NOT IN SIZE FIVE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22438, 19 September 1947, Page 4

NOT IN SIZE FIVE

SHIRT DILEMMA THOSE 16JIN. NECKS OFFICE WORKERS’ NEEDS With a realisation of the troubles which people in other countries are suffering, it is hard to work up a real grouch about shortages in this Dominion.

Everyone encounters inconveniences at almost every turn, but experience of the war years is still fresh enough in mind to make present conditions seem pleasant by comparison. But there is one group in the community which has run out nearly the last foot of its tether.

Members of this group comprise men of middle-age and responsible business positions which oblige them to dress with neatness-

Their outer garments are sound enough, and if they need new suits they can wait their turn without serious difficulty—unless an accident suddenly retires the worn garments. They can get socks and shoes, ties and hats in profusion—if not in the range of styles which prevailed in pre-war years—and handkerchiefs, suspenders, braces and other accessories can be had with a little trouble. But shirts! Ah, there’s the rub- Shirts which will show a decent finish after laundering, that do not bulge in visible places, that do not bind under the arms, and have sleeves of a length appropriate to average human proportions. Shirts with two detachable collars and an attractive colour-scheme.

The shops haven’t got them, and salesmen cannot say when they are likely to be available. Getting on the Register

“We'll put your name down!” they promise, and the customer accepts this as the best that can be done—though grimly aware that his name has been do.wn in the same store for months. “We had a dozen in this morning, in various sizes. They’ve all gone, except this one,” and the salesman shows a shirt which might fit a boy of 18, but is no earthly use to a man whose chin is slowly merging with his chest development. “Sure, we’ve got your size—but in plain white only, and with attached collar!” That sounds promising, although all-white is no longer fashionable. The material is not so good, however, and the price is definitely not good at all. Hope goes down the drain again. “Fix you up all right!” says another salesman in yet another shop. There is something in his eye that tells you he knows better, and when he produces a box of shirts, in sickly colours and without collars, you know that he never hoped to make a sale. “They must have been turning things over at the factory,” he explains.

That is the story. Shops have shirts in blacks and whites, with collars and without, in boys, youths and old men’s sizes, but they have none for the business man in a reasonably restrained colour scheme and with a weave' you can’t shoot peas through. At least, not in size five!