by a docile race, whose only consolation must be that the people on the other side of the road are in a worse case, as they* have no verandah or other shelter at aIL These things astonish people who come from .other places, and visitors do not at ail relish .', standing in the street v^ithtHe ordinary traffic of pedestrians pushing through the suburban crowd. .They; ask, '"But why do you put up with it?" and are utterly surprised when told-, how many years this state of discomfort has gone on. Waiting sheds are provided for small numbers of people at given points— but in one of: the largest centres of all there is nothing. When all this is considered it does seem an extraordinary state of things; -■'■ -■■■!: .- ; . :\ : :This .. is ■•. ■• only one instance -of '•docility"; .there- are many others around. Th>.pl9er residents of this country Who go about happily arid comfortably, depending, on their own sight except for reading or working, look with amazement at the immense number of peopTe who look out" on the world through large, round, blackedged glasses, these being sometimes on mere -babied;- quite-young children, adolescents, and somewhat - .older, people. It is a. matter for wonder why the sight of New Zealanders has deteriorated so that, these Otnostly) un r becoming;'"adjuncts are considered necessary. They give a general stereotyped appearance, .and take from the beauty iptl- the .most beautiful feature of all-^the eye; they make people look expressionless^, especially .-when the light falls on the glasses arid the eyes cannot be seen. It may be, in the course of a few/y.ears, that the general, public will get tired of the sameness of appearance, and for those of really poor or faulty sight" something "less obvious will" be evolved. "There -is. a tyranny: of ; . dress also— for: the , business man, over-hot garments <v?hiqh are "orthodox" for wear; andj^fbr^women the continual and expensivev;changes of fashion which in the- lasf few years have grown to a colossal height; .3* is to be hoped that one of the good things which will follow; the* ending* of-the .war will be that jwitfc'ali cou'ntries'due to pay their just th"ere will be little use in the fashion arbiters trying to ring continual - changes; fbr women; then will have a better use-for their, money -in trying to help rehabilitate, the people in their various countries than in makirig continual efforts to attain, "the last shriek'of fashion." '■:'