DRESS FOR THE SUMMER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20364, 19 September 1929, Page 13

DRESS FOR THE SUMMER.

RULES FOR SYDNEY GIRL^

ROMAN CATHOLIC DICTUM. <

RESTRICTIONS FOR BATHERS.

[from our own correspondent.!

SYDNEY. Sept, 12, On many occasions in recent years tha Roman Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Dr. Kelly, has been bitterly outspoken in regard to the trend of modern life and modern habits and modern dress. He has now promulgated a set of rules to guide girls in selecting their attire during tha coming summer. The rules are as fol* lows:—

1. Girls from four to ten years, weafl dresses to the knees and sleeves at least to the elbow.

2. Girls from 10 to 14 years, weaf dresses not less than 2in. below the knees when sitting and sleeves of dresses at least to the elbow.

3. Girls over 14 years: (a) Wear dresses at least 4in. below the knees when sitting; (b) sleeves, including those of sports costumes, to the elbow; (c) "V" necks ncvefl to be worn; (d) sleeves of evening dresses to cover the shoulders and the pit of tha arm; (e) necks of dresses in every case to be not more than 2in. below the pit of the throat: (f) transparent material for dresses to be rigidly excluded unless worn ( over a non-transparent slip; (g) fleshcoloured stockings not to be worn; (hJ' bathing costumes to consist of two-piece costumes reaching to the knees; beach robes closed from the neck to the knees are always to be worn; (i) bathers ara never to loiter in their bathing costumes on the beach, or have photographs taken in their bathing costumes. These rules were formulated by the Roman Catholic Association of Religious Women after many conferences with tha Archbishop and other prelates. They wcra included in a pastoral letter which tha Archbishop caused to be read in all tha churches last Sunday. In an appeal to 'women of the world, the teaching orders of religious women of the diocese state:— "When from time to time the community i.; attacked by the deadly germs of soma epidemic, at once the medical practitioners and the daily press warn people against contagion and give instructions to prevent the spread of the virulent germ. This is as* it should * be; but we cannot refrain from contrasting the concern manifested in the case of a menace to physical health with the apathy shown toward excesses and abuses which imperil the morality of the community, and which will affect future generations unless there be an immediate return to moral sanity. "We refer to the deplorable evil of immodest dressing . . . and to the pernicious habit of cigarette smoking and the drinking of alcohol, too prevalent, alas, among our young women of to-day* These are habits that will gradually work havoc in the moral and physical fibre of our girls who are addicted to them, and at the same time lower them in the estimation of all right-thinking people. Wo ask such girls to remember that God intended women to be an ennobling and spiritualising influence in the lives of men. Through such women men are led to, elevate their thoughts to the contemplation of those qualities in woman that make her akin to angels. "Strict regulations regarding dress and behaviour are already being enforced by command of the Pope in the schools of Rome. Hence, with a view to corresponding with the Holy Father's expressed wish! we have drawn up certain rules and safeguards to modesty to be observed by our girls."

No mention has yet been made as to how these rules are to be enforced, or as to the punishment to be meted out t& those who disobey them.