THE TYRANNY OF DRESS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14566, 31 December 1910, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE TYRANNY OF DRESS.

BY A TRAVELLER. [

In looking around and contemplating the evidences on every hand of the advance of civilisation in modern times, and observing how, in most things, it has shown a. tendency to break away and iintrammel | itself from formality ami theory in favour ! of directness and practicability, it is al- | most astonishing to note how great a elnve ' mankind still remains to the dictates of | often ill-grounded fashion and how much j prejudice, remains to he swept away before j our clothes, like other things, are brought": up-to-date and reflect something of the J suitability and convenience which we have already exacted from every other attribute | of modern existence. In particular, one ! may note that in the opening up and set- j tlement of semi-tropical countries by the \ English speaking nice, it has, for the most part, entirely failed to rise to the occasion by devising clothes based upon a. (hie regard for climatic conditions, or the dic- j tates of cleanliness or comfort- : too often, indeed, the clothes worn by men and j women alike, and to be seen in any Australasian city, are much more suitable for the colder northern climes from which their wearers sprung than for the sunbathed latitudes in which they have made j their homes, and in which the future generations of their race are to be born.

This is tho more remarkable when one admits, as one must, that suitability of clothing to climatic conditions exercises a powerful influence upon the production of energy and the ability to work : and all who, disregarding the opinions of their neighbours, or of fashion, have tried tho effect of discarding cloth in favour of linen and have surrounded themselves with the artificial fans which have become so popular in other countries as the result of the application of electricity, know how much more "'fit" thev have been able to keep themselves, and how much easier have become their working conditions. And yet even such anachronisms as frockcoats and silk hate arc still to be seen, indeed one may almost add. in increasing numbers, in use by professional men in Sydney, in Melbourne, even in Auckland itself: and if a Londoner could be suddenly transported from Cheapside to Queenstreet he would see very little difference in the materials of he clothes of the crowd to those with which he is familiar in his native city. And yet all these Australasian cities are subjected to very high temperatures and often very humid atmospheres throilsrhout the summer months; and from a hygienic point of view they certainly demand a wholly different clothing to that prevailing in the world's metropolis—when will it be evolved? Perhaps the conservatism of the colonial with regard to dress is the more curious in view of the fact that the big cities at homo have shown an increasing tendency to change: the frock coat, in fact tail coats generally, the silk and other hard hats, and tho wearing of gloves, have all boon abandoned in England in favour of more rational costumes. It is true that the Englishman adapts himself freely and easily to* cotton '"ducks" and helmets when lie takes himself to Egypt or to India, or even the South Sea islands : but in all these places he only represents a small minority of white people amongst a lot. of coloured. And apparently his shyness, or his dinging to the desire to do as others do, even ii' it be ever so uncomfortable to himself, is sufficient to make ■him,, incapable of striking out a line for himself when he finds himself in the groat centres of civilisation in Australasia. On the hottest summer day in Auckland one can count on the fingers of one hand the peonle to be met suitably attired • and yet the comfort and cleanliness attachable to the use of washing do thee, to say nothing of their economy, is such as needs no demonstrating. It would indeed seem to be desirable that a common date should be agreed upon, as in the case for instance with the officers of mail boats and men-of-war, when a straight out change should be made from winter to summer outfits. One observes the same mistake ever/where —in our shops, our streets, our theatres — always the same overburdening of unnatural clothes in the face of a thermometer which proclaims the obvious use of all that is coolest. The heavy uniforms of tram officials, like those of ou,: raihvaymen, must occasionally raise a smile amongst cynical critics from oversea, especially those who have observed how much wiser in this respect are the authorities in many of the cities of Southern Europe : and there would certainly not appear to be any valid reason why 1 Ave should not at least emulate Sydney in this respect, the only one of the Australasian cities which has so far made any practical headway in the general use of light clothing. There are so many now and attractive materials suitable for ordinary everyday working attire available for sartorial choice to-day thai' the marvel is that more extensive use has, not long since been made of them : and it is certainly high time thai; a .subject so vitollv important in the interests of our health and comfort should be properly thrashed out on scientific lines, and that we should relegate to a, -well deserved obscurity the absurb fashions and cumbersome materials so eminently unsuited to well developed colonial freedom.