WE WOMEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20602, 28 June 1930, Page 1 (Supplement)

WE WOMEN.

TAKING OURSELVES TO TASK.

. • / BY ELLA BLAMPIED.

When our menfolk, from their perch of lofty superiority, cast a suspicion upon tho activity of our intellects and tho quality of our mentality, we are apt to dismiss it in our airy fashion, and sum up tho position in tho all-embracing ejaculation, "Oh! Theso men!" But, ladies, let us take ourselves to task, and analyse somo of our everyday doings, and see if this heart-to-heart introspection does not result in—well, let us say—some slight weakness in our vaunted intellectuality. Take, for instance, the subject of dress. In our enlightened minds we must admit that the primary use of clothing is warmth, comfort and well-being. Of course, ornamental considerations, if possible. Now, how do we, the shining lights and enlightened womanhood of tho period, set about securing this desirable condition?

Start with your shoes. Now, how does My Lady set about the duty of being comfortably, warmly and suitably shod ? Does slio domand a stout, worthy pair, guaranteed to exclude rain, of firm but soft texture, with good, natural heels that she can plant solidly on Mother Earth ? Now, does sho ? You and I know that any woman of to-day demanding such qualities in v her footwear would be considered a freak,, a relic of bygone ages. No; My Lady considers the momentous question of tho shape of tho toe, the importance of the colour scheme to match tho eternal ensemble, tho intriguing balance between one or two straps, or no straps at all, the court design, the Louis Quinze heel. Tho lucky shoe chosen probably has cardboard soles, wooden heels, and leather tho texture of tissue-paper, but what docs she caro so long as it looks " nice," " chic," V smart " ? Great intellectuality here, my friends! Alleged Coverings. Then her hose. (Gentlemen, turn your heads—away!) Of.course, My Lady of to-day, with tho dignity born of her loftymentality, is selecting soft, woollen, longwearing goods—ones that will impart warmth, solidity, and resistance to all sorts of weather. Now, docs she ? You know sho does not. Her mentality moves her to the colour scheme again—silken coverings, of perfect scams and shapes, ■with all sorts of heels, all sorts of toes, and all sort? of tops; gossamer coverings that would shame a spider. Perishable, frail, short-lived, theso alleged coverings require tho most tender handling, and become a perfect sieve for all the winds that blow. My Lady's intellectuality is satisfied, though Heaven alone knows what her poor legs would say if they could only talk! "It looks nice, doesn't it? Whatever more is,wanted?" To hint that as a future mother of the race she is probably doing herself incalculable harm would, indicate that you were midVictorian./ ' And those useful gaiters. • Docs one woman in five thousand consent to hide the shapely xilkeq limb befteath such an Obviously useful accessory? Is it becatise they are eo utilitarian that sho scorns them? And Ivhere are the humble but very useful goloshes ? Relegated to the past, it is to bo supposed. No; My Lady, displaying hor economic tendencies and her lofty intelligence, prefers to splash and splutter through the rainy puddles in her silken hose and light kid shoes, forgetting, probably, -that the poor man at. home has to pay for tho luxury of spoiling these. No; he docsn t count. ' " " This is the Fashion."

Being now beautifully cold, and with little liopo' of assisting nature in these extremities by the judicious uso of clothing, My Lady now dons upon her upper regions tho inevitable fur coat, wear-as-you-pay, bargain-bought, or presented, as the case may be. A more top-heavy and unwieldy sight it is impossiblo to behold. But My Lady is in the seventh heaven of delight- " This is tho fashion." Why the body should achieve all the warmth and the pedal extremities remain arctic is a fact shrouded in mystery. If, flowing out beneath tho hem of the fur coat, My Lady can achieve somo odd bits of silk orlaco hung north, south, east, or west of the legs under discussion, she is satisfied that she has reached tho height of fashion. What what sense, what intellectuality! Tito body being swathed in warmth purloined from the lower animals, and tho legs being frozen in their silken statoliness, My Lady now turns her attention to her headgear. Behold, then, the present little, tight-fitting hat, which turns down beautifully on tho neck, and forms an ideal water-raco for all the showers with which Auckland is so prolific in winter months. In the summer, My Lady's mental status may bo gauged when you behold her—because, perchance, it is the fashion—with the sun blazing down on an unprotected neck, fashion having decreed hats turned up at the back. Is it surprising that our menfolk' wonder? Such grotesque mentality! Feeling Up-to-Date.

And then tho hands. My Lady evidently does not mind cold hands. Her high intellectuality and superior reasoning evolve a condition wfiefipn she clothes her hands in tho most beautiful of kid, which is coldor than charity, and about as stiff. Either sho prefers tho beauti-fully-fashioned, skin-tight kind, which are very thin and. cramp tho action of tho hand, or tho heavier ' kind, which, although a bit warmer, feel about as graceful as an elephant. Or, if My Lady's pin-money does not run to kid, sho has millions of pairs of cotton ones to choose from; and anything more cheerless and depressing than cotton on a pierco-you-to-the-skin wintry day would bo hard to find. A few women—a very few—woar woollen or fieccy-linod gloves, but My Lady of tho fur coat and gossamer hosiery, is not of this sensible variety. And when My Lady goes to bed! (Gentlemen, please retire!) She scorns the old-fashioned, snug, warm, all-en-veloping nightdress—so mid-Victorian, you know! (But, oh! so comfortable, rospectable, and homelike!), Sho feels so up-to-date in her little pyjaraa snjt, although in winter it is a bit shivefy. And the dressing gown blio dons to help the shivery suit is so Very sensible, quite wide open at the nock (the wrap-over kind, you know, tho one so much in vogue), and the best possible friend to all throat affections, \?efrk chests, and bronchial 1 troubles. ».!But My-Lady is in fashion, you know, po why display any intellect in.the matter of clothes! Oh, women, women! lam very much afraid that when our menfolk indict our mentality, intellectuality, common sense, intelligence, or whatever elso you like to call it, there is .more than a suspicion of truth in-the charge leveled against us. 'Truly; in oiir "material taake-il]}/ it tpusfc bo admitted, " Frailty I [Thy name is Woman!"