TRADE & FASHION

Hokitika Guardian, 15 July 1935, Page 2

TRADE & FASHION

ENGLISH PAPER’S COMMENT. Recent protests in England against the habit of ygbiiig bare-legged were based on I;'ie damage 'done to the hosiery industry. Changes, in fashion often have that effect, the Manchester Guardian notes. Where now is that once-flourishing trade in long face curtains, and what has happened to the many beads- and “bugles” that used to decorate the bodices of the nineties? , Or.the closer parallel to the case of woman and their Stockings would be the young men and their hats : thei'e, too. the hatters have protested that the fashion for going without spells rain to an ancient and important trade. Whether such protests have much effect seems a matter •of considerable doubt. Fashions, except in the case of those who serve them professionally, are seldom concerned with

economics ; they arc a matter of the look of the thing and the mood of the hour. Will young men wear hats or will voting women wear stockings merely in order to support the deservin'* trades which produce those articles? Tt seems a little doubtful ; the argument from appearance is the one that counts most strongly, and if it could be shown that a young mail in a hat looks more handsome than a young man without one, or that the female leg in a stocking is a more appealing affair than th° limb which relies on its own unaided charm, then the industries- concerned would have little to fear. And it is, as a matter of fact, quite ■m arguable proposition that many a leg loses half its grace bv losing all its stocking, and when legs arc linmeropslv exposed the note of novelty will soon disappear.